Wieke Hendrikje Maria Kaptein (; born 29 August 2005) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Netherlands national team.
Club career Kaptein started playing football at Achilles '12. Already at the age of 15, she received a professional contract with FC Twente Enschede. Capping off her first season with the league title, she also featured in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League qualifying, scoring the goal in the opening game against FC Nike Tbilisi to make it 9–0. Twente, however, lost out to Benfica in the Champions Path final. A year later, Benfica was the last stop on the way to the group stage.
In March 2023, Kaptein was voted one of the nine best talents in the world.
Kaptein made her debut for Chelsea on 27 September, 2024. She scored her first goal for the club in the 5–0 win against Everton on 3 November.
International career Kaptein played some games for the Dutch junior teams from the U-15. With the U-17 team, she took part in the first and second qualifying rounds of the 2022 U-17 European Championship, which was successfully completed in April 2022, where she was captain in the second round. However, she was not part of the squad for the finals in May 2022, because she was wanted for the end of the league season. With the U-19 team, she qualified in October 2022 for the second qualifying round for the 2023 U-19 European Championship. She was not used in the second round in April 2023, as she was nominated for the senior national team games that took place at the same time.
On 11 April 2023, she had her first senior cap. She came on as a substitute in the 81st minute for Lieke Martens in a friendly they won 4–1 against Poland.
On 30 June 2023, she was nominated for the World Cup finals. She was the youngest World Cup debutant ever for the Dutch national team.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsTwente2021–22Vrouwen Eredivisie200203041—2912022–23Vrouwen Eredivisie20340302010303Twente (loan)2023–24Vrouwen Eredivisie22320104011304Total626807010121898Chelsea2024–25Women's Super League1624030102—3342025–26Women's Super League202403282—3562026–27Women's Super League5000—41—91Total4148062225007711Career total103101601323262116619
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsNetherlands2023502024912025131202662Total334
Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kaptein goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Wieke KapteinNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 29 November 2024 Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1–1 4–1 Friendly2 8 April 2025 Stadion Schnabelholz, Altach, Austria 1–1 3–1 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League3 18 April 2026 Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre, France 1–1 1–1 2027 FIFA World Cup qualification4 9 June 2026 Asito Stadion, Almelo, Netherlands 1–0 3–1
Honours Twente Vrouwen Eredivisie: 2021–22, 2023–24 KNVB Women's Cup: 2022–23 Eredivisie Cup: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 Dutch Women's Super Cup: 2022, 2023
Chelsea Women's Super League: 2024–25 Women's FA Cup: 2024–25 FA Women's League Cup: 2024–25, 2025–26
Individual Eredivisie Talent of the Year: 2021–22
References
External links
Senior national team profile at Onsoranje.nl