Vivianne Miedema’s iconic moments stretch back long before she played professional football. At age six, she lost two teeth in a collision with a goalkeeper, which only spurred her on to continue playing the game.
“People might think, ‘you’re crazy to want to play again after losing two teeth,’ but playing football is all I ever wanted to do. I didn’t really do anything else back then – to be honest, I couldn’t really do anything else back then – so it was quite easy for me to go back,” she explains in an article on the Arsenal website.
The Early Years
Brought up in Hoogeveen, the Dutch goalscoring prodigy started playing football at the age of five for local team HZVV. Competing against boys on the field, she continued to do so until signing her first professional contract with SC Heerenveen at just 14 years old.
She became the youngest-ever player in the top Dutch women’s league, Eredivisie Vrouwen. In her debut season, she scored 10 goals in 17 games.
She then moved to Bayern Munich, where she won the Frauen-Bundesliga and stayed until 2017, when she moved across to England to play within the WSL with Arsenal.
During the Women’s World Cup in 2019, Vivianne Miedema made history after scoring against Cameroon and becoming the Netherland’s all-time top scorer, overtaking Manon Melis, who previously held the title with 59 goals.
All We Need is Viv
As a Gunner, she became the top scorer in the 2017-18 season with 22 goals, before leading them to WSL victory the following season. Another glittering moment of her career came when she reached 100 goals with Arsenal in all competitions in 2021, and a tally of 78 goals before the start of the 2023-24 season. Two WSL Golden Boots later she hold’s the title of all-time leading scorer in the WSL.
Now firmly part of the Manchester City family, Miedema was recruited in the summer of 2024 after seven seasons in North London. She’s been described by her new club as “scoring goals by the bucket load.”
During the 2024/25 season, she grabbed 11 goals and four assists in 19 matches across all competitions, including against her former club, Arsenal, in September 2024.
Injury
However, the now 29-year-old has also had her fair share of injuries throughout her professional career. After rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in December 2022, she was sidelined for nearly a year.
In an episode of Arsenal’s Step by Step, the documentary follows Miedema and her partner, England and former Arsenal player, Beth Mead, on their journey to recovery. Mead is soon-to-be joining Miedema at City, after she announced the move just weeks ago.
On top of missing the 2023 Women’s World Cup, her latest season with Manchester City unfortunately consisted of further surgery and rehabilitation due to knee problems.
City celebrated victory in the WSL after being crowned League Champions. The team’s winning streak extended to the Women’s FA Cup Final on 31 May 2026 against Brighton & Hove Albion. Miedema celebrated both milestones from home with her family, later revealing that she had returned because her mother was undergoing cancer treatment.
Fighting for Women’s Football
Throughout her illustrious career, Miedema has been a vocal advocate for creating greater opportunities for young girls in football. After growing up idolising her dad playing the sport, “I didn’t really realise what was there for women’s football,” she admits.
Since then, she states:
“Girls know now that they can play in the National Team, they know that they can play for big club teams and it’s good that it’s finally happening. I didn’t really know that I could do these sorts of things as a little girl.”
In 2021, she joined the charity movement Common Goal, meaning she commits 1% of her salary to community organisations working with young people.
Last year, she completed her UEFA A license coaching course, alongside fellow professionals including Steph Houghton. When it’s time to hang up her boots, while we hope it isn’t anytime soon, she looks forward to coaching.
A prolific goalscorer and an even better person, Miedema’s impact extends far beyond the pitch.
