Memphis Depay is a Dutch professional footballer who represents the Netherlands national football team as a forward since 2013. As of December 2023, he scored 44 goals, of which 10 were scored from a penalty kick, in 88 caps. He is the second all-time top goalscorer of his country, with only his former teammate Robin van Persie (50) having scored more goals for the Netherlands.
Depay made his debut for his country in October 2013, coming on as a substitute for Jeremain Lens. He scored his first international goal against Australia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (3–2), becoming the Netherlands' youngest ever goalscorer at the World Cup at an age of 20.[1] He scored another goal at the tournament five days later, against Chile. He scored his first brace for the Netherlands in a 1–3 World Cup qualifying win over Luxembourg in November 2016. After Depay had scored 3 goals in his first 26 caps, he scored 16 goals in his following 25 caps, including 11 goals in 18 matches under the management of Ronald Koeman in 2018 and 2019. After the Netherlands missed out on qualification for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Depay scored against Austria and North Macedonia at UEFA Euro 2020. He scored his first international hat-trick in a 6–1 World Cup qualifying win over Turkey in September 2021, surpassing Wesley Sneijder and equalling Johan Cruyff and Abe Lenstra in the Netherlands' top 10 of all-time top goalscorers.[2] He scored nine more goals in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament as he finished joint-top goalscorer of the UEFA section with Harry Kane. Including those 12 goals, Depay scored a total of 17 goals in 16 matches for the national team in 2021, breaking Patrick Kluivert's national record of scoring 12 goals in a single calendar year.[3] Just five European players had ever scored more international goals in a single calendar year.[4] Depay scored his third World Cup goal at the 2022 tournament, against the United States in the round of 16. With that goal, he surpassed his former teammate Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to become the Netherlands' second all-time top goalscorer, behind only Robin van Persie (50).[5]
International goals
As of match played 12 January 2024
Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Depay goal.