Joëlle Smits

Joëlle Smits (born 7 February 2000) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club PSV and the Netherlands national team.[1]

Joëlle Smits
Smits with Twente in 2019
Personal information
Full name Joëlle Smits
Date of birth (2000-02-07) 7 February 2000
Place of birth 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 PSV
Number 9
Youth career
2006–2014 OJC Rosmalen
2014–2015 Brabant United
2015–2017 CTO Eindhoven
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Twente 45 (45)
2019–2021 PSV 30 (39)
2021–2022 VfL Wolfsburg 13 (1)
2021–2022 VfL Wolfsburg II 4 (3)
2022– PSV 22 (10)
International career‡
2014–2015 Netherlands U15 8 (6)
2015–2016 Netherlands U16 16 (15)
2016 Netherlands U17 7 (15)
2017–2019 Netherlands U19 38 (33)
2018 Netherlands U20 6 (2)
2019–2023 Netherlands U23 10 (5)
2020– Netherlands 8 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 April 2023

Club career

Smits started her youth career with OJC Rosmalen at the age of six.[2] She spent eight years there playing alongside boys before moving to Brabant United. In 2015, she moved to CTO Eindhoven.[3]

In May 2017, Smits signed her first professional contract with Eredivisie club Twente.[4] She made her debut on 1 September in a 3–0 league win against Zwolle. She scored in 58th minute of the game before being replaced by Bente Jansen.[5] She scored 25 goals from 21 league matches during the 2018–19 season to help her club win the league title.[6]

In February 2019, it was confirmed that Smits would join PSV prior to the 2019–20 season.[7] She was the league top scorer when football leagues across Netherlands were suspended by Dutch government in March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.[8]

On 15 September 2020, German Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg announced that Smits has signed a three-year contract with the club which would be valid from 1 July 2021.[9] On 5 June 2021, she played her last match for PSV in the cup final against ADO Den Haag. She scored the only goal in the match to win PSV's first trophy in their history. With 52 goals from 45 matches, Smits left the club as PSV's all-time top scorer.[10]

During her only season with Wolfsburg, Smits won German league and domestic cup titles.[11] On 3 June 2022, her contract with the club was terminated by mutual agreement.[12] She returned to her former club PSV on the same day, where she signed a three-year contract until June 2025.[13]

International career

Smits is a former Dutch youth international and has represented her nation with different age level teams. On 21 October 2016, she scored seven goals in her team's 11–0 win against Bulgaria during 2017 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualifiers.[14] She was also part of Netherlands under-19 team which reached semi-finals of UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in 2017 and 2019.[15][16] With 33 goals from 38 matches, she is all-time leading appearance maker and all-time top scorer of under-19 team.[17]

Smits made her senior team debut on 4 March 2020 in a friendly against Brazil. She came on as an 84th-minute substitute for Vivianne Miedema as the match ended in a goalless draw.[18] On 16 June 2021, Smits was named as a stand-by player for 2020 Olympics.[19] On 20 July, she was added to the final squad as a replacement for injured Sherida Spitse.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of 27 November 2022[1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Twente 2017–18 Eredivisie 242010——2520
2018–19 Eredivisie 212535——2430
Total 45454500004950
PSV 2019–20 Eredivisie 12161165—1922
2020–21 Eredivisie 18233332222630
Total 30394497224552
VfL Wolfsburg 2021–22 Frauen-Bundesliga 13122—21174
VfL Wolfsburg II 2021–22 2. Frauen-Bundesliga 43———43
PSV 2022–23 Eredivisie 830000—83
Career total 1009110119743123112

    International
    As of 30 November 2021[1]
    Appearances and goals by national team and year
    National teamYearAppsGoals
    Netherlands
    202030
    202151
    Total81
    Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Smits goal.
    List of international goals scored by Joëlle Smits
    No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
    122 October 2021AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, Larnaca, Cyprus Cyprus7–08–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification

    Honours

    Club

    Twente

    PSV

    VfL Wolfsburg

    Individual

    References
    1. Joëlle Smits at Soccerway
    2. "Voor Joëlle Smits is voetbal haar lust en leven". 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
    3. "PSV-aanvaller Joëlle Smits: 'Als meisje van zes zag ik de jongens voetballen. Toen wist ik: dit wil ik ook'". 29 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
    4. "Groot talent Joëlle Smits gaat bij FC Twente voetballen". 8 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
    5. "PEC Zwolle vs. Twente - 1 September 2017 - Soccerway". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
    6. "Smits: I'm proud to play for this Netherlands team". 25 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
    7. "Topscorer Joëlle Smits voor 3 seizoenen naar PSV". 20 February 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
    8. "TOT EN MET 31 MAART GEEN VOETBAL IN NEDERLAND". 12 March 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
    9. "Verstärkung für die kommende Saison". Retrieved 19 September 2020.
    10. "Met doelpunt 52 bezorgt Joëlle Smits PSV de beker". 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
    11. "So deutlich wie nie: VfL-Frauen stellen DFB-Pokal-Rekord ein". 29 May 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
    12. "Joelle Smits verlässt den VfL Wolfsburg". 3 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
    13. "Oplossing voor spitsenprobleem PSV is daar: clubtopscorer Joëlle Smits keert terug". 3 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
    14. "Bulgaria-Netherlands 0-11". Retrieved 9 May 2021.
    15. "DEFINITIEVE EK-SELECTIE VROUWEN ONDER 19 BEKEND". 30 July 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
    16. "DEFINITIEVE EK-SELECTIE VROUWEN ONDER 19". 5 July 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
    17. "JOËLLE SMITS BREEKT ALLE RECORDS MET VROUWEN ONDER 19". 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
    18. "Netherlands vs. Brazil - 4 March 2020 - Soccerway". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
    19. "Joëlle Smits uit Den Bosch niet in Olympische voetbalselectie". 16 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
    20. "Voetbalster Spitse mist Olympische Spelen door knieblessure, Smits bij selectie". 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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