Memphis Depay has equaled Robin van Persie as the all-time leading scorer for the Dutch national team. The striker scored twice in the World Cup qualifier against Malta, bringing him to fifty international goals.
The 31-year-old Memphis converted a penalty in Groningen after nine minutes. In the sixteenth minute, the forward fired from the edge of the penalty area, scoring his fiftieth goal for the Dutch national team.
Memphis needed 102 international matches to equal Van Persie’s goalscoring record. Van Persie needed one less international match to reach fifty international goals. He ended his international career in 2017 after 102 international matches.
The match between the Netherlands and Malta is still in progress, so Memphis may already be the all-time leading scorer for the Dutch national team tonight.
Memphis made his debut for the Dutch national team in 2013 in the World Cup qualifier against Turkey (0-2 victory), as a substitute for Jeremain Lens. Only a year later, at the World Cup in Brazil, he scored his first international goal.
Memphis experienced his major breakthrough at that tournament, which led to a transfer to Manchester United a year later for the forward from PSV. He then played in another World Cup (2022) and two European Championships (2021 and 2024).
Memphis working on comeback in Oranje
Memphis pushed Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from second place in the top scorers list 2.5 years ago, but then things went wrong for the former striker of PSV, Manchester United, Olympique Lyonnais, FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.
After the European Championship last summer, where he dropped out with an injury in the lost semi-final against England, Memphis was without a club for a while and disappeared from the radar of national coach Ronald Koeman.
Even when he signed with the Brazilian club Corinthians, a return of Memphis to Oranje was a long time coming. Only in March did Koeman select him again, for the quarter-finals of the Nations League against Spain.
Since then, Memphis has also been Koeman’s first choice in the striker position. On Saturday, he scored his 48th international goal in the World Cup qualifier against Finland.
