Jill Jamie Roord (born 22 April 1997) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. In 1990 the German Foo ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

and the Netherlands national team. She previously played for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the English Women’s Super League,

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

in the German Frauen-Bundesliga and won multiple Dutch national titles with

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

in the top Dutch league. During the

2015–16 Eredivisie The 2015–16 Eredivisie season was the 60th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. Defending champions PSV retained their title. Teams A total of 18 teams took part in the league: the top 15 teams from the 2014–15 seaso ...

season, she was the top scorer in the league. In 2017, Roord represented the Netherlands in their victorious

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national team ...

campaign and competed at the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

in France two years later at the age of 22.

Early life

Born and raised in

Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border. It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the city ...

, a city in the eastern province of Overijssel, Jill's father is former Dutch footballer, René Roord. Her mother played basketball. As a young child, Roord was always playing football outside with boys, her friends and brothers before and after school. She joined a club for the first time at age five. Her idol was

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

Club career

FC Twente, 2013–2017

Roord started her career in 2008 at the under-13 team of

and quickly progressed through the youth teams. At the age of 16 she made her debut in the first team. She helped the team to win the

BeNe League The BeNe League was the highest women's football league in Belgium and the Netherlands. To increase competitiveness in their national leagues, the BeNe League was a joint cooperation between the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Royal Du ...

(Belgian and Dutch leagues combined in a single League played between 2012 and 2015) twice, the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

(Dutch League) once and the

KNVB Women's Cup The KNVB Women's Cup ( nl, KNVB Beker voor Vrouwen) is the cup competition for women's football in the Netherlands. The competition was established in 1980, along with the KNVB Amateur Cup. From the 2007-08 season onwards, the first round of th ...

(Dutch Cup) once. Also with the club she made her debut at the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

in 2013. On 1 April 2017, she played her 100th match for the club.

Bayern Munich, 2017–2019

Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Roord signed a two-year contract with

to play in Germany's top league,

. On 2 September 2017, she made her debut for the club in a 3–0 win over SGS Essen. On 15 October 2017, she scored her first goal in a 2–0 home victory against

SC Sand SC Sand is a German sport club from Willstätt, Baden-Württemberg. The club was founded on 11 August 1946 and competes in football, aerobics, judo and qigong. The club is most known for its women's football section which plays in the Bundesliga ...

. During her first season with the club, Roord scored six goals in the 17 games in which she played. Bayern Munich finished in second place during the regular season with a record. Her six goals tied with two other players as the third top goal scorers on the team. On 4 October 2017, Roord made her first

appearance for the club in a 1–0 away loss to Chelsea. During the 2018–19 season, Roord scored 7 goals in 19 appearances for Bayern Munich. Early in the season, head coach

Thomas Wörle Thomas Wörle (born 11 February 1982) is a German former footballer who is the manager of SSV Ulm 1846. He is the brother of former Bayern Munich striker Tanja Wörle and succeeded his father Günther Wörle as coach of the club's women's team.< ...

was quoted, "You can already say that Jill is one of the greatest talents in Europe. In the past six months, she has been extremely tough, scoring and preparing a lot of goals." Bayern Munich finished in second place with a record. On 5 May 2019, Roord announced she would be leaving Bayern München at the end of the season. Nine days later, her signing with Arsenal was announced.

Arsenal, 2019–2021

Roord signed with

on 14 May 2019. During a friendly match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, she scored a hat-trick lifting Arsenal to a 6–0 win. Roord scored two goals in the fourteen games in which she played during the

2019–20 FA WSL The 2019–20 FA WSL season (also known as the Barclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the second season after the rebranding of the ...

season. Arsenal finished in third place during the regular season with a record and were runners-up for the league cup after being defeated by Chelsea 2–1 during the final. During the

2020–21 FA WSL The 2020–21 FA WSL season (also known as the Barclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the third season after the rebranding of the f ...

season, Roord scored two consecutive hat-tricks in the team's season-opening matches again Reading and West Ham United. She was named Player of the Month for September by the league and the first women's footballer ever to be named in the DAZN European Team of the Week. She sat out some games due to a knee injury she endured during an international match against Russia.

VfL Wolfsburg, 2021–present

On 10 May 2021, It was announced that Roord would be joining

side

in the summer from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, Roord signed a contract with Wolfsburg until 2024. On 12 September Roord scored her first goal for VfL Wolfsburg in a league match against

a game they would win 4-0.

International career

Roord has represented the Netherlands on the senior national team and various youth national teams including the under-19, under-17, under-16, and under-15 squads. Roord completed at and won the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship in 2014.

Senior national team, 2015–present

She made her debut for the senior team on 7 February 2015 during a match against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. In May 2015, she was named to the 23-player roster called to represent Netherlands at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

. In June 2017, she was in the 23-player squad that won the

, a historical first for the Netherlands. After the tournament ended, Roord and her teammates were honoured by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Sport and made Knights of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

2019–20: FIFA Women's Cup and UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying

In 2019, Roord was called to represent the Netherlands in the

in France. She scored the Netherlands' game-winning goal during the team's first match of the tournament against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, marking the first Netherlands goal at the tournament. Her 92nd-minute goal after being subbed cemented the foundation for the Netherlands' group E lead. During the team's second group stage match against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, Roord was subbed in the 71st minute during the Netherlands' 3–1 win. After the Dutch defeated Canada 2–1 and finished at the top of Group E, they advanced to the knockout stage where they defeated 2011 champions,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

2–1, with Roord subbing in the 87th minute. Roord subbed in during the 87th minute of the team's quarterfinal win against Italy and advanced to the semifinals – a first in the Netherlands team's history. During the semi-final match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, Roord played in the defender position in front of 48,452 spectators in Lyon. The defense kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

and the Netherlands won 1–0 advancing to the final against 2015 champions, the United States. Roord subbed in during the 66th minute of the Final after the United States took a 2–0 lead and eventual win. Roord was named to the squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying matches (2021 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic). During a match against Estonia on 30 August 2019, she scored the Netherlands' second goal of the team's 7–0 win. Roord scored the Netherlands' game-winning goal in the 1–0 win against Russia on 18 September further cementing the team's place at the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Roord goal.''

Honours

FC Twente *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

*, 2013–14*, 2014–15*, 2015–16 *

topscorer: 2015–16 *

: 2014–15 *During the BeNe League period (2012 to 2015), the highest placed Netherlands team is considered as national champion by the Royal Dutch Football Association. Arsenal * FA Women's League Cup runners-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Netherlands U19 * UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Netherlands * UEFA Women's Euro:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Algarve Cup:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

runners-up Individual * WSL Player of the Month: September 2020 * DAZN European Team of the Week