Matthijs de Ligt (born 12 August 1999) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

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 ...

and the Netherlands national team. De Ligt made his debut for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

's senior team in September 2016 in a cup game against Willem II. He scored from a corner after 25 minutes, making him the second-youngest goalscorer ever behind

Clarence Seedorf Clarence Clyde Seedorf (; born 1 April 1976) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is regarded by many to be one of the best midfielders of his generation. Seedorf is considered one of the most successful players in UEF ...

. On 24 May, he became the youngest player ever (17 years and 285 days old) to play in a major European final when he started against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the

2017 UEFA Europa League Final The 2017 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 8th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Euro ...

. On 17 December 2018, De Ligt won the Golden Boy award, becoming the first defender to win the award. The following season, he helped Ajax capture a domestic double and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. His performances earned him a move to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, and saw him win the

Kopa Trophy The Kopa Trophy is an association football award presented to the best performing player under the age of 21. It is organised by ''France Football.'' The award is named after former French footballer Raymond Kopa and the winner is selected by fo ...

in 2019. He won the

title during his first season with the Turin side. In 2017, De Ligt made his debut for the Netherlands at the age of 17, making him the youngest player to start for the national team since 1931. He featured for the side at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Club career

Ajax

De Ligt joined the Ajax youth academy when he was nine years old from his local club in

Abcoude Abcoude () is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Since 2011 it has been part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen. Population centres The former municipality of Abcoude consisted of the villages Abco ...

, just outside of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. At first the coaches at the youth academy thought he was too slow and out of shape, but he was given a chance to develop in the academy and went on to prove his quality.

2016–17: Jong Ajax and development

He made his debut for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

on 8 August 2016 in an

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

game against

FC Emmen FC Emmen is a Dutch football club based in Emmen, Drenthe. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, after winning the 2021–22 Eerste Divisie title. Founded in 1925, the club entered the professional Eerste Divisie in 1985. I ...

, playing the full game. During the season, De Ligt played in 17 matches for Jong Ajax. On 21 September, De Ligt made his debut for Ajax's senior team in a cup game against Willem II. He scored from a corner after 25 minutes, making him the second-youngest goalscorer ever behind

; Ajax won the game 5–0. On 24 October, Ajax announced through

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that De Ligt had been promoted to the senior squad. De Ligt quickly established himself in the first team after being promoted and went on to play in 11 league matches and nine in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 24 May, he became the youngest player ever (17 years and 285 days old) to play in a major European final when he started against

in the

2017–19: Breakthrough and captaincy

After the sale of

Davinson Sánchez Davinson Sánchez Mina (born 12 June 1996) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Tottenham Hotspur and the Colombia national team. Despite initially coming through América de Cali's youth academy, Sánc ...

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 ...

in August 2017, De Ligt became a first-team starter. He was named the youngest

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Ajax in March 2018 after injury to club captain

Joël Veltman Joël Ivo Veltman (born 15 January 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Netherlands national team. A product of the Ajax youth academy, Veltman made 246 appeara ...

. De Ligt appeared in 37 matches in all competitions and scored three goals. He started in all of his 31 league matches and played 90 minutes in all but one of them (he was substituted in the 33rd minute against

SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally as well Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, football club located in the municipality of Arnhem. Establish ...

due to an injury). Due to De Ligt's performances for Ajax, he was linked with many of Europe's top clubs. On 17 December 2018, De Ligt won the Golden Boy award, becoming the first defender to win the award. On 13 February 2019, De Ligt became the youngest ever captain in a Champions League knockout game at 19 years and 186 days old, in a game against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. On 27 February 2019, he played his 100th official game for Ajax in a 0–3

Klassieker De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam. History Amsterdam vs Rott ...

win against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

in the Dutch national cup, becoming the youngest Ajax player ever to reach this milestone. On 16 April 2019, De Ligt scored the winning goal in the Champions League quarter-final against

to send Ajax on to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since the 1996–97 edition of the tournament. His goal also saw him become the youngest Dutch player to score in the knockout stages since

Nordin Wooter Nordin Wooter (born 24 August 1976) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right-winger. Club career Wooter was born in Breda, and started playing at OSV and AVV Zeeburgia before joining the youth academy of Ajax. He entered ...

in 1996 and the second-youngest ever defender to score after

Joël Matip Job Joël André Matip (born 8 August 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Liverpool. Matip began his professional career with Schalke 04 in 2009, and was part of their teams that won the DFB-Pokal and DFL-S ...

Juventus

On 18 July 2019, De Ligt signed for

champions

on a five-year contract for a fee of €75 million, to be paid in five annual installments, with additional costs of €10.5 million. He made his official debut for the club in a 4–3 home win over

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in Serie A on 31 August. On 3 November, he scored his first for the club in a 1–0 away win over cross-city rivals

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

in the ''

Derby della Mole The Derby della Mole is the local derby played out between Turin's most prominent football clubs, Juventus and Torino. It is also known as the Derby di Torino or the Turin Derby in English. It is named after the Mole Antonelliana, a major landma ...

''.

Bayern Munich

On 19 July 2022, De Ligt signed for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

champions

on five-year contract for a reported initial fee of €67 million, potentially rising to €77 million in add-ons. On 21 August, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 7–0 away win over

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous Germany, German federal state o ...

International career

On 25 March 2017, De Ligt made his debut for the Dutch national team in a 2–0 away defeat to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

match. National team coach,

Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national te ...

, called De Ligt up for the national team despite having only started two league games for Ajax. At the age of 17, he became the youngest player to start for the national team since 1931. During the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

, De Ligt started and played 90 minutes in all four group matches against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as the Netherlands won the group and qualified for the inaugural Nations League Finals. In the semi-finals on 5 June, he scored a header against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as his team secured a spot in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, where the Netherlands would be defeated 0–1 by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. On 27 June 2021, he was sent off for handball in the

round of 16 against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, in which the Netherlands later conceded two goals and were eliminated from the competition.

Style of play

De Ligt is considered by pundits to be among the most highly regarded young prospects in world football, as demonstrated by his victory in the 2018 Golden Boy award, which is assigned to the most impressive young player in European football. Having played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

in his youth, De Ligt is both a physical and technically gifted right-footed

, who is known for his clean tackling, anticipation, marking, height, strength, speed and accurate passing, which enables him to start attacking plays from the back. His height allows him to be a major threat from

set piece In film production, a set piece is a scene or sequence of scenes whose execution requires complex logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term is often also used more broadly to describe a sequence in which the film-maker's ...

s, while his strength means that he is unlikely to be pushed off the ball, particularly in aerial duels. His playing style is often compared to that of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

defender

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué ...

; he has also been likened to

Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Anderlecht and the Belgium national team. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior car ...

, due to his "similar forward surges, a propensity to create an extra man in midfield, and calmness on the ball," and to compatriot

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

, courtesy of his "powerful shot and body strength." A 2019 ''

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

.com'' profile described De Ligt as a "natural leader hois an elegant two-footed central defender. Dominant in the air, he is blessed with strength, fine distribution and composure, and is able to play out from the back thanks to his confidence in possession, while his intelligent positioning helps him deny pacy forwards. With his ability to read the game, he could even play in midfield. His leadership also stands him out: he was 18 when he was made Ajax skipper." That same year, Paul Wilkes of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' wrote that "De Ligt's ability to play out from the back and organise his fellow teammates are valuable commodities in a time when the lack of quality defenders has been highlighted." Former

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

defender

Jamie Carragher James Lee Duncan Carragher (; born 28 January 1978) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool during a career which spanned 17 years. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's vic ...

praised De Ligt for his "physical attributes" and "leadership qualities". Carragher also said he plays "like he's 24 or 25" indicating maturity and strength. Of De Ligt, former Netherlands centre-back

Jaap Stam Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including P ...

said: "He's got composure on the ball, he's aggressive tactically, he sees the game, he reads the game well and he's got that driving force for himself as well in what you need to achieve and where you want to go to." Upon signing with Juventus,

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and 2 ...

, one of the club's former managers, said of the defender's precocious performances: "I've seen plenty of greats, like

Alessandro Nesta Alessandro Nesta (; born 19 March 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Usually deployed as a centre-back, he is widely considered one of the best defenders of all time. He was best known for his pace, artistic tac ...

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

Ciro Ferrara Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to ...

Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento. A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at Napo ...

, and

Marco Materazzi Marco Materazzi (; born 19 August 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. Early in his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Everton in the Premier League. He spent two per ...

. I've never seen anyone like that at his age." In 2019, Giacomo Chiuchiolo described De Ligt as a "complete" and talented young defender, saying that although he is not exceptionally quick, he possesses excellent positioning and an ability to read the game, among his other technical and physical qualities. Despite his talent, he has at times come under criticism in the media for being inconsistent due to his tendency to commit occasional lapses or errors. In October 2019, his

defensive teammate

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

said he believes that De Ligt will overcome these weaknesses with time, as he matures and gains more experience with age, and successfully adapts to the team's new defensive strategy under manager

Maurizio Sarri Maurizio Sarri (; born 10 January 1959) is an Italian professional football manager who is the current manager of club Lazio. Sarri did not play football professionally, taking part as an amateur centre back and coach while working as a banker. ...

, who uses a

zonal marking In association football, marking is an organized defensive tactic which aims to prevent a member of the opposing team (usually a striker) from taking control of the ball. Several marking strategies exist in football, and they mostly differ from e ...

system rather than

man-to-man marking In association football, marking is an organized defensive tactic which aims to prevent a member of the opposing team (usually a striker) from taking control of the ball. Several marking strategies exist in football, and they mostly differ from e ...

Personal life

De Ligt is in a relationship with Dutch model Annekee Molenaar, daughter of

Keje Molenaar Cornelis Ignatius Maria (Keje) Molenaar (born 29 September 1958 in Volendam) is a retired Dutch footballer who was active as a defender. Molenaar made his professional debut at FC Volendam and also played for Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord Rotterd ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Ajax *

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 ...

: 2018–19 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2018–19 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Juventus *

: 2019–20 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

; runner-up: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

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- ...

Bayern Munich * DFL-Supercup:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Netherlands *

runner-up:

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 ...

Individual * ABN AMRO Future Cup Best Player: 2015 *

Copa Amsterdam The Copa Amsterdam (''known for sponsorship reasons as the'' Aegon Copa Amsterdam), formerly known as the ''Gestion Copa Amsterdam'', is an annual youth football tournament, organized and hosted by AFC Ajax for under-19 youth teams which takes pl ...

Best Player: 2015 * Ajax Talent of the Future (Sjaak Swart Award): 2016 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

Team of the Tournament:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

* Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award): 2018 *UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2016–17 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

Squad of the Season: 2018–19 *Eredivisie Team of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Johan Cruyff Trophy The title Dutch Footballer of the Year (Dutch: ''Voetballer van het Jaar'') has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984. The award is determined by a poll of Dutch professional footballers playing in the First (Eredivisie) and Second (Eerste Divi ...

: 2017–18 *

Dutch Footballer of the Year The title Dutch Footballer of the Year (Dutch: ''Voetballer van het Jaar'') has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984. The award is determined by a poll of Dutch professional footballers playing in the First (Eredivisie) and Second (Eerste Divi ...

: 2018–19 * Golden Boy: 2018 * FIFA FIFPro World11:

* IFFHS Men's World Team: 2019 *

UEFA Team of the Year The UEFA Fan's Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its official website. This award started in 2001 and allows users of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their ove ...

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Bayern Munich website
Profile
at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ligt, Matthijs de 1999 births Living people People from Leiderdorp Footballers from South Holland Dutch footballers Association football defenders Jong Ajax players AFC Ajax players Juventus F.C. players FC Bayern Munich footballers Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Serie A players Bundesliga players Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Golden Boy winners Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy