Robin van Persie in a Netherlands national football team training top watching an airborne football
Van Persie in 2014

Robin van Persie is a Dutch retired professional footballer who played for the Netherlands national football team as a striker. He made his debut for the Netherlands in June 2005, coming on as a substitute for Ruud van Nistelrooy in a 2–0 victory over Romania.[1] His first international goal came in his next appearance for the Netherlands, scoring the final goal in a 4–0 win against Finland in Helsinki during the qualification campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[1] As of March 2023, Van Persie is the Netherlands' all-time top scorer, with 50 goals in 102 appearances, ahead of Memphis Depay (44 in 88) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (42 in 76). He became the country's leading scorer in 2013, when he surpassed former leader Patrick Kluivert's tally of 40 goals.[2] Van Persie made his 102nd and final appearance for the Netherlands in August 2017.[3]

Van Persie scored two hat-tricks during his international career. In September 2011, he scored four goals in an 11–0 victory against San Marino in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match. He also scored three goals in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in an 8–1 win against Hungary in October 2013.[3] He also scored twice in a single match on seven occasions.[3] Van Persie scored more goals against Hungary (six) than any other nation.[3] Twenty of his goals were scored in the Amsterdam Arena.[3]

Van Persie scored more goals in friendlies than in any other format, with fifteen. He scored thirteen goals in qualifying for both the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, six in FIFA World Cup finals, and three in the UEFA Euro finals.[3]

International goals

Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first.
Key
‡ Indicates goal was scored from a penalty kick
G C Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref
1 2 8 June 2005 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland  Finland 4–0 4–0 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [1]
2 12 16 June 2006 Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, Germany  Ivory Coast 1–0 2–1 2006 FIFA World Cup [4]
3 15 16 August 2006 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland 4–0 4–0 Friendly [5]
4 17 6 September 2006 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  Belarus 1–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifier [6]
5 2–0
6 18 7 October 2006 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria  Bulgaria 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifier [7]
7 19 11 October 2006 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Albania 1–0 2–1 UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifier [8]
8 26 13 June 2008 Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland  France 2–0 4–1 UEFA Euro 2008 [9]
9 27 17 June 2008 Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland  Romania 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008 [10]
10 29 20 August 2008 Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia  Russia 1–0 1–1 Friendly [11]
11 33 19 November 2008 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Sweden 1–0 3–1 Friendly [12]
12 3–1
13 35 28 March 2009 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Scotland 2–0 3–0 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [13]
14 39 5 September 2009 De Grolsch Veste, Enschede, Netherlands  Japan 1–0 3–0 Friendly [14]
15 42 26 May 2010 Badenova-Stadion, Freiburg, Germany  Mexico 1–0 2–1 Friendly [15]
16 2–0
17 43 1 June 2010 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Ghana 4–1‡ 4–1 Friendly [16]
18 44 5 June 2010 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Hungary 1–1 6–1 Friendly [17]
19 47 24 June 2010 Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa  Cameroon 1–0 2–1 2010 FIFA World Cup [18]
20 53 25 March 2011 Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest, Hungary  Hungary 4–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifier [19]
21 54 29 March 2011 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Hungary 1–0 5–3 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifier [20]
22 57 2 September 2011 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  San Marino 1–0 11–0 UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifier [21]
23 6–0
24 7–0
25 9–0
26 63 26 May 2012 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Bulgaria 1–0 1–2 Friendly [22]
27 65 2 June 2012 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Northern Ireland 1–0 6–0 Friendly [23]
28 3–0‡
29 67 13 June 2012 Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine  Germany 1–2 1–2 UEFA Euro 2012 [24]
30 69 7 September 2012 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Turkey 1–0 2–0 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [25]
31 71 16 October 2012 Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania  Romania 4–1 4–1 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [26]
32 73 22 March 2013 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Estonia 2–0 3–0 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [27]
33 74 26 March 2013 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Romania 2–0 4–0 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [28]
34 3–0‡
35 76 11 June 2013 Workers' Stadium, Beijing, China  China 1–0‡ 2–0 Friendly [29]
36 78 6 September 2013 A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 2–2‡ 2–2 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [30]
37 79 10 September 2013 Estadi Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra  Andorra 1–0 2–0 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [31]
38 2–0
39 80 11 October 2013 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Hungary 1–0 8–1 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier [32]
40 4–0
41 5–1
42 83 17 May 2014 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Ecuador 1–1 1–1 Friendly [33]
43 84 31 May 2014 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Ghana 1–0 1–0 Friendly [34]
44 86 13 June 2014 Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil  Spain 1–1 5–1 2014 FIFA World Cup [35]
45 4–1
46 87 18 June 2014 Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil  Australia 2–2 3–2 2014 FIFA World Cup [36]
47 91 12 July 2014 Estádio Nacional, Brasília, Brazil  Brazil 1–0‡ 3–0 2014 FIFA World Cup [37]
48 94 10 October 2014 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Kazakhstan 3–1‡ 3–1 UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifier [38]
49 96 16 November 2014 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Latvia 1–0 6–0 UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifier [39]
50 101 13 October 2015 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Czech Republic 2–3 2–3 UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifier [40]

Hat-tricks

See also: List of Netherlands national football team hat-tricks
No. Date Venue Opponent Goals Result Competition Ref.
1 2 September 2011 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands  San Marino 4 – (7', 65', 67', 79') 11–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying [21]
2 11 October 2013 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Hungary 3 – (16', 44', 53') 8–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification [32]

Statistics

References

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  2. ^ Stokkermans, Karel (14 September 2017). "Goalscoring for Dutch National Team". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
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