Max de Waal

Last updated

Max de Waal
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 24)
Place of birth Hoorn, Netherlands
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Position(s)
Youth career
2007–2012 Always Forward
2011–2013 HV Veerhuys
2012–2013 Hollandia
2013–2019 Ajax
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2019–2023 Jong Ajax 41 (11)
2022 → PEC Zwolle (loan) 7 (0)
2022–2023 → ADO Den Haag (loan) 18 (2)
2023–2026 Willem II 16 (1)
2024–2025 → VVV-Venlo (loan) 18 (2)
International career
2017 Netherlands U15 2 (0)
2018 Netherlands U16 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:51, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Max de Waal (born 10 January 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder.

Contents

Club career

Ajax

De Waal began his football career with Always Forward, based in his hometown Hoorn, [2] for whom he played until 2012. He also played for HV Veerhuys for three years while playing for Always Forward. [3] [4] He then moved to Hollandia for a year before moving to the renowned Ajax youth academy. [5] In 2017–18, he made one appearance for the under-17 team. In the following season he established himself in the team and scored nine goals in 26 games. In 2019–20, De Waal mainly played for the under-19 team, including in the UEFA Youth League. [6]

He made his first appearance for Jong Ajax in the second-tier Eerste Divisie in a match against Jong PSV on 16 September 2019. He came on in the 69th minute for Alex Mendez and scored the 2–0 winner in stoppage time. [7] During the season he was utilised once more in the Eerste Divisie. [8] In the following season, he played more regularly for the Jong Ajax team. [9] However, he would only signed his first professional contract with Jong Ajax in December 2020. [10]

Loans

In January 2022, De Waal extended his contract with Ajax but immediately went out on loan to bottom of the table side PEC Zwolle. [11] He made his debut for the side on 5 February 2022, replacing Mustafa Saymak in the 81st minute of a 1–1 home draw against NEC. [12] [13] De Waal made seven appearances for PEC – all as a substitute – as the club suffered relegation to the Eerste Divisie at the end of the season. [14] [15]

On 24 June 2022, after returning to Ajax, De Waal was sent on a one-season loan to Eerste Divisie club ADO Den Haag. [16] He made his ADO debut under new head coach Dirk Kuyt on the first matchday of the 2022–23 season, starting in midfield in a resounding 4–0 defeat against recently relegated Heracles Almelo; all goals fell in the first half. [17] [18] On 28 August, De Waal scored his first goal for the club against his parent club Jong Ajax, adding an assist to help ADO to a 4–0 home win. [19] Following Kuyt's dismissal in November 2022, De Waal was utilised less frequently and mainly appeared as a substitute during his successor Dick Advocaat's tenure during the latter part of the season. [20] De Waal scored twice in 21 appearances for ADO, before returning to Ajax in June 2023. [21]

Willem II

On 12 July 2023, De Waal signed a three-year contract with Eerste Divisie club Willem II. [22] He made his competitive debut for the club on the first matchday of the season, starting in a 1–1 away draw against FC Eindhoven on 13 August. [23] On 6 October, he scored his first goal for the Tricolores in a 4–2 league victory against De Graafschap after coming on as a second-half substitute. [24]

On 2 September 2024, De Waal joined VVV-Venlo on a season-long loan from Willem II. [25] He returned to his parent club at the end of the season. [26]

In January 2026, De Waal's contract with Willem II was terminated by mutual consent, six months before its scheduled expiry. He had not featured in the matchday squad in the preceding months, with his final appearance for the club coming in August 2025. [27]

International career

De Waal has played for two Netherlands national youth teams, but has yet to play in a major tournament. [28]

Career statistics

As of match played 29 August 2025 [14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Jong Ajax 2019–20 Eerste Divisie 21———21
2020–21 Eerste Divisie191———191
2021–22 Eerste Divisie209———209
2022–23 Eerste Divisie00———00
Total4111———4111
PEC Zwolle (loan) 2021–22 Eredivisie 7000——70
ADO Den Haag (loan) 2022–23 Eerste Divisie18230——211
Willem II 2023–24 Eerste Divisie14110——151
2024–25 Eredivisie0000—0000
2025–26 Eerste Divisie2000——20
Total16110—00171
VVV-Venlo (loan) 2024–25 Eerste Divisie18210——192
Career total1001650000010516

    References

    1. ↑ "M. de Waal". Voetbal International. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
    2. ↑ "Hoorns talent Max de Waal tekent profcontract bij Ajax". OnsWestfriesland (in Dutch). 5 December 2020.
    3. ↑ "Max de Waal naar Ajax". HV Veerhuys (in Dutch). 9 February 2013.
    4. ↑ "Always Forward-talent Max de Waal gaat als een speer bij AJAX". S.V. Always Forward (in Dutch). 26 January 2018.
    5. ↑ "Ajax contracteert Max de Waal - Amsterdamsdagblad.nl". Amsterdamsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 5 December 2020.
    6. ↑ "Max de Waal » Youth Youth League 2019/2020". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    7. ↑ "Jong Ajax geeft alvast goede voorbeeld tegen Jong PSV". www.ajaxlife.nl (in Dutch). 17 September 2019.
    8. ↑ "Max de Waal » Eerste Divisie 2019/2020". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    9. ↑ "Max de Waal » Eerste Divisie 2020/2021". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    10. ↑ "De Waal tekent contract: 'Was het wachten waard'". Ajax (in Dutch). 4 December 2020.
    11. ↑ Schot, Vincent (4 January 2022). "Max de Waal verlengt zijn contract bij Ajax en gaat op huurbasis naar PEC Zwolle: Ik ben doordrongen van de enige doelstelling voor het komende half jaar: handhaving". Noordhollands Dagblad (in Dutch).
    12. ↑ "Hekkensluiter PEC sleept met tien man punt uit het vuur tegen NEC". NOS (in Dutch). 5 February 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
    13. ↑ "PEC Zwolle vs. NEC – 5 February 2022". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
    14. 1 2 Max de Waal at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
    15. ↑ "PEC Zwolle na tien jaar eredivisie gedegradeerd na nederlaag bij Sparta". NOS (in Dutch). 11 May 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
    16. ↑ "ADO Den Haag huurt Max de Waal voor een seizoen". ADO Den Haag (in Dutch). 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
    17. ↑ "Horrordebuut voor Kuyt: Heracles walst met 4-0 over ADO Den Haag heen". Voetbalnieuws (in Dutch). 5 August 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
    18. ↑ "ADO Den Haag kent valse start van het nieuwe seizoen en verliest 4–0 van Heracles Almelo". ADO Den Haag (in Dutch). 5 August 2022. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
    19. ↑ "Kuijt kan eindelijk juichen met ADO: 4–0 winst op Jong Ajax". NOS (in Dutch). 28 August 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
    20. ↑ Bruijn, Thijs de (16 April 2023). "Komen ze terug of blijven ze weg? Dit is het perspectief voor de verhuurde Ajax-spelers". ELF Voetbal (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
    21. ↑ Velzel, Bas; Schravendijk, Jasper van (30 June 2023). "Traditionele bosloop Ajax weer gehouden in Amsterdamse Bos: Hato en Wijndal verdwaald". AT5 (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
    22. ↑ "WELKOM MAX!" [WELCOME MAX!] (in Dutch). Willem II. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
    23. ↑ "Willem II vs. De Graafschap 1–1: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
    24. ↑ Willemsen, Raymond (6 October 2023). "De Graafschap zakt keihard voor examen in Tilburg" . Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 October 2023.
    25. ↑ "VVV-Venlo neemt De Waal op huurbasis over van Willem II" [VVV-Venlo takes over De Waal on loan from Willem II] (in Dutch). VVV-Venlo. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
    26. ↑ "VVV-Venlo neemt na dit seizoen afscheid van spelers met aflopend contract" [VVV-Venlo to part ways with out-of-contract players after this season]. VVV-Venlo (in Dutch). 4 May 2025. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
    27. ↑ Aert, Dolf van (6 January 2026). "Willem II neemt per direct afscheid van overbodige aanvaller" [Willem II part ways immediately with surplus striker]. Brabants Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 January 2026.
    28. ↑ "Max de Waal - OnsOranje". Ons Oranje (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 April 2021.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.