Owen Wijndal

Owen Wijndal

Wijndal with Ajax in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Owen Colin Wijndal
Date of birth	(1999-11-28) 28 November 1999 (age 24)
Place of birth	Zaandam, Netherlands
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s)	Left-back
Team information
Current team	Ajax
Number	5
Youth career
	ZVV Zaandijk
0000–2010	HFC Haarlem
2010–2018	AZ
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2019	Jong AZ	59	(2)
2017–2022	AZ	105	(3)
2022–	Ajax	24	(0)
2023–2024	→ Antwerp (loan)	29	(1)
International career‡
2013–2014	Netherlands U15	5	(0)
2014	Netherlands U16	3	(0)
2015–2016	Netherlands U17	12	(0)
2015	Netherlands U18	3	(0)
2016–2018	Netherlands U19	15	(0)
2018–2019	Netherlands U20	6	(0)
2019	Netherlands U21	6	(0)
2020–2021	Netherlands	11	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 October 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 04:00, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

Owen Colin Wijndal (born 28 November 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Eredivisie club Ajax. He also plays for the Netherlands national team.

Club career

AZ

Born in Zaandam, Wijndal joined the AZ youth academy at the age of 10, having formerly played for local sides ZVV Zaandijk and HFC Haarlem. ^[2] He was promoted to the second team for the 2016–17 season playing in the third-tier Tweede Divisie. On 4 February 2017, Wijndal made his first-team debut for AZ, starting in a 4–2 home loss to PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie due to injuries to regular starter Ridgeciano Haps and backup Thomas Ouwejan. ^[3] The end of the 2016–17 season saw AZ end on sixth place and thereby qualifying for domestic play-offs for participation in the third qualifying round of the Europa League the following season. They eventually missed out on European football, losing to FC Utrecht on penalties after two legs. ^[4] That season, Wijndal also made 24 league appearances for the reserves in the third division, ^[5] helping them win the third division title and thereby reach promotion to the second tier of Dutch football. ^[6]

During the 2017–18 season, Wijndal featured in the first-team side more regularly, making seven league appearances. ^[5] For the newly promoted reserves, he made 16 appearances and scoring two goals. ^[5] At the end of the season he signed a new five-year deal with AZ on 22 June 2018. ^[7] After struggling to break into the first team during the 2018–19 season, he began playing as a regular starter during the 2019–20 season. ^[8] On 25 July 2019, Wijndal also made his debut in the Europa League in a 0–0 home draw against Swedish club BK Häcken. ^[9] He scored his first professional goal on 7 March 2020 in a 4–0 league win over ADO Den Haag. ^[10]

Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Wijndal was made captain of AZ following the departure of Teun Koopmeiners. ^[11]

Ajax

On 12 July 2022, he joined Eredivisie club Ajax from AZ on a five-year deal for €10 million. ^[12] He made his debut on 30 July, starting in the Johan Cruyff Shield against PSV. Wijndal made two assists and was replaced by Calvin Bassey in the 62nd minute. Ajax went on to lose by 5–3. ^[13]

Royal Antwerp

On 5 September 2023, Ajax sent Wijndal on a season-long loan to Belgian Pro League reigning champions Royal Antwerp. ^{[14] [15]}

International career

Born in the Netherlands to a Surinamese mother and Dutch father, Wijndal is eligible for both Suriname and Netherlands. He has represented the Netherlands at every age group from under-15 to under-21 level. ^[16] Between 2015 and 2016, he made 12 appearances for the Netherlands under-17 team, ^[17] and participated in the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Azerbaijan where he made five appearances. The Dutch team made the semi-finals, where they stranded against Portugal.

Wijndal was a regular starter for the Netherlands under-19 team between 2016 and 2018, making 16 appearances for the team. ^[18] In the same period, he also appeared for the Netherlands under-20 team. ^[19] On 31 May 2019, Wijndal made his debut for the Netherlands under-21 team in a friendly match against Mexico in Doetinchem that ended in a 5–1 win for the Dutch. ^[20]

Wijndal was called up to the senior Netherlands squad for the UEFA Nations League matches against Poland and Italy in September 2020. ^[21]

On 7 October 2020, he made his first appearance for the Netherlands in the friendly match against Mexico which Mexico won 1–0.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 October 2024 ^[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Jong AZ	2016–17	Tweede Divisie	24	0	—		—		—		24	0
	2017–18	Eerste Divisie	16	2	—		—		—		16	2
	2018–19	Eerste Divisie	19	0	—		—		—		19	0
	Total		59	2	—		—		—		59	2
AZ	2016–17	Eredivisie	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2017–18	Eredivisie	7	0	0	0	—		—		7	0
	2018–19	Eredivisie	8	0	2	0	0	0	—		10	0
	2019–20	Eredivisie	24	1	1	0	14 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		39	1
	2020–21	Eredivisie	34	1	1	0	8 [lower-alpha 3]	1	—		43	2
	2021–22	Eredivisie	31	1	4	0	8 [lower-alpha 4]	0	—		43	1
	Total		105	3	8	0	30	1	—		143	4
Ajax	2022–23	Eredivisie	20	0	4	0	3 [lower-alpha 5]	0	1 [lower-alpha 6]	0	28	0
	2023–24	Eredivisie	2	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		4	0
	2024–25	Eredivisie	2	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		3	0
	Total		24	0	4	0	6	0	1	0	35	0
Antwerp (loan)	2023–24	Belgian Pro League	26	1	5	0	6 [lower-alpha 7]	0	—		37	1
Career total			214	6	17	0	42	1	1	0	274	7

1. Includes KNVB Cup and Belgian Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
7. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 17 June 2021 ^[23]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Netherlands	2020	4	0
	2021	7	0
Total		11	0

Honours

Individual

• Eredivisie Player of the Month: May 2021 ^[24]
• Eredivisie Team of the Month: January 2022 ^[25]
• Eredivisie Talent of the Month: August 2019, ^[26] November 2019, ^[27] November 2020, ^[28] December 2020 ^[29]

References

1. "Owen Wijndal". AFC Ajax. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
2. "Owen Wijndal 1e prof-contract bij AZ!". zvvzaandijk.nl. ZVV Zaandijk. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
3. "PSV verpest debuut Krul en blijft in kampioensrace". ad.nl. Algemeen Dagblad. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
4. "FC Utrecht na stunt tegen AZ in Europa League". knvb.nl (in Dutch). 28 May 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
5. "O. Wijndal: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
6. "Jong AZ promoveert naar Jupiler League dankzij titel in Tweede Divisie". nu.nl (in Dutch). NU. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
7. "Contract Wijndal opengebroken". az.nl (in Dutch). 22 June 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
8. "Bravouremannetje Wijndal maakt zijn woorden waar". ad.nl (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
9. "Zowel AZ als FC Utrecht spelen gelijk in Europese kwalificatie". nrc.nl (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
10. "Eindelijk eerste goal voor Wijndal: "Was even van de wereld"". fcupdate.nl (in Dutch). 8 March 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
11. Kok, Nik (10 September 2021). "Wijndal eindelijk fit en direct aanvoerder bij AZ: Dit is een goede ontwikkeling voor hem". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch).
12. "Ajax and AZ reach agreement for Owen Wijndal". Ajax.nl. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
13. "Ajax players lose to PSV in Johan Cruijff Shield clash". AFC Ajax. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
14. "RAFC huurt Owen Wijndal" [RAFC signs Owen Wijndal] (in Dutch). Royal Antwerp FC. 5 September 2023.
15. "Owen Wijndal on loan to Royal Antwerp FC". AFC Ajax. 5 September 2023.
16. "U15 match". onsoranje.nl. KNVB. 28 November 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
17. "Owen Wijndal - Jeugd mannen onder 17". onsoranje.nl. KNVB. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
18. "Owen Wijndal - Jeugd mannen onder 19". onsoranje.nl. KNVB. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
19. "Owen Wijndal - Jeugd mannen beloftenelftal". onsoranje.nl. KNVB. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
20. "Oefeninterlands, Seizoen 2018/'19 - Jong Oranje - Mexico Olympisch elftal". onsoranje.nl. KNVB. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
21. "Oranjeselectie Voor Duels Met Polen en Italië Bestaat Uit 23 Spelers". OnsOranje.nl (in Dutch). Royal Dutch Football Association. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
22. Owen Wijndal at Soccerway
23. "Owen Wijndal". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
24. "Ajax provides most players for Eredivisie team of the month". Eredivisie. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
25. "AZ breaks through the Ajax stronghold in the Eredivisie team of the month". Eredivisie. 28 January 2022.
26. "Owen Wijndal named as player of the month U21". Eredivisie. 13 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
27. "Cyriel Dessers named as player of the month". Eredivisie. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
28. "Davy Klaassen is named Eredivisie player of the month". Eredivisie. 4 December 2020.
29. "Antony named Eredivisie player of the month". Eredivisie. 7 January 2021.

External links

• Profile at the AFC Ajax website
• Profile at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch)
• Owen Wijndal – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Owen Wijndal – UEFA competition record ( archive )