Esmee Brugts


Esmee Virginia Brugts is a Dutch professional football player who plays as a midfielder or left-back for Liga F club [FC FC Barcelona Femení|Barcelona Femení|Barcelona] and the [Netherlands women's national association football|football team|Netherlands national team].
𝕏 esmeebrugtsIG esmeebrugts

Club career

PSV

Brugts started playing football with boys as a five-year-old for SV Heinenoord. She moved to FC Binnenmaas eight years later to play there for four years. She was highly sought after when she signed her first contract with PSV at age 16 in 2020. On 13 August 2020, Brugts made her debut for PSV in a pre-season match against Olympique Lyonnais. She scored her first league goal against ADO Den Haag on 8 November 2020, scoring in the 90th+2nd minute. In her first season at PSV she played 13 league games, scoring three goals. In the final of the KNVB Women's Cup she played the whole match, with PSV defeating ADO Den Haag 1–0. In her second season she played in the final of the 2022 KNVB Women's Cup, losing 2–1 to Ajax. Brugts scored a hattrick against Telstar on 24 March 2023.

Barcelona

In August 2023 she signed a four-year contract with Barcelona. She scored her first goals for Barcelona with an eight-minute hat-trick against Eibar on 9 December 2023, playing as a number 9 initially and as a left-back later in the match due to a spate of injuries. By the end of the season, she had played as winger and full-back on both sides, as well as up front. Between the multiple positions and Barcelona notoriously taking time to adapt to, Brugts finished the season with fewer goal contributions, though considered good statistics for her debut season.

International career

Brugts was born in the Netherlands to a Surinamese father and Dutch mother. She has played for several Netherlands youth teams. On 16 February 2022, she collected her first senior cap for the Netherlands in a game against Brazil during the 2022 Tournoi de France. She came on the field as a substitute for Victoria Pelova six minutes before the end of the match. She scored her first goal for the national team on 8 April 2022 in a match against Cyprus. On 6 September 2022, she scored a goal in the 93rd minute of the stoppage time in a 1–0 victory over Iceland, to qualify her country as top of Group C to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
On 31 May 2023, she was named as part of the Netherlands provisional squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup. She played at all five games for the Netherlands during the World Cup, scoring twice against Vietnam in the final group game.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
18 April 2022Euroborg, Groningen, Netherlands12–012–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
26 September 2022Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht, Netherlands1–01–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
311 November 2022Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht, Netherlands4–04–0Friendly
421 February 2023National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Ta' Qali, Malta4–04–0Friendly
51 August 2023Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand3–07–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup
61 August 2023Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand6–07–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup
727 October 2023Goffertstadion, Nijmegen, Netherlands2–04–02023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
831 October 2023Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–01–02023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
929 October 2024Esbjerg Stadium, Esbjerg, Denmark1–02–1Friendly-
1029 November 2024Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, Rotterdam, Netherlands4–14–1Friendly-
115 July 2025Stadion Allmend, Lucerne, Switzerland3–03–0UEFA Women's Euro 2025-

Honours

PSV Eindhoven
FC Barcelona
Individual