Dominique Johanna Anna Petrone Janssen (; formerly Bloodworth; born 17 January 1995) 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender or

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and the Netherlands national team.

Club career

Janssen played in the B-Youth team for her first club, RKSV Wittenhorst. In the summer of 2013, she moved to Germany and joined

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

side

SGS Essen SGS Essen are a German multi-sports club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded in 2000 from the merger of ''VfB Borbeck'' and ''SC Grün-Weiß Schönebeck''. It is most renowned for its Women's association football, women' ...

. In linking up with Essen, she turned down offers from both PSV/FC Eindhoven and

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

of the

BeNe League The BeNe League was the highest women's football league in Belgium and the Netherlands. To increase competitiveness in their national leagues, the BeNe League was a joint cooperation between the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Royal D ...

. On 8 September, Janssen made her debut for the club in their first league game of the season, a 3–3 draw versus

BV Cloppenburg BV Cloppenburg is a German association football club located in Cloppenburg, Lower Saxony. History The club was founded after World War I in 1919 as the successor to SV Cloppenburg 1911. Through the 1950s they played in the Amateurliga Nieder ...

. She scored her first goal in an Essen jersey on 3 November (Matchday 7) in the 5–1 win against

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

. In 2015, the Dutchwoman signed for English side

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

. This move proved to be fruitful for her with Janssen winning the WSL Cup of

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

thanks to Arsenal's 3–0 victory over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. She once again played in another Cup final the following season, this being the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final which took place on 14 May. Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 in the match at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

to be crowned winners and earn their fourteenth FA Cup title. Following a second FA WSL Cup triumph in 2017-18, Dominique played in 19 of Arsenal's 20 league games and scored three goals as the team won the 2018–19 Women's Super League. She ended up making 100 club appearances for Arsenal. After four years with the Gunners, Janssen signed for German Champions

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

in 2019. The Dutch international player enjoyed a very successful period with Die Wölfinnen, winning two Frauen-Bundesliga titles and a remarkable five consecutive

DFB-Pokal Frauen The DFB-Pokal Frauen is the main national Women's association football, women's football cup competition in Germany, held annually by the German Football Association in knockout format. It was created in 1980, and since 1991 includes Eastern teams ...

Cups. Janssen was a key player for Wolfsburg throughout her time there, playing over 150 matches across five seasons. She started both the

2020 The year 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 even ...

and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

finals for Wolfsburg, but narrowly missed out on European glory on each occasion as

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

emerged victorious with 3-1 and 3-2 wins respectively. On 2 July 2024, having announced back in May that she was set to leave Wolfsburg upon the expiry of her contract, Janssen signed for

on a three-year deal with the option to extend for a further year. She made her debut on 21 September, starting in an opening day 3–0 win at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

against

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

. Janssen moved into a defensive midfield role during her initial months in the team and scored her first United goal on 8 December in a 4-0 win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, whilst also providing two assists.

International career

Janssen played for the first time for a Junior selection of

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

on 17 March 2010 at the friendly match of U-15 national team against England. In 2012, she was captain of the Dutch U-17 team in the qualifying matches for the

2012 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2012 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the fifth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. The tournament serves as a qualifier to the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The first qualifying matches were played on 29 September 2011 ...

and also led the team, as captain, in qualifying for the

2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2013 Final Tournament was held in Wales between 19 and 31 August 2013. Players born after 1 January 1994 were eligible to participate in this competition. It was the first time ...

. In 2014, she succeeded with her team to qualify for the final round the

2014 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship 2014 Final Tournament was held in Norway from 15 to 27 July 2014. The first qualification matches were played on 21 September 2013. A competition record of 48 participating nations was set. For the first time ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, where Netherlands won the title for the first time with 1–0 victory against Spain. Janssen played all five matches in the tournament. In 2014, she was called for the senior team for the first time, taking part in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

squad for the

2014 Cyprus Cup The 2014 Cyprus Women's Cup was the seventh edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational Women's association football, women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus. It took place between 5–12 March 2014. France women's national foot ...

. On 5 March 2014, she made her debut, coming off the bench in the 65th minute at 2–2 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Janssen was then a part of the Dutch team that reached the 2015 World Cup Round of 16. Dominique was a member of the Netherlands team that won Euro 2017 on home soil. Capturing the support of the entire nation, Sarina Wiegman's side beat

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively without conceding a goal in order to reach the final against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The Dutch won the final 4-2 to secure their very first

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

title and Janssen featured in the historic match when she replaced Desiree van Lunteren in the 57th minute as a substitute for the Oranje. After winning the 2017 European Championships, the whole team was honoured by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

and Minister of Sport Edith Schippers and they were made Knights of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. In 2019, she was included in the Dutch squad for the 2019 World Cup. The Netherlands won every group stage match and reached the final, eventually losing 2-0 to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Janssen played in all seven of Leeuwinnen's games and didn't miss a single minute. In the second group game against

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, she scored her first international goal. In the subsequent qualification for the 2022 European Championships, she played in nine out of ten games and scored one goal. With ten wins, the Dutch qualified for the finals, which were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the same reason, the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, for which the Dutch had qualified for the first time as runners-up in the World Cup, were also postponed by one year. Janssen played in victories against

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

(10-3),

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(8-2) and the 3-3 draw with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, where she scored the final goal to produce a 3-3 scoreline, befire losing on penalties to world champions USA in the quarter-finals. In the 2023 World Cup qualification, she was used six times in the first seven games. On 31 May 2022, Janssen was nominated for the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

finals and completed all four games of the Dutch team there. In the quarterfinals against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, she committed a foul in extra-time which led to France's decisive penalty goal. On 31 May 2023, Janssen was named as part of the Netherlands provisional squad for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

and she featured for the team which reached the quarter-finals of the competition, before losing 2-1 after extra-time to eventual tournament winners

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands goal tally first.''

Personal life

In 2018, Janssen married American Brandon Bloodworth and adopted his name. Bloodworth is a

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

veteran and met Janssen in London, England. He was an

NCAA Division 1 NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

sprinter from California. He now plays American football for the Wolfsburg Blue Wings as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. In 2020, Janssen announced that she and Bloodworth had decided to split up and she reverted to using her maiden name. She is in a relationship with German former professional footballer Patrick Platins.

Honours

Arsenal *

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

: 2015–16 *

FA WSL Cup The Women's League Cup, also known as the Subway Women's League Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since t ...

, 2017–18 *

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

: 2018–19 VfL Wolfsburg *

runners-up: 2019-20,

2022–23 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 ...

Frauen Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. In the UEFA Women' ...

: 2019–20, 2021–22, *

DFB Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

: 2019–20,

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 ...

, 2021–22,

, 2023–24 Manchester United *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

runner-up: 2024–25 Netherlands U19 *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Netherlands *

UEFA Women's Euro The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

: runners-up

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau: 2017

References

External links

*
Dominique Janssen
at onsorange.nl
Profile
at vrouwenvoetbalnederland.nl * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen, Dominique Living people 1995 births People from Horst aan de Maas Dutch women's footballers Netherlands women's youth international footballers Netherlands women's international footballers Women's association football defenders 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players SGS Essen players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Arsenal W.F.C. players Manchester United W.F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in England Women's Super League players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England UEFA Women's Championship–winning players Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Frauen-Bundesliga players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Dutch expatriate women's footballers Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for the Netherlands UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Footballers from Limburg (Netherlands) UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Association football people awarded knighthoods 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's Century Club 21st-century Dutch sportswomen