Kees Smit (born 21 January 2006) is a Dutch

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 for club

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

From

Heiloo Heiloo () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland. The community is part of the cooperation region Kennemerland and is located in the histori ...

, Smit joined the academy at

at nine years-old in 2015. He then became the youngest member of their under-12 squad. After progressing through the ranks at AZ, he signed a three-and-a-half-year professional contract in January 2021. In December 2022, Smit was included with the first team squad on their mid-season break travelling training party to Valencia, Spain. In January 2023, a goal Smit scored in a five-a-side indoor game went viral due to its unusual nature, as he beat the outrushing goalkeeper with shot rebounded from the side wall. Later that month, Smit made his professional debut for

Jong AZ Jong AZ is a Dutch association football team, based in Wijdewormer in the Zaanstreek. It is the reserve team of AZ, based in Alkmaar, and plays in the Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Net ...

in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

in a home match against

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

, on 23 January 2023. With AZ under-19s playing in the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

he was part of the team that beat Barcelona and Real Madrid on consecutive rounds to reach the semi-finals in March 2023. Smit scored a long range goal in the UEFA Youth League last-sixteen tie against Barcelona that brought praise. He also played in the UEFA Youth League final against Hajduk Split as AZ ran out 5–0 winners. He made his

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

debut for AZ Alkmaar on 7 November 2024 in a 3–1 home win against Fenerbahçe, scoring the second goal and being credited with an assist for the third. He played in the final of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

as AZ lost to

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

on penalties on 21 April 2025. The game had ended 1-1 in normal time after Go Ahead Eagles scored a 98th minute equaliser.

International career

In November 2021, Smit played for the

Netherlands national under-16 football team The Netherlands national under-17 football team represents the Netherlands in international football at this age level and is controlled by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond — KNVB, the governing body for football in the Netherlands. Co ...

against the Belgian under-16s. Smit has since been selected for the Dutch U17s. Smit played for the Dutch U19s during the

2025 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2025 UEFA European Under-19 Championship is the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (72nd edition if the Under-18 and Junior era is also included), the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for ...

which they won for the first time, Smit became player of the tournament

Career statistics

Honours

Netherlands U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual *

top scorer:

* UEFA European Under-19 Championship Player of the Tournament:

* UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smit, Kees 2006 births Living people Dutch men's footballers Footballers from North Holland Men's association football midfielders Netherlands men's youth international footballers Eerste Divisie players Jong AZ players AZ Alkmaar players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen