Van Dijk, 35, follows in the footsteps of Philip Cocu, Robin van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Daley Blind, Rafael van der Vaart, Frank de Boer, Memphis Depay, Edwin van der Sar, and record international Wesley Sneijder as the 11th centurion.

Virgil van Dijk debuted for the Netherlands in October 2015, one year after receiving his maiden call-up from then-manager Guus Hiddink. The centre-half immediately became a mainstay in the Dutch defence, missing games only with an ankle injury in 2017 and a torn ACL in 2020 and 2021, which forced him to miss Euro 2020.

The Liverpool star first wore the captain's armband against England in March 2018 and has only played two games without it since, relinquishing it to Wesley Sneijder in his final Oranje cap in September 2018 and to Daley Blind in a 2024 friendly against Canada.

Van Dijk became the Netherlands' most-capped captain of all time in November 2025, overtaking Frank de Boer with his 72nd game as Oranje captain. By wearing it against Serbia, Van Dijk has now captained the Netherlands in 84 games.

In the last four years, dating back to June 2022, Van Dijk has missed just two of the Netherlands' 55 games - the defender was suspended for the Nations League game against Germany in October 2024 after picking up two yellow cards, his only red card in the orange kit, and was rested against Bosnia in November of that year.

In 99 prior caps, including 15 at major tournaments, Virgil van Dijk scored 14 goals.