Ellie Carpenter and Daniëlle van de Donk aren’t just a couple – they’re also teammates, with the potential to become rivals during the 2023 FIFA World Cup.
Carpenter became the youngest-ever female soccer player to compete at the Olympics, having debuted at the senior level of the Australian national team at just 15. She now plays as a defender for the French club Olympique Lyonnais, but is back on home soil to play for Australia in the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Daniëlle van de Donk, affectionately known as DVD, is a soccer prodigy from the Netherlands, who’s played for a number of different European teams. She’s representing her home country in the World Cup, too.
Both girls have been officially dating for over a year now – here’s their complete relationship timeline to get you up to speed.
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June 2020: Carpenter was playing for the Portland Thorns in the United States’ National Women’s Soccer League, but is signed by French football club Lyon –– she moved to Europe to join the team.
June 2021: DVD is signed to Lyon a year after Carpenter joined the team, moving from Arsenal.
February 14, 2022: There are whispers and rumours in the football world that Carpenter and DVD are romantically involved. A video of them having dinner together on Valentine’s Day is uploaded to Instagram, but nothing was confirmed.
May 23, 2022: Lyon wins the Champions league! They both share a cute photo of themselves on the field after the match, wearing medals and holding the cup. Neither confirm their relationship in words, but it was strongly implied. DVD captioned the photo, “This one is special”.
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Some of the girls from the team head to St Tropez to celebrate their win. This is when DVD and Carpenter start really embracing their relationship and sharing photos to social media.
Fans take this as a non-confirmation confirmation that the pair were dating.
July 2022: DVD is playing for Netherlands in the UEFA Women’s Euro tournament – Carpenter flies to England to be pitch side, wearing orange to support her girlfriend’s home team.
The two players are shown walking together in a scene of the Chasing the Euros documentary, which labels Carpenter as DVD’s partner and teammate.
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July 14, 2022: When DVD scores a winning goal for the Netherlands, people notice that she made a heart with her hands, directed at the stands.
In a behind-the-scenes documentary shared by the Netherlands team channel to YouTube, she says that the heart was for “everyone I love”, and that her “girlfriend” was in the stands.
August 8, 2022: DVD joins Carpenter on a trip home to Australia. She posts a photo to her Instagram captioned “life down under”.
Later, Carpenter told The Australian that she took her girlfriend on a ferry trip across Sydney Harbour to the zoo.
“It’s the best way to see the harbour,” she said. “We went to Taronga Zoo to see the koalas and kangaroos because she’d never seen them either. She still talks about it.”
The couple also takes a trip to Lizard Island, on the Great Barrier Reef.
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September 18, 2022: The couple has a cute family dinner with DVD’s parents – the relationship has progressed quickly!
October 4, 2022: Both girls share a cute carousel of photos from a trip to London, including multiple loved-up selfies and snaps from a night out on the town.
December 20, 2022: Carpenter uploads a series of photos of her training while recovering from a knee injury. DVD comments, “Ma cherie,” the French for “my darling”.
December 25, 2022: The couple share a collaborated Instagram photo – shared to both their pages – of a Polaroid showing them celebrating Christmas somewhere warm and tropical, drinking wine and chilling by the pool.
January 3, 2023: It looks like the couple jetted off to an island to celebrate New Years, based on their Instagram photos. ”life is beautiful,” Carpenter captioned a series of photos, showing her and DVD snorkelling, staying in an overwater villa, and lounging by the pool.
April 28, 2023: The couple head to Switzerland to celebrate Carpenter’s 23rd birthday. They stayed at a luxe resort in Lucerne, sharing selfies and pool photos from their stay.
May 13, 2023: Lyon wins the Women’s French Cup – to celebrate, Carpenter shares photos of the team partying on a boat and drinking champagne.
June 1, 2023: The couple fly off again for a quick getaway, this time to soak up the sun. DVD shares photos of them driving a quad bike around a Greek island, exploring the cobblestoned streets, and enjoying a relaxed lunch.
June 15, 2023: Carpenter calls DVD “my love” in a sweet Instagram upload, showing the two of them posing in the sunshine in complementary white dresses.
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July 22, 2023: The FIFA World Cup officially kicks off. DVD is playing for the Netherlands, while Carpenter, is, of course, playing for Australia.
DVD shared a cute series of photos of her and her teammates exploring Sydney ahead of their first game. Carpenter commented “Aussie girl”, with the heart-eyes emoji.
Netherlands and Australia are in two different groups for this tournament, so we’ll have to wait to see if either team make it through – DVD and Carpenter could go head-to head in a match later on in the competition.
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