The Painter of Football’s Greatest Emotions
An Interview with Jurren Sluiter, Creator of the Master of Goals Series
As the FIFA World Cup 2026 captures the imagination of millions around the globe, few artists have found a way to preserve football’s most unforgettable moments quite like Jurren Sluiter. Rather than painting the players, Sluiter immortalizes the emotion in the stands, the explosions of joy, relief, disbelief and unity that define the beautiful game.
His monumental oil paintings have already attracted the attention of football club owners, art collectors, players, sponsors and institutions, with several works finding permanent homes in football stadiums. Because each painting captures a unique moment in football history, the works have become highly exclusive and increasingly sought after by collectors worldwide.
Jurren Sluiter showing details of his painting.
One of his latest masterpieces, Bellingham’s Bicycle Kick, celebrates Jude Bellingham’s extraordinary equalizer for England during UEFA EURO 2024 a painting many believe ultimately belongs in Bellingham’s own collection.
You don’t paint football players you paint the emotions of the fans. When did you realize that the biggest story in football wasn’t on the pitch, but in the stands?
When I first entered a football stadium as a young boy, I was immediately captivated by the atmosphere. The stands are filled with every imaginable emotion: joy, despair, hope, fear and, of course, plenty of locker-room humour.
I grew up next to Vitesse Arnhem’s old stadium, which was relatively small, but when I first visited De Kuip in Rotterdam and later Camp Nou in Barcelona, I was completely overwhelmed by the collective energy. Thousands of people becoming one. That fascinated me far more than what was happening on the pitch.
Jurren Sluiter and Lasse Schöne, who was visiting the studio
Football creates moments that unite complete strangers. Your paintings capture those few seconds of pure joy, disbelief and celebration. What is it about those emotions that fascinates you as an artist?
One of the beautiful things about football is that goals are relatively rare. Unlike sports such as basketball, every goal carries enormous weight. Especially a late winner.
In that exact moment, everyone loses their composure. It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor, young or old, whether you’ve ever met the person next to you or not. Complete strangers embrace each other like lifelong friends.
That shared human emotion fascinates me. For a few seconds, the entire stadium becomes one family.
Jurren Sluiter with Michael van Praag in front on his AJAX painting.
Before becoming a full-time artist, you had a successful career in advertising. What made you dedicate your life to painting football’s greatest emotional moments?
As an art director in advertising, I was always searching for emotion. Facts and figures rarely move people. Emotion does.
Our challenge was always to tell an entire story with one image and just a few words. Today, I still do exactly that only now I use oil paint instead of advertising campaigns.
My paintings communicate instantly. You don’t need to know football to understand the feeling.
Every painting starts with an iconic goal, but the artwork is really about the people experiencing it. How much research goes into recreating those unforgettable celebrations?
A tremendous amount.
I watch countless hours of match footage. Television usually focuses on the goalscorer and the celebration on the pitch, but fortunately broadcasters increasingly show the reactions inside the stadium as well.
Those moments become my inspiration.
I don’t literally copy individual supporters. Every painting is built from dozens—sometimes hundreds—of visual references. I combine them into one large impressionistic composition that captures the emotional truth of the moment.
Jurren Sluiter with Marcel Boekhoorn, Fan and sponsor of NEC
Your work has quickly attracted the attention of football club owners, collectors and sponsors. Why do you think your paintings resonate so strongly with the football world?
Many wonderful portraits of football players already exist.
My paintings tell a different story.
Players come and go. Every generation has new heroes. But clubs remain. National teams remain. The identity of supporters remains for decades, sometimes more than a century.
That makes these paintings timeless.
Sponsors understand that too. They don’t invest in one player they invest in the emotion, identity and history of a club or country.
Several football club owners have acquired your paintings for display inside their stadiums. Today, footballers, collectors and sponsors all want one, yet every work remains highly exclusive.
Yes, every painting is unique.
I don’t paint generic football scenes. Every work captures a historical moment that will never happen again.
That naturally makes the collection very limited.
Once a painting enters an important private collection or is installed inside a stadium, it essentially becomes part of football history itself.
Jude Bellinham’s bicycle kick, 300×200cm Oil on canvas
Do you see your paintings as contemporary history paintings that preserve football’s greatest memories for future generations?
Absolutely.
I pay close attention to historical accuracy. The shirts, the banners, the stadium architecture even small details that immediately tell knowledgeable supporters exactly which match they’re looking at.
But while those details belong to one specific moment, the emotion itself is timeless.
Even someone who never witnessed the match can immediately understand the feeling.
One of your newest paintings celebrates Jude Bellingham’s incredible bicycle kick for England during UEFA EURO 2024. If you could choose its perfect home, where would it be?
The canvas measures two by three metres.
When you stand in front of it, you’re no longer looking at the crowd you become part of it.
I often call my works cheering paintings. People almost start celebrating themselves when they experience them in person.
Ideally, this painting would hang somewhere where thousands of football lovers can enjoy it together a stadium, museum or major collection.
But if Jude Bellingham wanted it hanging in his own home or his future man cave, I certainly wouldn’t object.
Not every great goal becomes part of the Master of Goals collection. What makes a moment worthy?
The goal must have changed history.It needs to mean something for a club, a country or a player. When a football moment becomes part of collective memory, it deserves to be preserved like any other historical event.
That is exactly what I try to do with oil on canvas.
Looking ahead, which football moment would you most love to paint?
Messi’s final masterpiece.
I would love to create the definitive painting of his last great football moment.
Even more special would be if, years after retiring, Lionel Messi occasionally stood in front of that painting to relive the feeling of hearing an entire stadium celebrate his achievement.
That would be incredibly meaningful.
Your paintings exist somewhere between fine art, sport and cultural history. Does football deserve the same artistic recognition as historic battles or royal portraits?
Rinus Michels once famously said: “Football is war.”
Fortunately, today’s battles are fought on football pitches rather than battlefields.
Football gives people a peaceful way to express local pride, national identity and shared passion. When an entire country celebrates together, that becomes history. History deserves to be preserved.
Interestingly, some of the most enthusiastic reactions I receive come from people who don’t even follow football. They simply respond to the emotion. Ultimately, that’s what my work is about—not football itself, but humanity at its most joyful.
About Jurren Sluiter
Dutch contemporary artist Jurren Sluiter is internationally recognised for his acclaimed Master of Goals series, monumental oil paintings capturing the emotion of football supporters during the sport’s most iconic moments. His works have attracted football club owners, elite collectors, players and sponsors, with several paintings acquired for display in stadiums. During the FIFA World Cup 2026, Sluiter’s paintings continue to resonate with football fans and art collectors alike, celebrating the passion, unity and unforgettable history of the world’s most beloved sport.
