Pheninckx made her international debut on 4 February 2013 against South Africa alongside fellow player Roos Drost.

[4] She played the key role during the Dutch side's maiden triumph in the 2012–13 Women's FIH Hockey World League defeating Australia 5–1 in the Women's Hockey World League final.

She received a phone call from the head coach Alyson Annan in late 2016 while Malou was attending internships to join the hospitals after completing her medicine studies.

[8] Malou Pheninckx played a key role for the Netherlands women's team which claimed victorious over Japan 5–0 in the 2017 International Festival of Hockey tournament, which was their first International Festival of Hockey tournament title victory.

[13] During the 2021 Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship, she made her 100th international appearance for the Netherlands in the final against Germany where Dutch emerged as champions with 2–0 victory.