Cody Gakpo helps Netherlands rout Sweden

HOUSTON – Netherlands winger Cody Gakpo and striker Brian Brobbey turned Houston Stadium into their personal showcases Saturday afternoon, controlling the World Cup match against Sweden from the opening whistle through the second half. 

Gapko, who stars at Liverpool, scored two goals and added an assist in a dominant 5–1 victory over Sweden to push the Netherlands to the top of Group F. Brobbey added two more goals for the Dutch.

Brobbey put the Netherlands in front early. He won an aerial duel. Then he passed to midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, who shifted play left. Gakpo then sent a perfect cross into the box for Brobbey to put the Netherlands on the board in the fifth minute before a sellout crowd of 68,777.

In the 17th minute, forward Donyell Malen passed the ball to right back Denzel Dumfries, whose low cross found Brobbey, who slid in his second goal into the bottom‑left corner of the net. 

‘Feels amazing’

“It feels amazing to make a direct impact,” Brobbey said. ”I think as a team we played very well. I think everybody has a good bond with each other, and we’ll fight for each other as well. That’s the main thing.”

Sweden nearly cut the deficit before halftime, but center back Gustaf Lagerbielke’s header was ruled offside after a VAR check. The Netherlands went into halftime with a 2–0 lead.

The Netherlands made a statement today with a powerful 5-1 win over Sweden 🔥

Catch all the best moments right here pic.twitter.com/CpvKIVlBbZ

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 20, 2026

In the 47th minute, winger Crysencio Summerville drove a low ball across the box that skipped past Brobbey but fell to Gakpo. The left winger tapped the ball into the net at the back post for a 3–0 lead.

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Eight minutes later, the Liverpool forward struck again. After Sweden lost possession in midfield, Summerville assisted Gakpo on the left side. The 25‑year‑old cut inside and scored with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner of the net. 

Gakpo’s second goal was his fifth in only seven World Cup appearances. He is now just two behind the Netherlands’ record scorer at the finals, forward Johnny Rep. The Dutch were pleased with their second World Cup result after struggling against Japan in their opener.

Diverse attack

“Japan was very disciplined. We had some opportunities, but not like we had today,” Gakpo said. “I think today there was more variation in the attacking play, more players in different positions, movement and all of those things.

“ It was more difficult for the defenders to really mark us and we became free in the box. I think those were the little things we missed in the last game, it was a big result and we are very happy with this.”

Winger Anthony Elanga put Sweden on the board in the 59th minute when he slipped behind the back line and beat goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to make it 4–1. In the 90th minute, Summerville collected a loose ball at the edge of the box and connected with a right-footed shot to the back of the net, sealing the 5–1 victory over the Blue and Yellow. 

“Sometimes you have to have these experiences,” Sweden’s coach Graham Potter said. “I didn’t think it was that kind of game, but we have to learn from it. We were playing against a good team.”