The Netherlands defeated Sweden 5-1 this Saturday afternoon (20), at the NRG Stadium, in Houston, in the second round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. The match was valid for Group F of the tournament and was whistled by referee Michael Oliver.
The team led by Graham Potter opened the scoring in the first few minutes, with Brian Brobbey scoring in the 5th minute of the first half.
The play for the first goal began with a combination on the left wing: Cody Gakpo received a good pass and crossed low to Ryan Gravenberch, who finished in the small area and sent the ball into the back of the net.
The second Dutch goal came in the 16th minute, again with Brobbey, this time after a low cross from Denzel Dumfries from the right wing.
With the second goal, he reached the mark of .
Sweden tried to react in the first half, with Viktor Gyokeres and Yasin Ayari creating opportunities, but the Dutch defense and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen’s saves maintained the advantage until the break.
The second half started with a substitution in the Netherlands: Crysencio Summerville came on for Donyell Malen, and the impact was immediate.
Just 2 minutes into the second half, Cody Gakpo made it 3-0 after a low cross from Dumfries, assisted by Summerville.
In the 8th minute, Gakpo scored again, this time in a counterattack led by Summerville: the number 11 received the pass, brought it to his right leg and hit the corner, with no chance for goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.
Sweden scored 13 minutes into the second half, with Anthony Elanga, recently introduced, receiving a pass behind the defense and finishing past the goalkeeper.
Swedish coach Jon Dahl Tomasson made three simultaneous substitutions 10 minutes into the second half — Besfort Zeneli, Lucas Bergvall and Anthony Elanga entered the field — but the team was unable to contain the Dutch advance.
In the 43rd minute, Summerville closed the score at 5-1 by charging through the middle and finishing in the corner, with no possibility of defense for Nordfeldt.
In the statistical field, the Netherlands recorded 307 successful passes compared to Sweden’s 322, with 6 successful completions for the Dutch and 8 for the Swedes, who had more offensive volume, but less effectiveness.
The Dutch team did not receive any yellow cards during the match, while Sweden accumulated three warnings — for Gabriel Gudmundsson, Yasin Ayari and Lucas Bergvall.
Bart Verbruggen was one of the Netherlands’ highlights, making three difficult saves throughout the match and preventing the score from being reduced before Elanga’s goal.
With the result, the Netherlands reached 4 points in Group F, taking the lead in the group, with one win, one draw and a positive goal difference of four.
in second place in the group, but with a zero goal difference — a factor that could be decisive in the last round.
In the third and final round of the group stage, the Netherlands will face Tunisia, while Sweden will face Japan, in a direct confrontation that could define the second place in Group F for the round of 16.
