A five-star performance handed the Netherlands a big win on Saturday at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Look back at the game with our Netherlands vs Sweden stats page.
Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo both scored twice as a scintillating Netherlands display saw them thrash Sweden 5-1 for their first win of the 2026 World Cup.
Brobbey replaced Crysencio Summerville in the only change to the Oranje side that drew 2-2 with Japan in their opening match, and by scoring two goals in the opening 17 minutes in Houston, he registered the fourth-fastest brace in World Cup history.
Sweden grew into the game and peppered Bart Verbruggenâs goal at the end of the first half, but the outstanding Gakpo scored twice in the space of seven minutes after the interval.
Anthony Elanga pulled one back off the bench for Sweden just before the hour mark, but another substitute, Summerville, added a late fifth for Ronald Koemanâs team, who are now virtually assured of a place in the knockout stages.
The Netherlands scored a tremendous fifth-minute opener, with Brobbey showing great hold-up play to find Tijjani Reijnders, who in turn offloaded to Gakpo. The Liverpool man centred from the left flank, and Brobbey capped the move with a poacherâs finish.
Viktor Gyökeres tested Verbruggen as Sweden sought an immediate response, but Brobbey had his brace soon afterwards, throwing himself at Denzel Dumfriesâ right-wing delivery to prod it into the bottom-left corner.
Sweden improved after the first-half hydration break, and though the Netherlands went close to a third when Donyell Malenâs cross-shot drifted wide, they were hugely unfortunate not to pull one back before half-time.
Gyökeres forced Verbruggen into two more saves, while Yasin Ayari drew another with a low drive and Gustaf Lagerbielke saw a brave header from Benjamin Nygrenâs free-kick disallowed for offside.
And Sweden were punished when Gakpo got his quickfire double after the restart, tapping another low Dumfries delivery home, before beating Kristoffer Nordfeldt with a clever reverse finish inside the near post.
Graham Potter sent on Elanga in response to going 4-0 down, and he was on the scoresheet within four minutes, lifting over Verbruggen after latching onto Alexander Isakâs through-ball.
But a comeback was never on the cards, and Summerville heaped further misery on Sweden with a wonderful strike into the bottom-left corner in the 89th minute.
Bright Oranje Display Allays Group F Fears
Both of the Netherlandsâ previous tournament meetings with Sweden, at the 1974 World Cup and Euro 2004, finished goalless. Both had drama, though, as the former marked the origin of the famous âCruyff turnâ and the latter saw the Oranje triumph on penalties.
Plenty of intrigue was expected here, with the Netherlands having little margin for error if they wished to maintain their hopes of topping the group after a disappointing opening draw against Japan.
But few would have predicted Brobbey to steal the headlines. He only scored once in his first 13 senior caps, but he immediately offered Koemanâs team a target in the area and put away two excellent deliveries from the wide areas.
Brobbeyâs second goal was timed at 16:12, with only Lukas Podolski (Germany versus Sweden in 2006, 11:35), Ronaldo (Brazil versus Costa Rica in 2002, 12:16) and Gary Lineker (England versus Poland in 1986, 13:46) scoring faster World Cup braces.
Not to be outdone, Gakpo matched Brobbeyâs tally early in the second half, equalling Robin van Persie as the Netherlands player with the most World Cup group-stage goals in the process (five). It is the second instance of two Netherlands players scoring twice in the same World Cup game, after Van Persie and Arjen Robben did so in a memorable 5-1 rout of Spain in 2014.
Sweden may feel the final scoreline flattered the Netherlands, having had more shots than their opponents (16 to 10), but they conceded the higher-quality chances, losing the expected goals (xG) battle by 0.99 to 2.47.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Netherlands vs Sweden stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group F meeting at Houston Stadium on 20 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Netherlands vs Sweden: Post-Match Opta Facts
Netherlands are unbeaten across their last 14 menâs World Cup matches since losing to Spain in the 2010 final (W9 D5), thatâs now the outright longest such run of any nation in the tournamentâs history.
Timed at 4:58, Brian Brobbeyâs opener in this match was the second quickest that the Netherlands have ever scored from open play at the FIFA World Cup, after Phillip Cocu vs Mexico in 1998 (3:59).
This match saw Sweden lose a menâs World Cup match by three or more goals for the first time since their 5-2 defeat to Brazil in the 1958 final.
After winning each of their first three, Sweden have since won just two of their 15 World Cup group-stage matches against fellow European nations (D5 L8).
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Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo both scored twice as a scintillating Netherlands display saw them thrash Sweden 5-1 for their first win of the 2026 World Cup.
Brobbey replaced Crysencio Summerville in the only change to the Oranje side that drew 2-2 with Japan in their opening match, and by scoring two goals in the opening 17 minutes in Houston, he registered the fourth-fastest brace in World Cup history.
Sweden grew into the game and peppered Bart Verbruggenâs goal at the end of the first half, but the outstanding Gakpo scored twice in the space of seven minutes after the interval.
Anthony Elanga pulled one back off the bench for Sweden just before the hour mark, but another substitute, Summerville, added a late fifth for Ronald Koemanâs team, who are now virtually assured of a place in the knockout stages.
The Netherlands scored a tremendous fifth-minute opener, with Brobbey showing great hold-up play to find Tijjani Reijnders, who in turn offloaded to Gakpo. The Liverpool man centred from the left flank, and Brobbey capped the move with a poacherâs finish.
Viktor Gyökeres tested Verbruggen as Sweden sought an immediate response, but Brobbey had his brace soon afterwards, throwing himself at Denzel Dumfriesâ right-wing delivery to prod it into the bottom-left corner.
Sweden improved after the first-half hydration break, and though the Netherlands went close to a third when Donyell Malenâs cross-shot drifted wide, they were hugely unfortunate not to pull one back before half-time.
Gyökeres forced Verbruggen into two more saves, while Yasin Ayari drew another with a low drive and Gustaf Lagerbielke saw a brave header from Benjamin Nygrenâs free-kick disallowed for offside.
And Sweden were punished when Gakpo got his quickfire double after the restart, tapping another low Dumfries delivery home, before beating Kristoffer Nordfeldt with a clever reverse finish inside the near post.
Graham Potter sent on Elanga in response to going 4-0 down, and he was on the scoresheet within four minutes, lifting over Verbruggen after latching onto Alexander Isakâs through-ball.
But a comeback was never on the cards, and Summerville heaped further misery on Sweden with a wonderful strike into the bottom-left corner in the 89th minute.
Bright Oranje Display Allays Group F Fears
Both of the Netherlandsâ previous tournament meetings with Sweden, at the 1974 World Cup and Euro 2004, finished goalless. Both had drama, though, as the former marked the origin of the famous âCruyff turnâ and the latter saw the Oranje triumph on penalties.
Plenty of intrigue was expected here, with the Netherlands having little margin for error if they wished to maintain their hopes of topping the group after a disappointing opening draw against Japan.
But few would have predicted Brobbey to steal the headlines. He only scored once in his first 13 senior caps, but he immediately offered Koemanâs team a target in the area and put away two excellent deliveries from the wide areas.
Brobbeyâs second goal was timed at 16:12, with only Lukas Podolski (Germany versus Sweden in 2006, 11:35), Ronaldo (Brazil versus Costa Rica in 2002, 12:16) and Gary Lineker (England versus Poland in 1986, 13:46) scoring faster World Cup braces.
Not to be outdone, Gakpo matched Brobbeyâs tally early in the second half, equalling Robin van Persie as the Netherlands player with the most World Cup group-stage goals in the process (five). It is the second instance of two Netherlands players scoring twice in the same World Cup game, after Van Persie and Arjen Robben did so in a memorable 5-1 rout of Spain in 2014.
Sweden may feel the final scoreline flattered the Netherlands, having had more shots than their opponents (16 to 10), but they conceded the higher-quality chances, losing the expected goals (xG) battle by 0.99 to 2.47.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Netherlands vs Sweden stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group F meeting at Houston Stadium on 20 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Netherlands vs Sweden: Post-Match Opta Facts
Netherlands are unbeaten across their last 14 menâs World Cup matches since losing to Spain in the 2010 final (W9 D5), thatâs now the outright longest such run of any nation in the tournamentâs history.
Timed at 4:58, Brian Brobbeyâs opener in this match was the second quickest that the Netherlands have ever scored from open play at the FIFA World Cup, after Phillip Cocu vs Mexico in 1998 (3:59).
This match saw Sweden lose a menâs World Cup match by three or more goals for the first time since their 5-2 defeat to Brazil in the 1958 final.
After winning each of their first three, Sweden have since won just two of their 15 World Cup group-stage matches against fellow European nations (D5 L8).
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