Netherlands 5-1 Sweden: Brobbey and Gakpo Both Score Twice (World Cup 2026)
Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo each scored twice as the Netherlands thrashed Sweden 5-1 at World Cup 2026 to claim their first win of the tournament.
20 June 2026
Result
The Netherlands put five past Sweden at NRG Stadium in Houston, with Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo both scoring twice and Crysencio Summerville adding a fifth off the bench. Brobbey opened the scoring in the 5th minute and doubled it by the 17th. Gakpo struck either side of half-time to make it four, before Anthony Elanga pulled one back for Sweden after being played through by Alexander Isak. Summerville completed the rout in the 89th minute as the Dutch claimed their first win of the tournament.
What it means for Last Man Standing pools
The Dutch were already the form team in the group, and five goals from four different scorers confirms it — this is the kind of margin that makes them the safe pick for the rest of the group stage. Sweden, by contrast, are now in serious trouble: they failed to score in their opener and one goal in two games leaves them needing a big result and help from elsewhere just to survive. Anyone who backed Sweden this week is almost certainly out already.
Pre-match forecasts
Sweden had come into the match off a positive opening result, while the Netherlands had only drawn their first game, so pre-match forecasts were not as one-sided as the final score suggests — most had the Dutch as moderate favourites rather than overwhelming ones. Brobbey's early double, scoring twice inside the first quarter-hour, blew that expectation apart almost immediately, and the Netherlands were never seriously troubled after going two goals up so soon.
Standout stats
Brobbey's brace inside the opening 17 minutes ranks as the fourth-fastest double in World Cup history, according to tournament statisticians — a striking mark given he had scored only once for his country before kickoff. Gakpo's second goal made it five World Cup group-stage goals for his career, equalling Robin van Persie as the most by any Dutch player at this stage of the tournament. It is also only the second time two Netherlands players have each scored twice in the same World Cup match, after Van Persie and Arjen Robben did it in the famous 5-1 win over Spain in 2014.
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