The Netherlands poured on goals against Sweden in FIFA World Cup play in Houston on June 20, 2026, building a commanding lead before Sweden pulled one back late in the action.
The Orange opened the scoring in the fifth minute. The Dutch reset with a pass back to goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, who booted the ball to Brian Brobbey in midfield. Brobbey passed to Tijjani Reijnders on the left, Reijnders sprinted forward and fed Cody Gakpo left of the box, and Gakpo squared low for Brobbey to finish.
Brobbey struck again in the 17th minute. Donyell Malen passed to Denzel Dumfries, whose cross found Brobbey in the box for a tap in and his second goal of the match. Sweden reached a hydration break in the 23rd minute after absorbing relentless Dutch pressure.
Sweden thought it had a lifeline in the 45th minute when Benjamin Nygren curled a free kick from the right into the box and Gustaf Lagerbielke headed home, but the goal was ruled out for offside with multiple Swedish players ahead of the line. The score stood 2-0 at halftime. Sweden appeared more competitive after the hydration stop, though the Dutch still created chances and Verbruggen saved two Swedish shots in first half stoppage time.
The Netherlands came out of the locker room firing again. In the 47th minute, Crysencio Summerville played Denzel Dumfries down the right, Dumfries delivered a cross into the box, and Gakpo tapped in for a 3-0 lead.
By the 54th minute the Dutch had four. Summerville collected the ball in front of the Netherlands box, carried through midfield without much resistance, and passed to Gakpo on the left for a clinical finish and his second goal of the match.
The Netherlands are running riot!
Sweden made four substitutions after the fourth Dutch goal and got an immediate response. Alexander Isak passed from midfield to Anthony Elanga, who controlled under Dutch pressure and scored in the 59th minute. Elanga had entered in the 56th minute, leaving Sweden trailing 4-1 with time still on the clock.
