Netherlands Crush Sweden 5-1 in Houston

Cody Gakpo and Brian Brobbey both scored twice as the Netherlands defeated Sweden 5-1 in a World Cup match on Saturday in Houston.

The impressive win in front of nearly 69,000 fans put the Dutch team close to the knockout stages. This victory came after they had been held to a draw by Japan.

Ronald Koeman’s team leads Group F with four points from two games. Sweden has three points, while Japan has one and Tunisia has none.

Despite the heavy loss, Sweden had many chances but could not score due to good goalkeeping and poor finishing. They still have a good chance to move into the last 32.

Japan and Tunisia are set to play later on Saturday in Monterrey, Mexico.

Sunderland striker Brobbey made his first start of the tournament and showed he deserved it with goals in the fifth and 17th minutes. Before this, the 24-year-old had only scored once for his country since his debut three years ago.

In a match filled with Premier League stars, Liverpool’s Gakpo, who assisted Brobbey for the first goal, scored two early in the second half. Substitute Anthony Elanga scored for Sweden just before the hour mark with a nice finish.

Crysencio Summerville added the final goal for the Netherlands. The Dutch team had started their title bid with a lively 2-2 draw against Japan but began strongly against their Swedish opponents.

Brobbey, who replaced Summerville despite the winger scoring against Japan, played a key role in the first goal. The goal involved Premier League players Bart Verbruggen, Tijjani Reijnders, and Gakpo.

Brobbey passed to Gakpo, who then sent a low cross from the left for Brobbey to finish from close range. Sweden, who won against Tunisia 5-1 in their opening match, struggled to handle Brobbey’s strong presence.

Sweden's famous attackers, Alexander Isak from Liverpool and Viktor Gyokeres from Arsenal, found it hard to get chances. Twelve minutes after his first goal, Brobbey scored again. A deflected cross from Denzel Dumfries fell right to him, and he finished past Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

Sweden’s coach Graham Potter was seen talking with his staff as the game looked to slip away from them. During a hydration break, Potter spoke with left-sided defender Gabriel Gudmundsson, who was struggling against Dumfries and Donyell Malen.

Sweden then had a great chance when Gyokeres crossed for a free Yasin Ayari, but he miscontrolled the ball with his chest. Gyokeres also had a chance but failed to connect properly after being set up by the quiet Isak.

Both Gyokeres and Ayari had more chances but were stopped by the busy Verbruggen. The Netherlands were just trying to hold on as the first half came to an end.

Koeman brought on Summerville for Malen at halftime, and just two minutes later, it became very hard for Sweden. Gakpo scored again from close range after another low cross from Dumfries.

All three of their goals were very similar. Gakpo scored a beautiful fourth goal in the 54th minute, turning his defender and shooting low into the corner.

Nottingham Forest’s Elanga pulled one back five minutes later by breaking through the Dutch defense and scoring past Verbruggen. West Ham’s Summerville made it five in the final minutes with his second goal in North America.

Next, Sweden will face Japan while the Netherlands will play Tunisia.