Netherlands crush Sweden by five and declare themselves a  striker at the World Cup

The Netherlands thrashed Sweden 5-1 in one of the most exciting matches of the second round of the 2026 World Cup, during the clash at NRG Stadium in Houston on Saturday evening.

  The Dutch Mills put on a sweeping attacking display, with Bryan Probe and Cody Gakpo scoring two goals each, before substitute Summerville closed the festivities with fifth, consolidating the Dutch team's position at the top of Group F and sending a message of strength to the rest of the rivals.

Match Details

The Netherlands started the game strongly from the opening seconds, needing just five minutes to open the scoring through Bryan Proby after a neat pass from Cody Gakpo. Sweden responded quickly with a dangerous effort from Geokeris, but the Dutch keeper was brilliant in keeping it out.

In the 17th minute, Proby came back to double the score with a superb assist from Dumfries, before the Netherlands continued to dominate amid timid Swedish attempts that ended with another shot by Geokeris that was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper. At the end of the first half, the referee cancelled out a goal for Sweden for offside after reviewing the video technology.

At the start of the second half, Gakpo needed just a minute to score the third goal, before coming back in the 54th minute to add a fourth after an organised attack that confused the Swedish defence.

Sweden reduced the deficit in the 59th minute through substitute Anthony Elanga, but that did not change the reality of the game, which remained under Dutch control.

In the 89th minute, substitute Summerville concluded the attacking festival with a fifth goal, confirming the sweeping superiority of the mills until the last minute of the match.

The Netherlands came out of the match with one of the biggest results of the tournament so far, while Sweden seemed unable to keep up with the Dutch high form, to receive a heavy loss that could complicate their calculations in the group.

Netherlands tops Tunisia group

The Dutch national team had drawn by two goals in its previous match with Japan in its first match, while Tunisia, which plays in the same group, lost to Sweden by a score of 1-5.

Japan will meet Tunisia at 7 a.m. on Sunday, June 21, to account for the same group, which is led by the Netherlands with 4 points after playing two matches during which it scored  7 goals and conceded 3 goals, while Sweden occupies  second place with3 points from 2 matches, scoring 6 goals and conceding 5 goals.

In third place, Japan comes  with one point from one match, scoring two goals and conceding two goals, and in the last place, Tunisia with no points after playing one match, during  which it scored one goal and conceded 5 goals.