Soccer
Graham Potter believes that Sweden’s 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands will serve as a learning curve for the rest of their World Cup campaign.
Potter watched on as his team were thumped at Houston Stadium on Saturday, with Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo both scoring twice for Ronald Koeman’s side.
The Netherlands were already four goals up by the time Anthony Elanga pulled one back in the 59th minute, but Crysencio Summerville added more gloss for the Oranje late on.
The result saw Sweden lose a World Cup match by three or more goals for the first time since their 5-2 defeat to Brazil in the 1958 final on home soil.
And 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).
Sweden remain in a strong position to progress from Group F following their 5-1 victory over Tunisia, with the latter facing Japan on Saturday in Monterrey.
Potter bemoaned his team’s inability to defend the Netherlands’ threat in the wide areas, but he is positive they can turn things around against Japan next time out.
“Obviously, really disappointed. It was a tricky one to analyse, we did lots of good things,” Potter said.
“We attacked, had good opportunities, but you can’t concede that many and hope to win. We’ll learn a lot from the game.
“We played against a good team. They hurt us in wide areas and one goal was from a long ball we didn’t deal with well.
“It was not a great start in the first period [but we] then came back in the second part of the first half.
“We started well in the second half, but lost the ball, conceded two goals and the game was gone from us.
“The boys kept going, but it is one of those things we’ll learn a lot from.”
Tung förlust i Houston.
5-1 | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/VIPnb2A2d7
— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) June 20, 2026
The Netherlands, meanwhile, are now unbeaten across their last 14 World Cup matches since losing to Spain in the 2010 final (W9 D5, excluding penalty shoot-outs).
That is now the outright longest run of any nation in the tournament’s history, with Sunderland’s Brobbey taking centre-stage after coming into Koeman’s lineup.
Brobbey became just the second Netherlands player to score a brace on their first World Cup start, after Johnny Rep against Uruguay in 1974.
He also netted the second-quickest goal that the Netherlands have ever scored from open play at the World Cup, after Phillip Cocu against Mexico in 1998 (3:59).
But Koeman insists improvements are needed moving forward, saying: “A great result, but we could be better.
“Then you play a complete match. And this match was almost like that.
“Despite the 5-1 victory, you do see moments where, if they start playing differently, it takes us too much time to recognise that, which meant we got into a little too much trouble before the break.”
Koeman also said he knew their clash with Sweden was an important game, but the players’ display showed they did not feel any pressure after their 2-2 draw against Japan.
“So there was more pressure to win this match. We knew it was a must-win,” Koeman added. “But I didn’t feel any tension.
“As a coach, you can feel how people are working after a first match like that and what the players’ input is. Then you know things are on the right track.”
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