Brian Brobbey pounced for a first-half brace, Cody Gakpo scored two more goals after the break and the Netherlands romped to a 5-1 victory over Sweden on Saturday in Houston to take command of Group F.

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Crysencio Summerville added a late goal for The Oranje (1-0-1, 4 points), who posted their largest margin of victory in a World Cup since a 5-1 win over Spain in the 2014 group stage.

Denzel Dumfries had two assists, while Gakpo and Summerville each had one as the Netherlands took sole possession of the top spot in the group. They opened with a 2-2 draw against Japan, who plays Tunisia later on Saturday.

For Brobbey, it was just his second and third goals in an international competitive fixture. For Gakpo, it was his fourth and fifth all-time tallies in the competition after scoring once in each Dutch group-stage match at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Anthony Elanga pulled a goal back for Sweden (1-1-0, 3 points) as his side missed an opportunity to put one foot firmly into the knockout stage.

The Scandinavians weren’t as poor as the final score indicated in their worst World Cup loss since a 7-1 defeat to hosts Brazil in the 1950 final round-robin stage.

Nevertheless, they absorbed the worst swing of results between two matches this tournament after a 5-1 opening win over Tunisia that precipitated the firing of Tunisian boss Sabri Lamouchi.

Brobbey had his brace by the 17th minute.

In the fifth minute, his exceptional hold-up play helped turn a simple ball
out of the back into a dangerous counterattack down the left.

From there, he literally outran center backs Victor Lindelof and Isak Hien to reach Gakpo’s low cross and thump in a first-time finish from close range.

On Brobbey’s second, Sweden’s defense gave Dumfries far too much space on the right, allowing the winger time to line up his first-time cross into the path of Brobbey, who again finished with his first touch.

Gakpo had his brace nine minutes into the second half, and after Elanga’s 59th-minute tally, Summerville completed the scoring on a feed from substitute Memphis Depay in the 89th minute.

Japan routs
Tunisia 4-0

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) — Japan delivered a commanding 4-0 win over Tunisia in the World Cup’s 1,000th match on Saturday to move to the brink of the knockout stages, while the North Africans were eliminated after a second successive defeat in Group F.

Daichi Kamada opened the scoring after four minutes, bundling home Keito Nakamura’s low cross from close range, before Ayase Ueda doubled Japan’s lead in the 30th minute with a fierce low drive into the far corner.

Japan stayed in control after the break and Ueda set up Junya Ito for their third with a lofted pass before heading in his second of the night from a deep cross, making Japan the first Asian side to score four goals in a World Cup match.

Japan join the Netherlands on four points, with Tunisia, playing their first game under new coach Herve Renard after a 5-1 loss to Sweden, becoming the tournament’s third eliminated side, joining Haiti and Turkey.

Curacao keeper
Room delivers ‘unbelievable’
performance

Tim Howard, a United States men’s national team legend, stands alone in World Cup history with his 16-save performance in the Americans’ 2-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

But he may have been a bit worried on Saturday night, when Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves in a scoreless draw against Ecuador Saturday night in Kansas City to earn Curacao’s first-ever World Cup point.

At least Room hopes so.

“A little bit annoyed that I don’t have the record from Tim Howard, but I think he was sweating in front of the TV because I was close,” Room quipped in his press conference after the match.

In some ways, Room made history in the match. His 15 saves are the most in a World Cup match by a goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet. It’s also a record for a 90-minute match, with Howard’s performance coming in a 120-minute extra-time match.

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The fact that it came just one match after Room made four saves on 12 shots on net in Curacao’s 7-1 opening loss to Germany in Houston makes it that much more unbelievable.

“I think I need a statue in Curacao now,” Room said.

According to some statkeeping websites, Room actually tied the record. FIFA’s total of 16 saves by Howard is not a consensus tally.

That discrepancy doesn’t seem to be affecting how Room views the game whatsoever.

“It’s going to be an insane memory,” Room said. “You don’t think about it when you do it but of course it’s going to be something you look back to. For me as a goalkeeper, this is almost a perfect game.

“… It’s unbelievable. And I cannot do it alone. I did it with the team and my defenders and the midfielders, strikers. We did it as a team.”

While Howard played for Everton in the Premier League when he delivered his historic performance, Room has never reached those heights. The 37-year-old Netherlands native came up through a few Dutch academies and squads before settling with the Columbus Crew, with whom he won the 2020 MLS Cup.

Now, though, he’s not even in the top-level American league, playing for Miami FC in the USL Championship.

Up next, a chance for Curacao, the smallest nation in population and size to ever qualify for the World Cup, to punch a ticket to the knockout stage if they can beat Ivory Coast in Philadelphia on June 25.

Late strike gets
Germany past
Ivory Coast, into knockout round

Substitute Deniz Undav scored his second and third goals of the World Cup and Germany rallied to clinch a spot in the knockout phase with an enthralling 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in Group E competition on Saturday in Toronto.

After leveling in the 68th minute, Undav sealed all three points with a wonderful instinctive finish in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a return for Germany (2-0-0, 6 points) to the knockout round for the first time since they won their fourth World Cup in 2014.

It was only the 29-year-old’s fourth and fifth goals in a competitive international fixture after making his senior international debut in 2024.

Germany clinched the group with Ecuador and Curacao’s draw on Saturday evening. They will face a third-place group finisher in the Round of 32 on June 29 in Foxborough, Mass., after the final group-stage match against Ecuador on June 25.

Undav’s brace reversed Franck Kessie’s first-half opener for Ivory Coast (1-1-0, 3 points), who are still in a strong position to advance to their first knockout phase in program history.

But Les Elephants missed out on a golden opportunity, particularly after Simon Adingra failed to put an effort on target on a glorious 88th-minute opportunity, leaving the door open for Undav’s heroics.

After Undav took a simple but exquisitely calm volley from Nadiem Amiri’s cross to level the match, his winner was even better.

With his back to goal, he deftly settled Felix Nmecha’s strong pass with his first touch, then spun his body and fired a lovely finish past Yahia Fofana with his second.

After earning Man of the Match honors in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 opening win over Ecuador, 19-year-old Yan Diomande was the creative force behind Les Elephants’ opening goal, beating Joshua Kimmich down to the byline on the left and driving in a menacing low cross.

Amad Diallo’s initial effort was blocked by lunging defender Nathaniel Brown, but Kessie cleaned up the rebound with an instinctive low finish from close range.

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