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Netherlands star Brian Brobbey has entered the record books after scoring the fourth fastest braces in FIFA World Cup history, during his side's 5-1 win over Sweden in the 2026 World Cup Group F clash on Saturday (local time).
Brobbey struck twice inside the opening 16 minutes and 12 seconds, making it the fourth-fastest brace ever recorded in World Cup history. The fastest World Cup brace remains Germany's Lukas Podolski's 11-minute 35-second effort in 2006, followed by Brazil's Ronaldo Nazario (12:16 vs Costa Rica, 2002) and England's Gary Lineker (13:46 vs Poland, 1986), according to Opta's X handle. Brobbey's early burst also placed him among a select group of players to score a brace within 17 minutes of a World Cup match over the past 40 years, alongside Podolski and Ronaldo. His opener after 4 minutes and 58 seconds was also the fourth-earliest goal in Netherlands World Cup history, and the quickest since Robin van Persie's strike against Brazil in 2014 (2:32). Meanwhile, teammate Cody Gakpo continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice in the second half. With his performance, Gakpo has now equalled Robin van Persie's record for the most World Cup group-stage goals scored by a Netherlands player, with five goals. The result also reinforced several impressive records for the Dutch side, including extending their unbeaten run in FIFA World Cup group-stage matches to 18 games and their overall unbeaten streak in World Cup matches to 14. Coming to the match, Brobbey, who replaced Crysencio Summerville in the only change from the 2-2 draw against Japan, scored two goals inside the opening 17 minutes in Houston. (ANI) Sweden gradually settled into the contest and created several chances towards the end of the first half, but Gakpo took control after the break, scoring twice within seven minutes to put the Dutch firmly in charge. Anthony Elanga pulled one back for Sweden just before the hour mark, but substitute Summerville added a late fifth goal for Ronald Koeman's side, who are now close to securing a place in the knockout stage. The Netherlands began emphatically, scoring in the fifth minute when Brobbey finished off a flowing move involving Tijjani Reijnders and Gakpo, who provided the assist from the left flank. Sweden responded through Viktor Gyokeres, who tested Bart Verbruggen, but Brobbey doubled his tally shortly after by converting Denzel Dumfries' cross with a close-range finish. The Dutch remained in control despite Sweden's efforts, with Gyokeres and others forcing several saves from Verbruggen, though they were unable to convert their pressure before half-time. After the restart, Gakpo extended the lead with a quick double--first tapping in another Dumfries cross and then finishing with a clever reverse strike past Kristoffer Nordfeldt. Graham Potter introduced Elanga after Sweden fell 4-0 behind, and the forward responded quickly by scoring after a fine pass from Alexander Isak. However, any hopes of a comeback were short-lived, as Summerville sealed the emphatic win with a superb late strike in the 89th minute as the Dutch side stayed in the knockout hunt. (ANI)
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