Crysencio Summerville (L) became just the third Dutch player to score in his first two World Cup appearances. | Photo Credit: AP

Netherlands fired five goals past Sweden at the Houston Stadium on Saturday to pick its first win of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The morale-boosting win also allowed the Oranje to secure some coveted records in the quadrennial event.

With the 5-1 win, Netherlands created the record for the most consecutive games without a defeat, taking the number to 14 on Saturday. Although it lost to Argentina in the quarterfinals in 2022, it was recorded as a draw since the result came only after penalties.

The Dutch team’s last outright defeat in regulation time came in the 2006 round of 16 clash against Portugal in Nuremberg.

Netherlands is also unbeaten for 18 consecutive games in the group stage, another record. It’s last group-stage defeat came against Belgium in 1994. However, the side also did not feature in two editions since this loss, in 2002 and 2018.

During the win, Netherlands also became just the eighth team to record 100 goals in FIFA World Cup, joining Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, England, and Spain.

Published on Jun 21, 2026