The Swedes thrashed Tunisia by the same scoreline to launch their campaign but came crashing back down to the ground in Houston. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Coach Graham Potter said his Sweden team will learn and be better for its 5-1 World Cup hammering by a rampant Netherlands on Saturday.

The Swedes thrashed Tunisia by the same scoreline to launch their campaign but came crashing back down to the ground in Houston.

Potter’s men, who would have reached the last 32 with a win, were 4-0 down after two goals each from Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo. Anthony Elanga pulled one back before Crysencio Summerville put the seal on a five-star display for Ronald Koeman’s side.

“We have to congratulate them, and as I said, I think we’ll learn a lot from the game,” said the Englishman Potter.

“The scoreline affects you, we became a bit passive then. We didn’t quite have the belief in what we wanted to do. So that was a disappointment. It was a learning point for us, of course, we’ll be better for it.”

Potter, whose team is still in with a decent shout of the next stage but faces a dangerous Japan next, felt the final scoreline was “harsh”.

Sweden had its chances in both halves, racking up 20 shots in total, nine of them on target. But it was shaky at the back throughout, with Sunderland striker Brobbey needing just five minutes to open the scoring.

Sweden was 2-0 down at half-time, but Potter saw positive signs in the second as it had numerous goal-scoring chances come and go.

“I thought the reaction after the half-time break was really, really good. I thought we were the better team, actually,” he said.

“But unfortunately we conceded again and, obviously, if you concede goals, it’s a problem. So the scoreline, I think, was a bit harsh on us. That’s not to say that we deserve to win the game. The Netherlands played well and they deserve to win. But we have to take the positives, I think, and we have to learn from the things that we can do better.”

Published on Jun 21, 2026