Sweden suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands on Saturday evening, a result that sparked harsh criticism in the Swedish press and broadcast coverage. The team had hoped to beat the Dutch, but was outclassed from the start and could not compete with the orange-clad side.
Local media described the match as “90 minutes of absolute nightmare” and said the Netherlands “humiliated us completely,” needing only five minutes to break through. One report called the scoreline “shocking” and said it was not hard to see Sweden had a serious problem in Houston. A local commentator was even more blunt, saying, “The Netherlands is chewing us up, crushing us and spitting us out. It is making fools of us.”
The loss was Sweden’s heaviest in a World Cup since 1950, when it was beaten 7-1 by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, 76 years ago. It also cost Sweden a chance to secure advancement to the next round. The team remains on three points.
Sweden will finish the group stage against Japan in Group 6, in its final match of the round.