Cody Gakpo and Netherlands Seek Unity Through Faith Ahead of Sweden Clash

Cody Gakpo leans on faith as much as form as the Netherlands brace themselves for a defining night in Houston.

Under pressure after a stuttering start to their World Cup campaign, the Dutch forward says a Christian prayer group within the squad has become a quiet anchor before a clash with free-scoring Group F leaders Sweden.

Faith, cohesion and a squad under strain

The Netherlands, three-time World Cup runners-up, arrive at this second group game with little margin for error. A 2-2 draw with an impressive Japan side in Arlington has left Ronald Koeman’s team chasing, not controlling, the group.

Yet at the Dutch training base in Kansas City, Gakpo cut an unexpectedly upbeat figure.

“We have high hopes for ourselves,” he said. “I think we feel that we have a good group, and at the end we have to show it on the pitch and obviously go through in the group stage, and then push on.”

Behind that optimism lies something more intimate than tactics or team meetings. Gakpo revealed that a core of 11 or 12 players meet regularly to pray together, a ritual he believes is knitting the squad tighter at a moment when the pressure could easily pull it apart.

“We often end up in conversations in which we talk about faith and I'm often one of those who leads the prayer,” he explained. “But everyone has their own role and their own contribution.”

The 27-year-old sees the group growing, both in numbers and in importance.

“I think the group of guys is getting bigger and bigger. And I think it also brings a certain cohesion, of course,” he said. “Also outside of football, obviously, to get along well with each other. But also just to give each other strength, in moments like these when we really have to be there for each other.

“And that we can form a unity together. Not only on the pitch, but also outside it.”

Unity will be tested now. Sweden are coming.

Sweden’s firepower and a familiar threat

If the Netherlands’ opener was a warning, Sweden’s first outing was a statement. Graham Potter’s side dismantled Tunisia 5-1, their attack as ruthless as the scoreline suggests.

Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres lead that charge, a pair with enough power and precision to unhinge any defence. For Gakpo, the danger comes with an added twist: Isak is a club teammate at Liverpool.

The striker endured a brutal first season at Anfield, his big-money move from Newcastle derailed by a serious ankle injury that included a fibula fracture. He returned only towards the end of the campaign, but his impact was immediate.

“Special player, and we were very happy that he returned (from injury),” Gakpo said. “And at the end, I think he was fit, he scored some goals, and he played well.

“And obviously he started the tournament very well with his performance. And I think everybody knows how good a player he is, so we have to look (out for) him.”

Koeman’s back line already knows what is coming. Knowing and stopping, though, are very different tasks.

Leaving Liverpool’s troubles behind

For Gakpo, this World Cup is also a chance to step out from the shadow of a bruising club season. Liverpool’s campaign unravelled, ending with the dismissal of manager Arne Slot and a sense of drift at Anfield.

“Last season at Liverpool is not something a lot of people want to look back on, I think, unfortunately,” he admitted. “But that's just football as well. And we just have to move on. Here it's obviously a completely different environment, it's a completely different team.”

Different shirt, different stakes, same expectations. The Netherlands are judged on tournaments, not friendlies, and a must-win game against the group’s pacesetters is exactly the kind of stage on which their history has been written.

On Saturday in Houston, the noise will come from the stands and the touchline. The calm, if Gakpo is right, may come from a small circle of players, heads bowed, drawing strength from something beyond the white lines.

The question now is simple: will that inner cohesion hold when Sweden’s forwards test every weakness the Dutch have tried so hard to pray away?