Cody Gakpo's Faith and Unity as Netherlands Face Sweden
In a quiet corner of the Netherlands’ training base in Kansas City, the conversation keeps circling back to the same theme: unity. Not tactics, not selection debates, but something more personal.
For Cody Gakpo, that togetherness is being built as much in prayer as it is on the training pitch.
The Liverpool forward has revealed that a Christian prayer group within Ronald Koeman’s squad has become an unlikely pillar for a team heading into a must-win World Cup clash against Group F leaders Sweden in Houston on Saturday.
“We have high hopes for ourselves,” Gakpo said, speaking with a calm that belied the pressure of the moment. “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.”
Prayer circle at the heart of Dutch camp
The Netherlands, three-time World Cup runners-up, stumbled out of the blocks with a 2-2 draw against a sharp, energetic Japan in Arlington, Texas. The performance raised questions. The mood inside the camp, Gakpo insists, has gone the other way.
A group of 11 or 12 players now meet regularly to pray and talk about faith, a routine that has quietly grown in influence.
“We often end up in conversations in which we talk about faith and I’m often one of those who leads the prayer,” he said. “But everyone has their own role and their own contribution.”
The 27-year-old describes a circle that is expanding, not shrinking.
“I think the group of guys is getting bigger and bigger. And I think it also brings a certain cohesion, of course,” he added. “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.”
For a team under scrutiny, that sense of shared purpose may be as important as any tactical tweak Koeman makes before they run into a Sweden side that started like a storm.
Sweden’s firepower and a familiar threat
If the Dutch needed a reminder of the scale of the task, Sweden provided it in brutal fashion. Graham Potter’s side, revitalised and ruthless, dismantled Tunisia 5-1 in their opener, with their forward line already purring.
Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres lead that charge, a front pairing with pace, power and a clinical edge. For Gakpo, one of those names is very close to home.
Isak, his Liverpool teammate, endured a difficult first season at Anfield after a big-money move from Newcastle, missing most of the campaign with an ankle injury that included a fibula fracture. He returned late in the season, rediscovered rhythm, and carried that form straight into this tournament.
“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.”
The respect is clear. So is the warning. If the Dutch defence switch off, Isak will punish them.
Leaving Liverpool’s troubles behind
Gakpo’s own season at club level did not bring much joy. Liverpool’s campaign unravelled, ending with the dismissal of manager Arne Slot and a sense of collective underachievement.
“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.”
That reset is what this World Cup offers him: a new dressing room, a new dynamic, and, he hopes, a new story.
The Netherlands know the margins are thin now. A draw against Japan has left them with little room for error against a Sweden side full of confidence and goals. Pressure is building. The stakes are clear.
Inside that Kansas City base, though, Gakpo and his teammates will keep gathering, keep talking, keep praying. On Saturday in Houston, they will find out whether that inner cohesion can withstand the outer storm of Isak, Gyokeres and a rampant Sweden.
