With his two goals for the Netherlands in their 5-1 win over Sweden Cody Gakpo is now dangerously close to an incredible feat.
The Liverpool forward helped the Dutch book their spot in the World Cup knockout stages with a superb display.
Gakpo clearly loves the competition, having scored four times in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, convincing Liverpool to sign him from PSV.
With his latest brace he’s now on six World Cup goals, and only six Dutchmen are now ahead of him.
Five of those are on six goals, and the leader, Johnny Rep, is on seven.
That means two more goals and Gakpo reaches an incredible Dutch record. One more and he eclipses it.
Rep’s record has stood since 1978 and looked like it would never be broken with even Robin van Persie failing to match him.
Top scorers for the Netherlands at the World Cup:
Johnny Rep: 7 goals (1974 and 1978)
Arjen Robben: 6 goals (2006, 2010 and 2014)
Robin van Persie: 6 goals (2010 and 2014)
Wesley Sneijder: 6 goals (2010 and 2014)
Dennis Bergkamp: 6 goals (1994 and 1998)
Rob Rensenbrink: 6 goals (1974 and 1978)
Cody Gakpo : 5 goals (2022 and 2026)
Johan Cruijff: 3 goals (1974)
Memphis Depay: 3 goals (2014 and 2022)
Despite Gakpo’s achievement, it was strike partner Brian Brobbey who took all the headlines.
The Sunderland striker scored the fourth-fastest double in World Cup history with a brace before the 17th minute and his teammates were stunned.
“I never try to stay too close to Brobbey myself,” said captain Virgil van Dijk.
“I don’t know if you saw Liverpool against Sunderland? I mainly tried to read him there. He often drifted towards the other central defender back then, by the way.
“They were one-on-one at the back. If the ball falls exactly in front of Brian and he has the defender where he wants it, you simply can’t get to it anymore.
“Brian is such an incredibly strong guy. With the runners we have, you can really make the difference.”
Denzel Dumfries then compared him to former teammate Romelu Lukaku.
“The similarities between those two are certainly there,” he said. “Brian is just very good and incredibly difficult to play against.
“He fully seized his opportunity today. He can do a lot with his physique. We have strikers with different profiles in this squad, but when it comes to pure power, Brobbey is crucial.
“He had an immediate impact and scored two great goals.”
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