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Cody Gakpo

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Dutch footballer (born 1999)

Cody Gakpo
Gakpo with Netherlands U18 in 2017
Personal information
Full name Cody Mathès Gakpo
Date of birth (1999-05-07) 7 May 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Eindhoven, Netherlands
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Left winger, forward
Team information
Current team Liverpool
Number 18
Youth career
2003–2007 FC Eindhoven
2007–2016 PSV
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Jong PSV 26 (17)
2018–2023 PSV 106 (36)
2023– Liverpool 73 (19)
International career
2016–2017 Netherlands U18 3 (0)
2018 Netherlands U19 3 (0)
2018 Netherlands U20 5 (4)
2019–2021 Netherlands U21 13 (7)
2021– Netherlands 36 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:03, 26 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:45, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Cody Mathès Gakpo (born 7 May 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.

A PSV academy graduate, Gakpo made his first-team debut in February 2018. In the 2021–22 season, he won the Dutch Footballer of the Year award after scoring 21 goals in 47 games in all competitions. He signed for Liverpool in January 2023.

Gakpo played youth international football for the Netherlands from under-18 to under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in June 2021 at UEFA Euro 2020.

Early life

Gakpo was born in Eindhoven and raised in the district of Stratum. His father was born in Togo and has Ghanaian ancestry, while his mother is Dutch. In 2007, he moved to the youth academy of PSV, where he then progressed through all of the youth teams.

Club career

PSV

For the 2016–17 season, Gakpo was part of the reserve team Jong PSV for the first time but mainly featured in the under-19 team. Gakpo made his professional debut in the Eerste Divisie for Jong PSV on 4 November 2016, in a game against Helmond Sport. For the rest of the season, he only made one more appearance for Jong PSV. After his production increased in the following season's U19 Eredivisie with seven goals and five assists in 13 league games, he was finally promoted to the reserves at the turn of the year. In his second appearance in the second-tier Eerste Divisie, on 19 January 2017, in a 3–2 away win against De Graafschap, he scored a brace and made the assist for the third goal of his team. For Jong PSV, he managed to score seven goals in the 2017–18 season, which he achieved in 12 league games.

First team

Gakpo made his first team debut for PSV as an injury-time substitute in a 3–1 victory over Feyenoord on 25 February 2018. In the 2018–19 season, Gakpo was able to further improve his performances. This was also noticed by first team coach, Mark van Bommel. He was selected several times for the matchday squad of the first team in the first half of the season. He would initially, however, remain an unused substitute. In the 5–1 home win against the Go Ahead Eagles on 3 December 2018, he scored the first hat-trick of his professional career. After he scored a goal and got an assist in the 5–2 home win against Almere City on 21 December, he made his debut in the Eredivisie just one day later. In the 3–1 home win against AZ, he was substituted on for Steven Bergwijn in the closing stages. He scored nine goals in ten league games for Jong PSV by the end of the year and was subsequently promoted to become a regular member of the first team. On 3 February 2019, he scored his first league goal in his second appearance in a 5–0 home win over Fortuna Sittard and also assisted another goal. By the end of the season he made 14 league appearances, but without being able to record another goal.

In the 2019–20 season, he made his breakthrough in the Eredivisie and recorded seven goals and as many assists in 25 league games.

On 13 September 2020, the first matchday of the 2020–21 Eredivisie season, Gakpo scored his first brace for PSV, contributing to a 3–1 win over Groningen. He scored another brace on 24 September in the 5–1 victory in the UEFA Europa League qualifier against NŠ Mura, allowing PSV to qualify for the play-off round. He was again decisive there, on scoring PSV's second goal in a 2–0 win over Rosenborg on 1 October. He finished the season with 29 appearances, in which he scored 11 goals.

Gakpo scored the winning goal for PSV in a 2–1 win over Ajax in the 2022 KNVB Cup final. On 31 August 2022, he scored his first hat-trick in a 7–1 win over Volendam.

Liverpool

On 28 December 2022, Gakpo agreed to sign for Premier League club Liverpool once the transfer window opened on 1 January 2023. He was reported by BBC Sport to have agreed a five-and-a-half-year contract, for a transfer fee of between £35.4 to £44.3 million (€40 to €50 million), which would be a record fee received by PSV. He made his debut on 7 January as a starter in a 2–2 home draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round. Gakpo scored his first goal for Liverpool in a 2–0 Merseyside derby league victory over Everton on 13 February.

International career

Youth

Gakpo playing for the Netherlands national under-18 team in 2017

Gakpo was eligible to play for the Netherlands, Ghana or Togo at international level. He played youth international football for the Netherlands at under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels.

Senior

Gakpo was called up to the senior Netherlands squad for UEFA Euro 2020 and debuted in the third match of the group stage against North Macedonia as a substitute in the 79th minute for Frenkie de Jong. As a result, he became the first Netherlands player to make his international debut at a European Championship since Martien Vreijsen in 1980.

Gakpo made his first start for the Netherlands in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Norway on 1 September 2021, and scored his first senior international goal three days later in a 4–0 win over Montenegro.

Gakpo was called up to represent the Netherlands at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and had an immediate impact, scoring in three consecutive group stage matches against Senegal, Ecuador, and Qatar.

Gakpo was named in the Netherlands' squad for UEFA Euro 2024. He was named player of the match in their opening 2–1 victory over Poland, in which he scored his country's first goal of the tournament. He received the honour for their round of 16 match against Romania again, where he scored the first goal and provided an assist in a 3–0 victory. With 3 goals in the tournament, Gakpo was awarded the Golden Boot in a 6-way tie.

Style of play

Usually deployed as a left winger, he is also capable of playing a more central attacking role as a centre-forward. However during his time at Liverpool he has mostly been deployed out of his natural position on the left wing and played most of his minutes in a midfield and centre forward role. Gakpo often cuts inside on his right foot to move to a more central attacking position, and uses his speed and dribbling skills to take on defenders until he finds the space to make an attempt on goal.

Personal life

Gakpo is a Pentecostal Christian. He has said, "I try to read the Bible every day, I pray every day, I like to go to church, and I read many books about the faith". During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, along with Memphis Depay, he led a Bible study for fifteen other Dutch teammates.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Jong PSV 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 2 0 — — — — 2 0
2017–18 Eerste Divisie 13 7 — — — — 13 7
2018–19 Eerste Divisie 11 10 — — — — 11 10
Total 26 17 — — — — 26 17
PSV 2017–18 Eredivisie 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 — 1 0
2018–19 Eredivisie 16 1 2 1 — 1 0 0 0 19 2
2019–20 Eredivisie 25 7 2 0 — 11 1 1 0 39 8
2020–21 Eredivisie 23 7 1 0 — 5 4 — 29 11
2021–22 Eredivisie 27 12 4 2 — 15 7 1 0 47 21
2022–23 Eredivisie 14 9 0 0 — 9 3 1 1 24 13
Total 106 36 9 3 — 41 15 3 1 159 55
Liverpool 2022–23 Premier League 21 7 3 0 — 2 0 — 26 7
2023–24 Premier League 35 8 4 0 6 4 8 4 — 53 16
2024–25 Premier League 17 4 0 0 3 4 6 2 — 26 10
Total 73 19 7 0 9 8 16 6 — 105 33
Career total 205 72 16 3 9 8 57 21 3 1 290 105
  1. Includes KNVB Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  4. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, nine appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. Six appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League, five appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa Conference League
  8. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 19 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Netherlands 2021 4 1
2022 10 5
2023 7 3
2024 15 5
Total 36 14
As of match played 19 November 2024
Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gakpo goal
List of international goals scored by Cody Gakpo
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 4 September 2021 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands 3  Montenegro 4–0 4–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 14 June 2022 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands 7  Wales 2–0 3–2 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A
3 22 September 2022 Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland 8  Poland 1–0 2–0
4 21 November 2022 Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar 10  Senegal 1–0 2–0 2022 FIFA World Cup
5 25 November 2022 Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar 11  Ecuador 1–0 1–1
6 29 November 2022 Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar 12  Qatar 1–0 2–0
7 7 September 2023 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands 18  Greece 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
8 10 September 2023 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland 19  Republic of Ireland 1–1 2–1
9 21 November 2023 Estádio Algarve, Faro/Almancil, Portugal 21  Gibraltar 6–0 6–0
10 16 June 2024 Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany 25  Poland 1–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2024
11 25 June 2024 Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany 27  Austria 1–1 2–3
12 2 July 2024 Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany 28  Romania 1–0 3–0
13 7 September 2024 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands 31  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–2 5–2 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A
14 16 November 2024 Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands 35  Hungary 2–0 4–0

Honours

PSV

Liverpool

Individual

References

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External links

Liverpool F.C. – current squad
Netherlands squads
Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2020
Netherlands
Netherlands squad – 2022 FIFA World Cup
Netherlands
Netherlands squad – UEFA Euro 2024 semi-finalists
Netherlands
Awards
UEFA European Championship top scorers
* – Golden Boot award winner (when goals scored are tied)
Dutch Footballer of the Year
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