Cody Mathès Gakpo (; born 7 May 1999) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or forward for club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 The title Dutch Footballer of the Year ( Dutch: ''Voetballer van het Jaar'') has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984. The award is determined by a poll of Dutch professional footballers playing in the First (Eredivisie) and Second (Eerste Di ...

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 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

Early life

Gakpo was born in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

and raised in the district of

Stratum In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ...

. 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 Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively fo ...

for the first time but mainly featured in the under-19 team. Gakpo made his professional debut in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

for Jong PSV on 4 November 2016, in a game against

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

. 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 Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

, 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 Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch Association football, football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tackling machine and expert ball-winner, but ...

. 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 The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

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 The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

just one day later. In the 3–1 home win against AZ, he was substituted on for

Steven Bergwijn Steven Charles Bergwijn (born 8 October 1997) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Winger, left winger or a Forward (association football)#Inside forward, forward for Saudi Pro Le ...

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 Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

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 Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. He scored another brace on 24 September in the 5–1 victory in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

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 Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in the 2022 KNVB Cup final. On 31 August 2022, he scored his first hat-trick in a 7–1 win over

Volendam Volendam () is a tourist town in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Edam-Volendam, Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, known for its streets, old fishing boats and the traditional clothing wor ...

Liverpool

On 28 December 2022, Gakpo agreed to sign for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

once the transfer window opened on 1 January 2023. He was reported by

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

to have agreed a five-and-a-half-year contract, for a

transfer fee In professional football, a transfer is the action taken whenever a player under contract moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player's registration from one association football club to another. In general, the players can onl ...

of between £35.4 and £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 Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round. Gakpo scored his first goal for Liverpool in a 2–0

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

league victory over Everton on 13 February 2023. Gakpo won his first trophy with Liverpool in the 2023–24 season, where he was credited with key goals to take the club to its 10th

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

victory as the competition's second-highest goalscorer. Gakpo scored the equaliser in Liverpool's 2–2 draw

with With or WITH may refer to: * With, a preposition in English * Carl Johannes With (1877–1923), Danish doctor and arachnologist * With (character), a character in ''D. N. Angel'' * ''With'' (novel), a novel by Donald Harrington * ''With'' (album ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 5 January 2025. During the 2024–25 season, Gakpo played a crucial role in their Premier League title winning season. He scored Liverpool's third in an 5–1 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, after which the league title was secured in his first season under new manager fellow countryman

Arne Slot Arend Martijn "Arne" Slot (; born 17 September 1978) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. He is regarded as one of t ...

International career

Youth

Gakpo was eligible to play for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

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

squad for

and debuted in the third match of the group stage against

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

as a substitute in the 79th minute for

Frenkie de Jong Frenkie de Jong (; born 12 May 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays primarily as a midfielder for club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation and as one ...

. As a result, he became the first Netherlands player to make his international debut at a European Championship since Martien Vreijsen in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. Gakpo made his first start for the Netherlands in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on 1 September 2021, and scored his first senior international goal three days later in a 4–0 win over

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. Gakpo was called up to represent the Netherlands at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar and had an immediate impact, scoring in three consecutive group stage matches against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, and

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. Gakpo was named in the Netherlands' squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

in Germany. He was named

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in their opening 2–1 victory over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in which he scored his country's first goal of the tournament. He received the honour again for their round of 16 match against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, 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

, he is also capable of playing a more central attacking role as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. 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 In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills to take on defenders until he finds the space to make an attempt on goal.

Personal life

Gakpo is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

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 Memphis Depay (; born 13 February 1994), also known mononymously as Memphis, is a Dutch professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Sport Club Corin ...

, he led a Bible study for fifteen other Dutch teammates.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gakpo goal''

Honours

PSV *

: 2017–18 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2021–22 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Liverpool *

: 2024–25 *

: 2023–24; runner-up: 2024–25 Individual *

: 2021–22 * Eredivisie Player of the Month: September 2022, October 2022 *

BBC Goal of the Month The Goal of the Month is a monthly segment on BBC's ''Match of the Day'' television programme, in honour of the best goal scored each month. The segment has been featured on the programme since the 1970–71 season. Typically, a selection of ei ...

: January 2025 * UEFA European Football Championship Top Goalscorer:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

(shared)

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
Profile
at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gakpo, Cody 1999 births Living people Footballers from Eindhoven Dutch men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Jong PSV players PSV Eindhoven players Liverpool F.C. players Eerste Divisie players Eredivisie players Premier League players Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch Pentecostals Dutch sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Dutch people of Togolese descent UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen