Germany began their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign in devastating fashion with a 7-1 victory over tournament debutants Curaçao in a Group E clash at Houston Stadium.
The four-time world champions proved far too strong for the smallest nation ever to appear at a World Cup, recovering quickly after a brief scare to secure one of the biggest wins of the tournament so far.
Felix Nmecha opened the scoring after just six minutes when he combined with Florian Wirtz before curling a right-footed effort into the far corner.
Curaçao, however, stunned Germany and their supporters when Livano Comenencia etched his name into history.
After a swift counter-attack, the midfielder fired home via a deflection to score Curaçao’s first-ever World Cup goal and level the match at 1-1.
Germany restored their advantage before the break through Nico Schlotterbeck, who met Nathaniel Brown’s corner with a glancing header beyond goalkeeper Eloy Room.
The Europeans tightened their grip on the contest in first-half stoppage time when Riechedly Bazoer brought down Nmecha inside the penalty area. Kai Havertz stepped up and calmly converted from the spot to make it 3-1.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side wasted little time extending their lead after the restart.
Jamal Musiala found the far bottom corner from a tight angle less than two minutes into the second half to put Germany firmly in control.
The pressure continued as Brown added a fifth goal after connecting with a Deniz Undav flick-on.
Undav then got on the scoresheet himself, tapping in from close range after Joshua Kimmich played the ball across the box.
Havertz completed the rout late on, racing onto Undav’s pass before lifting a composed finish over the advancing goalkeeper for his second goal of the match and Germany’s seventh.
The emphatic result puts Germany in a strong position in Group E and provides an early boost to their hopes of reaching the knockout stages, while Curaçao will look to recover from the heavy defeat in their remaining group matches against Ecuador and Côte d’Ivoire.
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