Germany Crush World Cup Debutants Curacao 7-1

Germany's men's national football team started their 2026 World Cup campaign with a dominant 7-1 victory over tournament debutants Curacao on Sunday, June 14, in Houston, USA.

Curacao, with a population of 158,000, is the smallest nation ever to participate in a World Cup. They briefly caused an upset when Livano Comenencia equalized in the 21st minute, scoring the first World Cup goal in his country's history. However, Germany quickly regained control.

Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the 6th minute from a Florian Wirtz assist. After Comenencia's equalizer, Nico Schlotterbeck headed home from a corner by Nathaniel Brown in the 38th minute. Kai Havertz converted a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time (45+5) to make it 3-1.

The second half was one-way traffic. Jamal Musiala scored in the 47th minute from Joshua Kimmich's pass, followed by Brown's volley in the 68th from a Deniz Undav assist. Undav then got on the scoresheet in the 78th minute after another Kimmich pass, and Havertz completed his brace in the 88th minute from Undav's assist.

Statistics reflected Germany's dominance: 26 shots to 8, 11 on target to 2, and 8 corners to 1. Germany is ranked 10th in the FIFA rankings, while Curacao sits 82nd.

The next Group E match sees Ivory Coast face Ecuador in Philadelphia at 2 a.m. (local time) on Monday.

The 2026 World Cup is the first to feature 48 teams, hosted across Mexico, the USA, and Canada. The top two from each group, plus the eight best third-placed teams, advance to the knockout stage. Group play ends on June 27, with the final scheduled for July 19.