Germany began their campaign at the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a dominant 7-1 win over debutants Curacao in Group E on Sunday.
Julian Nagelsmann side had suffered back to back exits from the group stages since winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and took a giants step towards progressing to the next round with an emphatic win.
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Felix Nmecha opened the scoring for Germany, before Nico Schlotterbeck, Kai Havert (2), Jamal Musial, Nathaniel Brown and Denis Undav scored after Livano Comenencia had briefly pulled Curacao level.
Germany set early pace in group E ahead of Ivory Coast and Ecuador’s clash later in the day.
Dominant Germany blow away Curacao
Dick Advocaat led Curacao to their first ever World Cup appearance and at 78 years and 290 days became the oldest coach in the history of the World Cup.
Six minutes into the game, Nmecha fired in a superb goal from the edge of the area, marking the fastest goal so far at the 2026 World Cup.
They continued their dominance, but it was Curacao who grew into the game and made history with their first World Cup goal through Comenencia in the 21st minute.
Schlotterbeck almost put Germany back ahead but his header was saved by the goalkeeper. However, the Borussia Dortmund defender was not to be denied minutes later as he headed in from a set-piece from Brown.
It became three in first half stoppage time when Havertz calmly rolled in from the penalty spot after Nmecha had been fouled in the area, as Germany took a 3-1 lead into the break.
Just a few minutes into the second half, Kimmich and Musiala combined for the latter to put the European heavyweights 4-1 up, before Brown scored again to make it five.
Substitute Undav added a sixth, and Havertz bagged his second of the game and Germany’s seventh late on to complete a 7-1 win and mark their highest scoring World Cup match since the 7-1 rout of Brazil in the semifinals of the 2014 edition.
What Next?
Germany can now book their place in the World Cup Round of 32 with a win over Ivory Coast next weekend. Meanwhile, Curacao will be eyeing an unlikely result against Ecuador in their next match as well.
