Germany opened their World Cup Group E journey in dominant fashion, sweeping aside tournament newcomers Curacao with a commanding 7-1 victory.
Julian Nagelsmann’s men endured a brief spell of uncertainty during the first half, but once Curacao celebrated their maiden World Cup goal, Germany responded emphatically and never looked back.
Felix Nmecha put Germany ahead in the sixth minute, exchanging a neat one-two with Florian Wirtz before curling an excellent effort beyond his defender.
Curacao stunned their opponents in the 21st minute when Livano Comenencia’s incisive pass was initially intercepted. However, he reacted quickest to the loose ball and saw his strike take a deflection past Manuel Neuer, becoming the nation’s first World Cup goalscorer.
Germany had already threatened from a dead-ball situation through Nico Schlotterbeck, and Curacao failed to learn from the warning. In the 37th minute, Schlotterbeck restored Germany’s advantage by directing Nathaniel Brown’s corner beyond Eloy Room.
Nmecha then earned a penalty after Riechedly Bazoer clumsily challenged him late inside the area. Kai Havertz calmly converted the resulting spot-kick just before the interval.
Only two minutes into the second half, Jamal Musiala extended Germany’s lead to four, finishing neatly from a narrow angle. At the opposite end, Leandro Bacuna thought he had scored but was denied by an offside decision.
Shortly afterward, Brown marked his debut with a goal, expertly connecting with Deniz Undav’s flick before volleying home in the 68th minute. Undav then got on the scoresheet himself, squeezing an effort past Bacuna on the goal line.
Germany still had more to offer. Havertz latched onto Kimmich’s perfectly weighted through ball and delicately lifted his finish over Room, completing another familiar World Cup scoreline for the Germans.
Germany in seventh heaven once again
Germany have now recorded victories in each of their last 10 matches across all competitions. The only longer winning streak in the history of the German Football Association (DFB) came between 1979 and 1980, when they won 12 consecutive games.
Nmecha’s opener at 05:17 was the fastest goal scored by a Germany player making his first World Cup start since Philipp Lahm found the net against Costa Rica in 2006 at 05:08.
Despite the eventual scoreline, Germany were made to work during the early stages as Curacao gave their supporters a memorable moment with a historic goal.
Germany attempted 16 shots in the first half, the highest total by any team before the break in a World Cup match since Ivory Coast faced Serbia in 2006, when they also registered 16. Their relentless attacking pressure helped them establish a 3-1 lead by half-time.
By full-time, Germany had produced 26 shots worth 3.9 expected goals (xG), with 12 efforts hitting the target. Curacao, meanwhile, generated only 0.4 xG from eight attempts.
Although Curacao are not the first nation to suffer a 7-1 defeat against Germany, this result stands as the heaviest loss ever endured by a World Cup debutant since South Korea’s 9-0 victory over Hungary in 1954.
