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Bill Connelly
Multiple Authors
HOUSTON — Curaçao played the David role well for a while in their 7-1 loss to mighty Germany. Livano Comenencia scored a historic goal — the first World Cup goal ever for the smallest nation to qualify — and Curaçao briefly gave Germany reason to doubt themselves and remember the recent World Cup group stage failures of 2018 and 2022.
The Goliaths kept their heads, however, and eventually established harsh control in front of a crowd of 68,021. Nico Schlotterbeck’s 38th-minute header from a corner put them ahead for good, and a deluge followed all the way through Kai Havertz’s second goal in the 88th minute.
“After the game there was a song, ‘The Train Has No Brakes’ (‘Der Zug hat keine Bremse’),” Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “We tried to do that to move on, move on, move on with no brakes.
Comenencia’s early equalizer gave Germany a chance to prove their resilience. “[Curaçao] got the equalizer with I think the first shot on our goal, and then it was interesting to see how we can deal with that. […] We tried to find our lucky moments in the offense, tried to score more goals, and then we had a very important set piece to get the lead again,” Nagelsmann said.
A number of German players put together stat lines worthy of man-of-the-match honors. Kai Havertz scored near the end of each half, knocking in a penalty to make it 3-1 in the first half, then finishing the scoring on a breakaway in the 88th minute. Meanwhile, Felix Nmecha scored the opening goal and drew the penalty converted by Havertz. He put three shots on target, completed 36 of 38 passes and made three tackles.
Facing criticism from German legends such as Thomas Müller and Jurgen Klopp for recent form concerns, Jamal Musiala was at his best, scoring a goal early in the second half, creating a pair of chances, winning nine of 14 ground duels, drawing a pair of fouls and even completing three tackles as Germany snuffed out most of Curaçao’s counterattacking attempts after the 20th minute. “I thought he played very well,” Nagelsmann said. “He had several promising moments that were blocked, but he kept trying, was constantly available, and scored after halftime with an excellent run and finish.”
Jamal Musiala and Germany pick up right where they left off in the first half to take a 4-1 lead over Curaçao 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/ZJVwJRkQTe
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 14, 2026
There was a fear that while the World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams would create far more inclusion for the biggest tournament in the world’s most popular sport, it would also produce more blowouts in matches between heavyweights and overwhelmed and underqualified opponents. Curaçao was one of four first-time World Cup qualifiers, along with Cape Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan, and they came into the match ranked just 82nd in the FIFA world rankings.
Sunday’s result ended up proving both the pros and cons of expansion. Granted, Germany has won plenty of World Cup blowouts through the years with smaller fields — 6-0 over Mexico in 1978, 8-0 over Saudi Arabia in 2002 and an identical 7-1 win over Brazil in 2014 — but Curaçao’s debut was indeed a chastening blowout. At the same time, Comenencia’s goal will be remembered forever within the country, and Curaçao’s fans helped to create a loud and enthusiastic environment throughout the match.
“We have a lot of German fans,” Nagelsmann said, “but also the Curaçao fans were really brilliant. It was a kind of emotional start into the World Cup. When you [create] such a good result and such a good emotional atmosphere during the 90 minutes, there’s always kind of satisfaction.”
CURAÇAO SCORES ITS FIRST-EVER FIFA WORLD CUP GOAL 🇨🇼
THE SMALLEST NATION TO EVER QUALIFY HAS ITS MOMENT! pic.twitter.com/lEWTp8G2cA
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 14, 2026
Curaçao manager Dick Advocaat stressed the need to move on and continue to play with confidence. “We have to realize that we’re simply putting together a good campaign, with perhaps a surprise in the second or third match,” he said. “But it could just as easily turn out that there is no surprise. We are still happy that we participated in the largest event in the world.
“In five or six days there will be another match. Then they can do better.”
With three points and a strong goal differential, Germany is all but assured advancement to the knockout rounds. But they’ll still need a positive result against Ivory Coast to remain in the driver’s seat in Group E.
