Germany confirmed its title as the favorite against Curacao, demonstrated its strength with an emphatic 7-1 (the widest score in the competition so far) in the opening match of Group 5 at NRG in Houston, and entered the 2026 World Cup in the most ideal way.

In front of 68,000 spectators, the match started with the most ideal conditions for Germany, who took the lead in just 6 minutes with a powerful shot by Felix Nmecha. Julian Nagelsmann’s team pressed very early to “clean up” the game, missing three more chances with Nmecha and Sane, however, the ball “punished” them. 

In the 21st minute, Komenecia’s shot ended up in Neuer’s corner (the ball found Kimmich’s foot and changed course), with Advocaat’s team equalizing and his players celebrating with the crowd in the stands the historic first goal of the National Team in the final stages of the World Cup.

The superiority of the Germans, however, was very evident on the field and at half-time the “national team” entered the locker room with a two-goal lead (3-1). Initially, Sloterbeck’s header in the 38th minute and Havertz’s penalty in the fifth minute of injury time laid the foundation for the first victory.

The match took on a procedural character at the start of the second half, when Musiala “wrote” 4-1 in the 47th minute with a flawless finish. In the 68th minute, Brown raised the score to 5-1, only for Udav to come off the bench in the 78th minute and “write” 6-1. The “icing on the cake” was put by Havertz in the 88th minute with his second personal goal of the game.

Referee: J. Jaed (Morocco)
Yellow cards: 

The compositions of the teams:

GERMANY (Julian Nagelsmann): Neuer, Ta (73′ Rudiger), Kimmich (83′ Anton), Sloterbeck, Brown (73′ Raum), Pavlovic, Musiala (64′ Udav), Wirth, Sane, Nmeca (73′ Goretzka), Havertz

CURACAO (Dick Advocaat): Room, Floranus, Obispo, Bajor, Fonville, J. Bacuna, Comenencia, L. Bacuna, Chong (83′ Castaner), Locandia (65′ Margarita), Hansen (46′ Antonise)