The smallest nation ever to play at a World Cup scored a goal that will be remembered forever in Willemstad. The other six goals belonged entirely to Germany.
Germany beat Curacao 7-1 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on June 15, 2026, in their Group E opener at the World Cup. Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the 6th minute, and Kai Havertz’s two goals bookended a five-goal German blitz that also included strikes from Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown, and Deniz Undav, with Livano Comenencia’s 21st-minute equalizer standing as Curacao’s lone reply.
Here is the direct version. Final score 7-1. Nmecha scored in the 6th minute, Comenencia leveled for Curacao in the 21st, Schlotterbeck restored the lead in the 38th, and Havertz converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-1 at the break. Musiala, Brown, Undav, and Havertz again completed the rout in the second half. Germany finished with 4.22 expected goals to Curacao’s 0.41, a gap that tells its own story without needing much help.
Germany started fast, and the speed never really stopped.
Nmecha gave Germany the lead in the 6th minute, finishing a one-touch effort with his right foot after Florian Wirtz slipped him through. Curacao, playing in their first ever World Cup match as the smallest nation to ever qualify, did not fold immediately. Comenencia drove a left-footed shot through traffic from the center of the box in the 21st minute, sending the small but vocal contingent of Curacao fans inside NRG Stadium into a frenzy that briefly made this feel like a contest.
It was not a contest for long.
Schlotterbeck headed home from a Nathaniel Brown corner in the 38th minute, and Germany were awarded a penalty in stoppage time after Felix Nmecha was tripped inside the box by Riechedly Bazoer. Havertz converted calmly to send Germany in 3-1 up at halftime, a lead that already felt more comfortable than two goals usually feel.
Make no mistake, the second half was a formality.
Musiala doubled his side’s effective cushion just two minutes after the restart, slotting a right-footed finish across goalkeeper Eloy Room from a Joshua Kimmich through ball. Brown added Germany’s fifth in the 68th minute, turning in a clever Undav flick that came agonizingly close to being ruled offside. Undav then scored himself in the 78th minute, scuffing home from close range after Kimmich elected to lay the ball off rather than shoot.
Here’s the thing Havertz still had one more in him.
His second goal of the night arrived in the 88th minute, a beautifully clipped finish over Room after Undav’s through ball sent him clear on a fast break. It was Germany’s seventh goal of the night against a Curacao side that had given everything and still finished with one shot on target to Germany’s twelve.
Manuel Neuer, 40 years old and back from international retirement, made one save in his return. Veteran composure was not really what this match needed from Germany, though it is exactly what coach Julian Nagelsmann will want against tougher opposition still to come.
Curacao’s players sang and celebrated their lone goal as though it were the only thing that mattered that night. For a nation this small, it probably was.