Germany began their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a commanding 7-1 victory over debutants Curaçao in Group E on Sunday in Houston, Texas, delivering their most emphatic opening-match performance since the tournament began. The result puts the four-time world champions in a strong position to advance to the knockout rounds for the first time since they won the trophy in Brazil twelve years ago.

Germany appeared to be cruising after Felix Nmecha curled a fine opener past goalkeeper Eloy Room in the sixth minute, receiving a pass from Florian Wirtz before bending the ball around a defender. But Curaçao — a small Caribbean island nation of around 150,000 people and a former Dutch colonial territory making its World Cup debut — briefly levelled through a deflected Livano Comenencia strike that sent the team's supporters, known as the Blue Wave, into raptures and had 78-year-old coach Dick Advocaat, the oldest manager ever to appear at a World Cup, leaping from his seat. Germany's veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 40, playing in a record fifth World Cup, could only shake his head.

The equaliser proved short-lived. After a drinks break allowed Germany to regroup, Nico Schlotterbeck headed home from a corner in the 38th minute, and Kai Havertz converted a penalty before half-time. Jamal Musiala struck 69 seconds into the second half, followed by goals from fullback Nathaniel Brown and substitute Deniz Undav — scoring his seventh goal in seven international appearances — before Havertz completed a brace for a final scoreline of 7-1, identical to Germany's famous 2014 semi-final victory over hosts Brazil. Leroy Sané had a chance to add to the tally but missed one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Coach Julian Nagelsmann kept his composure throughout, including off the pitch, where he declined to respond to remarks made by Jürgen Klopp — the former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool manager now working in football management at Red Bull — who had suggested Nagelsmann was "still" the national team coach, an apparent hint that he might one day take the role himself. Nagelsmann curtly moved the press conference along rather than engage. The mood within the Germany camp, based at a university campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been widely described as exceptionally harmonious, a notable contrast to the fractious atmospheres that preceded the team's early exits at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

For Curaçao, the defeat was chastening but not entirely demoralising. Captain Leandro Bacuna acknowledged the gulf in quality — "if you fall asleep for a second, it's punished immediately" — but pointed to the equaliser as proof of the team's belief. Advocaat was measured in defeat, noting that many of his players were unaccustomed to this level of football. Curaçao face Ecuador in Kansas City on 21 June, with their captain insisting the team can compete: "We scored against Germany, so why not against Ecuador and Ivory Coast?"