Germany is having a dream start at the 2026 World Cup with a 7-1 victory over Curaçao

The start of the World Cup in North America went perfectly for the German selection, despite a short-lived setback. With the 7-1 victory over Curaçao, Germany achieved the second biggest victory in DFB history. The team showed that the threat from standard situations has returned.

Nico Schlotterbeck did not have too difficult a time in his 28th international match. In the 38th minute, he was able to high jump into the enemy penalty area all by himself after a corner kick from Nathaniel Brown. With a beautiful header, he sent the ball unstoppable into the left corner, allowing Germany to properly process Curaçao's temporary 1-1 equalizer. This goal also ended an unwanted run for the German national team at final tournaments: no goal had been scored from a corner in a world or European championship since Euro 2016.

Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the 6th minute with a beautiful shot that hit the right side of the post after a great assist from Florian Wirtz. In fact, this goal was the earliest goal scored by a DFB team in a World Cup opener, equaling Philipp Lahm's goal in the 2006 home World Cup against Costa Rica.


Against a completely overwhelmed Curaçao team it was already 6-1 before half time. In addition to Nmecha and Schlotterbeck, Kai Havertz (penalty), Jamal Musiala, Brown and Deniz Undav also scored. Havertz scored his second goal with a beautiful lob just before the end and set the final score at 7-1.

Germany now has a whopping 84 different goalscorers in its World Cup history, with Nmecha, Musiala, Brown and Undav all scoring for the first time at the World Cup. Only record champion Brazil has one more with 85 different goalscorers.

Whether this big victory against Curaçao is a good omen for a successful tournament in North America will remain to be seen in the coming weeks. Historically, however, a win by at least six goals at the start of a World Cup does not guarantee that one will ultimately become world champion; Many countries have experienced this, including Hungary, which has lost the final several times in the past after such a start.

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