The German national team is celebrating a fantastic start to the World Cup. Several stars shine against outsiders Curaçao.
William Laing reports from Houston
The La Ola wave was already sweeping through Houston Stadium in the middle of the second half. The German fans celebrated their team in the stands and sang “Oh, how beautiful that is.” The DFB team gave them the perfect opportunity to do so on Sunday afternoon (local time).
After two recent defeats at the opening of the World Championships, the German selection did not show any weakness at the start of the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Against tournament debutants Curaçao, the DFB team lived up to their role as favorites despite a short period of weakness and ultimately beat the underdogs with a well-deserved score of 7:1 (3:1).
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Germany took the lead early on in the cooled arena in Texas. Felix Nmecha shot the ball beautifully into the opponent’s goal after six minutes. Afterwards, Julian Nagelsmann’s team lost the thread. The national coach therefore had to watch as Curaçao scored its first goal at a World Cup.
Schlotterbeck cleared the ball into the feet of Livano Comenencia. The 22-year-old thundered the ball onto the goal – and put it in. The ball had previously been deflected unfortunately by Joshua Kimmich. Manuel Neuer, who was back in the DFB goal for the first time in two years, was no longer able to defend the ball decisively (21st minute).
Germany initially seemed unsettled. Curaçao smelled the morning air and worked on another goal. But then the DFB team scored with a standard to make it 2-1. Schlotterbeck rose high after a corner from Brown and thus calmed German minds in the stadium and in front of the home TV screens (38th). After a foul on Nmecha, Havertz increased the score to 3-1 with a penalty before the break (45th + 5th).
DFB-Elf turns up the heat in the second half
The DFB team really turned up the heat in the second half. The busy Musiala celebrated the 4:1 shortly after the restart. Then Brown scored his first international goal (68th). The Frankfurt player was once again given preference over David Raum in the left-back position – and confirmed Nagelsmann’s trust with an outstanding performance.