CORNERFLICK
WORLD CUP 2026 · GROUP STAGE · NRG Stadium, Houston Live dispatch — Germany 7–1 Curaçao (88')
If anyone wanted to know whether this Germany side came to the United States to contend, they got their answer inside six minutes — and then got it four more times for good measure.
By the 71st minute in Houston the scoreboard read a brutal 5–1, and the only real surprise was how early Nagelsmann's team flipped the switch. Felix Nmecha opened it on 6 minutes, sweeping home a Florian Wirtz invitation while Curaçao were still finding their feet. It set the tone: fast, direct, ruthless. This was a team that smelled blood and went looking for more.
Credit where it's due — Curaçao refused to simply roll over in the opening exchanges. On 21 minutes Livano Comenencia stunned the Texas crowd, levelling at 1–1 and, for a few brief minutes, threatening to write a very different story. It was the kind of moment that has derailed favourites before. Germany's response told you everything about their mood.
Rather than wobble, they accelerated. Nico Schlotterbeck restored the lead on 38 minutes, a centre-half arriving in the box like a man who'd been told goals were compulsory. Then, deep into first-half stoppage time, Kai Havertz dispatched a penalty on 45+5' to make it 3–1 and break Curaçao's spirit at exactly the wrong moment. Whatever Advocaat said at the interval, it didn't survive contact with the second half: Jamal Musiala struck within two minutes of the restart on 47', gliding through as only he can off a Kimmich pass.
The fifth, on 68 minutes, was almost cruel in its ease — Nathaniel Brown finishing a move started by substitute Deniz Undav, the bench now joining the party. Germany had taken a competitive international and turned it into an exhibition.
The numbers are a portrait of total control: 68% possession, 23 shots to 6, nine on target to two, seven corners to none. This was not a smash-and-grab or a lucky afternoon. Wirtz and Musiala pulled strings between the lines all evening, Kimmich conducted from deep, and the front line simply took its chances. The press was relentless, the transitions lethal, the intent unmistakable.
There are caveats worth keeping honest about — Curaçao are not Spain or France, and the gulf in pedigree showed. A 5–1 against a World Cup debutant-tier opponent doesn't crown anyone. But championship sides are judged partly on how they handle the games they're supposed to win, and Germany didn't just win this one — they devoured it, refused to let a setback linger, and looked utterly assured doing it.
Tournaments are built on momentum and belief, and Nagelsmann's side have manufactured both in a single afternoon in Houston. The big tests are still to come. On this evidence, though, Germany have served notice: they didn't travel to America to make up the numbers. They came to win it.
Score at time of writing: Germany 5–1 Curaçao · live coverage continues on CornerFlick.
UPDATE — 78': Make it six. Deniz Undav got the goal his cameo deserved, turning home a Kimmich delivery to push it to 6–1 and underline just how comprehensively Germany have dismantled their opponents.
UPDATE — 88': And there's the second for Kai Havertz. The Arsenal man rounds off a personal brace to make it 7–1, capping a night where everything Germany touched ended up in the back of the net.
Score at time of writing: Germany 7–1 Curaçao · live coverage continues on CornerFlick.