Germany opened its 2026 World Cup campaign by tearing Curazao apart 7-1 on Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston, a result that gave Julian Nagelsmann the kind of start he could only have wanted from a team under pressure to prove itself. Felix Nmecha scored after 6 minutes, Kai Havertz added two goals and Jamal Musiala also found the net as Germany put the match away early.
That scoreline matters because Germany arrived in the tournament carrying the weight of two consecutive group-stage eliminations at Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. A one-sided opener does not erase that, but it does change the mood around a side that has spent years trying to restore the authority that carried it to the World Cup title in Brazil 2014.
Nagelsmann is almost 39 and the youngest coach in the tournament, a striking detail in a competition where Manuel Neuer is 40 years old and still part of the story. He also reaches this World Cup with a coaching résumé that began at Hoffenheim in February 2016 and without a professional playing career, which only makes the scale of Germany's expectations more visible. The coach who was asked to steady the Mannschaft is now trying to turn one lopsided win into proof that Germany can last longer than the first round of pressure.
The group picture also gives Germany something to build on. Costa de Marfil opened with a 1-0 win over Ecuador, and Germany's next match against Costa de Marfil on Saturday 20 June at 4:00 PM ET at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, is the first World Cup meeting between the two teams. Germany then closes Group E against Ecuador on Thursday 25 June at 4:00 PM ET in New Jersey, where the one-sided history between Germany and Ecuador — two official matches, two German wins — will sit in the background but not decide anything on its own.
The problem for Germany is that a fast start can only do so much. Curazao was overwhelmed from the opening minutes, but the real test now is whether Germany can carry the same pace and precision into the matches that usually expose a team rather than flatter it. If Nagelsmann's side wants this tournament to mean more than a statement made in Houston, it has to turn a 7-1 opening into a run that survives beyond Group E.
