News (engl.)

Germany made an impressive start to the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico with a 7-1 win over tournament debutants Curacao in Houston. Goals from Nmecha, Schlotterbeck, Musiala, Brown, Undav and Havertz, who struck twice, have given Julian Nagelsmann’s side a strong platform in Group E. DFB.de gathered the post-match reaction.

Julian Nagelsmann: I was absolutely delighted for the team. We were heavy favourites today, but Curacao played better than everyone expected. They also played differently to how they had in all their previous games. We conceded from their first attack and had to take a moment to settle again. There are a lot of newcomers in the team, after all. You still have to go out and score seven goals in a game like that. There were good things, but also areas we can analyse.

Manuel Neuer: The overall feeling is very positive. It was important for us to start well and show that enjoyment in our football. The substitutes brought a lot of fresh energy onto the pitch. I had been waiting for this day every single day and really wanted to play. It felt good to be out there with the team. If the shot isn’t deflected, I save it, but it was too close for me to react. I’d have liked to have kept it out.

Felix Nmecha: I’m still just taking in what’s happened, and I’m just happy. It’s a very special moment for me and my family, but also for the team. We can definitely a lot from that result. Now we have to keep going from game to game.

Kai Havertz: There’s always room for improvement, but it was an excellent result and a really good game. We should take a lot of energy from it.

Nathaniel Brown: It’s hard to put into words, scoring here in my first World Cup game. My family are here as well, which makes it incredible. Now we want to keep working. We’re very pleased. The goal we conceded was unnecessary, but it did us good in a way, and once we woke up, we really got going. Scoring that many goals gives us confidence. Now we have to keep working on our mistakes.

Dick Advocaat, Curacao head coach: We lost by more than we expected, but we know how good Germany are. They were too strong today. If you only defend, you’re going to lose anyway, so we tried to play a bit more offensively, but it didn’t work across the board. Germany had six attackers in the team, and that was too much for us. For the country, it was an incredible moment. We’re a tiny place compared with Germany and the other opponents.