HOUSTON, June 15 — Germany began their World Cup campaign with a thumping 7-1 victory over debutants Curacao early this morning in a match where history was made on several fronts and the one-sided scoreline could not overshadow the occasion for the island nation.
Germany's Felix Nmecha scored the fastest goal of the tournament so far after six minutes, while Nico Schlotterbeck, Kai Havertz (two), Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav also found the net in a comfortable outing for Julian Nagelsmann's side.
But the biggest cheer from the crowd of 68,021 came for Livano Comenencia's 21st-minute equaliser for Curacao, who scored their first-ever World Cup goal as they became the smallest nation by population and area to play at the global finals.
Curacao's sizeable support enjoyed their historic day under Dick Advocaat, who became the oldest coach in World Cup history at the age of 78, and cheered until the final whistle on an occasion many believed would never come.
"We expected to do more against Germany, but they were too strong," Advocaat said. "We conceded three easy goals and 4-1 would have been a better score.
"Despite this 7-1 outcome, the joy of the fans is fantastic. This is not a disgrace, we can still be proud. We still have two games to go and those could end differently.
"The players will not be downcast, it was still great to play in this game."
Recalled goalkeeper Manuel Neuer also became Germany's oldest player to feature at a major tournament at the age of 40, surpassing previous record-holder Lothar Matthaeus.
"It took us a few minutes to get back into the game after they equalised," Nagelsmann said. "Curacao can play football too, as we saw, and I'm curious to see how they'll fare in the group going forward.
"I'm very satisfied with us scoring seven goals and our performance for the most part. A winning start is always important and we're glad we managed it."
Cold comfort for Curacao
Curacao can take some comfort from the fact that the scoreline in their Group E opener matched Germany's famous 7-1 victory over hosts Brazil in the 2014 semi-finals, highlighting how devastating the four-time world champions can be on their day.
This was not quite at that level, but the Germans were still clinical, controlled possession and created chances at will to send a message to rivals at this World Cup that they should be considered among the tournament favourites.
Curacao are known as The Blue Wave, but instead it was wave after wave of white shirts that confronted them from the outset.
Parity lasted six minutes before Germany's quick passing around the edge of the penalty area created a scoring opportunity for Nmecha.
However, it was Curacao who scored next as their plan to hit Germany on the counter-attack paid off.
Comenencia's shot from 15 metres took a deflection that lifted the ball beyond Neuer.
Germany regained the lead after 38 minutes through Schlotterbeck's simple glancing header and, from there, it became a procession.
Germany won a penalty that Havertz converted before Musiala extended the lead early in the second half, with Brown, Undav and Havertz, with his second goal, completing the rout.
