FIFA World Cup: Curacao’s moment in global spotlight spoiled by German ruthlessness
For a few minutes on Sunday, the small town dared to dream about beating Germany or at least holding them to a draw when Livano Comenencia equalised to make it 1-1
Before the World Cup began, a video of the Curacao team went viral. In it, the players are arriving in an old-fashioned blue school bus with no windows, players sticking their arms out and banging away on the metal exterior from the outside. The video was meant to portray the down-to-earth vibe of the team headed to its first ever World Cup.
“That’s who we are and always will be: infectious enthusiasm, joy, carefree spirit, and fear of no one,” Livano Comenencia told La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview.
On Sunday, all of those qualities were on display from the smallest nation ever to compete in the FIFA World Cup.
AS IT HAPPENED | Germany vs Curacao, FIFA World Cup 2026
Facing Germany in their World Cup opener, Curacao were dreaming of their campaign taking flight in Houston, the space capital of the USA. For a brief phase, fans and players even dared to daydream of an upset over Germany. Never mind that the World No 82 ranked nation was playing the first-ever game in the country’s history at the FIFA World Cup or that its opponents have won the event four times. Never mind that it’s a tiny island in the Caribbean which came into being only in 2011 with a population of just over 1,58,000 inhabitants and a land area of 171 square miles (just about half of Berlin).
As Curacao coach Dick Advocaat put it succinctly, “We’re just a small town compared to Germany and the other opponents.”
For a few minutes on Sunday, the small town dared to dream about beating Germany. Or at least holding them to a draw. In the 21st minute of the Germany versus Curacao game, Comenencia curled the ball past the recently un-retired Manuel Neuer to equalise at 1-1.
Despite the side being obvious underdogs, Curacao was set up by veteran manager Dick Advocaat to go on the offensive.
As Advocaat explained their philosophy later: “Just defending will definitely lead to defeat so we tried to play more offensively, but it didn’t work on all fronts.” Advocaat, who, at the age of 78 is the oldest ever World Cup manager, was seen wiping tears from his eyes before kick-off, overcome by the occasion.
For many of the players too the journey’s been a Cinderella tale. Before they made it to the World Cup, they had phases of administrative chaos with the federation that led to logistical nightmares. Players had to fork out for their flight tickets and hotel rooms. Pitches weren’t always in the best shape. And against Germany, they were playing at the state-of-the-art NRG Stadium, with a retractable roof and stadium-wide air conditioning when the temperatures got unbearable.
“Bbefore the World Cup) We faced several obstacles: pitches that weren’t always good, issues with flights and travel, various communication problems with hotels where bookings were cancelled,” Comenencia had told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
But at the air-conditioned NRG Stadium all those hardships were left in the past. Curacao’s first ever World Cup goal had the players and the fans delirious. When Comenencia scored, they would have thought they could at least take home a point, if not more. That resistance lasted till 38 minutes.
Then the floodgates opened as Germany inflicted another 7-1 scoreline in a FIFA World Cup game.
Kai Havertz scored twice with Felix Nmecha, Jamal Musiala, Nico Schlotterbeck, Deniz Undav and Nathaniel Brown also scoring. The Germans attacked relentlessly, like it was a training game with one set of players asked to attack and the other required to defend.
“We really needed this convincing win,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said at the post-match press conference. “We needed this self-confidence. It was there but it definitely grew.”
Nagelsmann was referring to Germany’s inability to make it past the group stage in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 following their World Cup triumph in 2014.
“We have to show our fans that we can perform and we have to have confidence. I think we’re in a better spot than we were entering this match.”
Before the World Cup began, a video of the Curacao team went viral. In it, the players are arriving in an old-fashioned blue school bus with no windows, players sticking their arms out and banging away on the metal exterior from the outside. The video was meant to portray the down-to-earth vibe of the team headed to its first ever World Cup.
“That’s who we are and always will be: infectious enthusiasm, joy, carefree spirit, and fear of no one,” Livano Comenencia told La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview.
On Sunday, all of those qualities were on display from the smallest nation ever to compete in the FIFA World Cup.
AS IT HAPPENED | Germany vs Curacao, FIFA World Cup 2026
Facing Germany in their World Cup opener, Curacao were dreaming of their campaign taking flight in Houston, the space capital of the USA. For a brief phase, fans and players even dared to daydream of an upset over Germany. Never mind that the World No 82 ranked nation was playing the first-ever game in the country’s history at the FIFA World Cup or that its opponents have won the event four times. Never mind that it’s a tiny island in the Caribbean which came into being only in 2011 with a population of just over 1,58,000 inhabitants and a land area of 171 square miles (just about half of Berlin).
As Curacao coach Dick Advocaat put it succinctly, “We’re just a small town compared to Germany and the other opponents.”
For a few minutes on Sunday, the small town dared to dream about beating Germany. Or at least holding them to a draw. In the 21st minute of the Germany versus Curacao game, Comenencia curled the ball past the recently un-retired Manuel Neuer to equalise at 1-1.
Despite the side being obvious underdogs, Curacao was set up by veteran manager Dick Advocaat to go on the offensive.
As Advocaat explained their philosophy later: “Just defending will definitely lead to defeat so we tried to play more offensively, but it didn’t work on all fronts.” Advocaat, who, at the age of 78 is the oldest ever World Cup manager, was seen wiping tears from his eyes before kick-off, overcome by the occasion.
For many of the players too the journey’s been a Cinderella tale. Before they made it to the World Cup, they had phases of administrative chaos with the federation that led to logistical nightmares. Players had to fork out for their flight tickets and hotel rooms. Pitches weren’t always in the best shape. And against Germany, they were playing at the state-of-the-art NRG Stadium, with a retractable roof and stadium-wide air conditioning when the temperatures got unbearable.
“Bbefore the World Cup) We faced several obstacles: pitches that weren’t always good, issues with flights and travel, various communication problems with hotels where bookings were cancelled,” Comenencia had told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
But at the air-conditioned NRG Stadium all those hardships were left in the past. Curacao’s first ever World Cup goal had the players and the fans delirious. When Comenencia scored, they would have thought they could at least take home a point, if not more. That resistance lasted till 38 minutes.
Then the floodgates opened as Germany inflicted another 7-1 scoreline in a FIFA World Cup game.
Kai Havertz scored twice with Felix Nmecha, Jamal Musiala, Nico Schlotterbeck, Deniz Undav and Nathaniel Brown also scoring. The Germans attacked relentlessly, like it was a training game with one set of players asked to attack and the other required to defend.
“We really needed this convincing win,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said at the post-match press conference. “We needed this self-confidence. It was there but it definitely grew.”
Nagelsmann was referring to Germany’s inability to make it past the group stage in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 following their World Cup triumph in 2014.
“We have to show our fans that we can perform and we have to have confidence. I think we’re in a better spot than we were entering this match.”
