Germany open their World Cup against history-making debutants Curaçao

Germany begin their World Cup on Sunday against opponents they have never faced, in a fixture that pits one of football’s heavyweights against the smallest nation ever to reach the tournament. Curaçao, a Caribbean island of fewer than 160,000 people, walk out at the NRG Stadium in Houston for their first World Cup match, with the German game kicking off at 10.30pm IST.

Germany want a clean start after two false ones

For all that the result looks a formality, Germany arrive carrying baggage. The four-time world champions crashed out in the group stage in 2018 and again in 2022, two tournaments that still sting, and Julian Nagelsmann’s side know that the only way to rebuild trust with their own public is to start winning convincingly from the first whistle. A comfortable evening against a debutant would be the obvious way to settle nerves, but Germany have learned the hard way that nothing at a World Cup is owed to them.

Nagelsmann goes into the opener with his first-choice group fit and available, and is expected to set up in a familiar 4-2-3-1. Anything less than a clear win in Group E, which also contains Ivory Coast and Ecuador, would count as a stumble before the tougher tests arrive.

Curaçao’s story is the one to savour

The romance of the night belongs entirely to Curaçao. Roughly the size of a mid-sized town, the island has done what far bigger countries could not, reaching a World Cup at the first time it has ever come close. They got there the hard way and the unlikely way at once, going unbeaten through their qualifying campaign and needing only a point from their final match, which a goalless draw duly delivered.

The squad is a tribute to the island’s deep ties with the Netherlands. Of the 26 players chosen, 25 were born in the Netherlands, with Tahith Chong the only one born on Curaçao itself. British fans will recognise a few names, the Bacuna brothers among them, with Leandro having spent a decade in English football at clubs including Aston Villa, Reading and Cardiff. It is a group assembled from the Dutch lower and middle tiers, bound together by heritage rather than geography, and now handed the stage of their lives.

A late change in the dugout

There is a poignant footnote to Curaçao’s rise. Dick Advocaat, the vastly experienced Dutch coach who steered them through qualifying, stepped away in February to care for his daughter, and Fred Rutten took over the team, before stepping down in May, with Advocaat returning to lead the side into the finals. He inherits a side with nothing to lose and a single, simple instruction for Houston: stay in the game, frustrate the favourites, and see what the night brings.

What to expect

Realistically, Germany should win, and win well. The gulf in resources and squad depth is enormous, and the bookmakers have priced the game accordingly. But Curaçao did not come this far to hold anything back, and for a country celebrating its very presence at a World Cup, the scoreline almost feels beside the point. Germany will be judged on how they look. Curaçao will be cheered simply for being there.

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