Curacao made history by becoming the smallest nation to ever quality for the World Cup. In the first half against Germany, they made even more history, this time by scoring their first goal at a World Cup. Livano Comenencia’s strike will go down as one of the great tournament moments, from this summer and from tournaments past.
Germany, for their part, don’t seem to have gotten out of second gear so far in this one. Between an opening goal from Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, a set piece strike from his club teammate Nico Schlotterbeck, and a penalty conversion from Kai Havertz just before the half, Julian Nagelsmann’s team has a 3-1 lead at the break. It’s been messy at times from the Germans. But with their talent advantage that sluggishness won’t come back to bite them.
For a moment, it looked as if Curacao could stage a magical comeback in the second half. Now, though this might be out of reach.
