If anyone still had doubts about Germany's readiness to compete for the 2026 World Cup, Julian Nagelsmann's side spent 90 minutes brutally dispelling them. A 7-1 thrashing of Curacao was a performance of such fluid, free-flowing football that it felt less like a competitive game and more like a public demonstration of everything modern Germany is capable of.
Musiala and Wirtz: The Most Exciting Midfield Partnership in the World?
Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz were simply unplayable. Both players drifted between lines, found pockets of space where none appeared to exist, and linked up with a naturalness that spoke to years of training together and a deep mutual understanding of how the other plays.
Musiala, now 23, has grown from a teenage phenomenon into a complete midfielder. His ability to dribble in tight spaces, his vision for the killer pass, his timing of runs into the box — all of it was on show against Curacao. Wirtz, who has been in the form of his life at Bayer Leverkusen, matched him step for step.
Goals From Everywhere
Felix Nmecha opened the scoring early, Nico Schlotterbeck added a powerful header from a corner, and then the Musiala-Wirtz show truly began. Kai Havertz grabbed a brace, Deniz Undav scored, and Nathaniel Brown — one of the younger faces in this squad — capped a memorable evening with a goal that confirmed Germany's depth is as impressive as their starting XI.
Curacao, to their credit, kept playing. Their consolation goal was more than a token gesture and showed why they should not be dismissed as mere makeweights. But on this evidence, they were facing a Germany side firing on all cylinders.
The World Cup's Favourites Just Announced Themselves
Hosting a World Cup in 2006 helped Germany fall back in love with football. This time, playing on the North American continent, they are trying to win the whole thing. On this opening performance, it is very difficult to argue they do not have the tools to do it.
The question now is whether they can maintain this level when the opposition improves in the knockout rounds. If Musiala and Wirtz keep performing like this, the answer may well be yes.
Key Stats
- Goals: Nmecha, Schlotterbeck, Musiala, Wirtz, Havertz (2), Undav, Brown — Curacao: 1
- Group: E — Germany top after matchday 1
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