Kai Havertz Scored Twice and Curacao Could Not Stop Any of It
For about nineteen minutes, Curacao believed. Livano Comenencia’s left-footed finish through traffic in the 21st minute, the smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup pulling level with four-time champions Germany, sent a pocket of fans in Houston into delirium. Then Kai Havertz happened, twice, and the gap between a debutant and a giant reasserted itself with brutal efficiency. Kai Havertz scored twice as Germany beat Curacao 7-1 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on June 14, 2026, in their Group E World Cup opener.
Here is the scoreline laid bare. Germany 7, Curacao 1. Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the sixth minute, Comenencia equalized in the 21st, and from there Germany scored six unanswered goals through Nico Schlotterbeck, Havertz twice, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown, and Deniz Undav. Germany finished with an almost absurd 4.22 expected goals to Curacao’s 0.41.
Havertz had not started his World Cup with much fanfare before this. His first goal came in first-half stoppage time, a penalty won when Nmecha was tripped by Riechedly Bazoer, and he sent Eloy Room the wrong way with his left foot from twelve yards to make it 3-1 at the break. It was a routine finish, calm and well placed, the kind a forward of his composure rarely misses.
The second told a different story entirely. Substitute Undav, who had only been on the field since the 64th minute, picked out Havertz with a perfectly weighted through ball on the counter in the 88th minute. Havertz did not blast it. He clipped it, almost delicately, over the advancing Room and into the center of the goal, the kind of finish that suggested boredom more than urgency.
Make no mistake, this was a man toying with an overmatched opponent by the closing stages.
Havertz, now twenty-seven and established as Germany’s central striker after years of shuffling between positions at club level, has carried a reputation for inconsistency through much of his international career. Sunday did nothing to support that reputation. He finished with 1.01 expected goals from two shots on target, numbers that matched the eye test of a player completely in control of his afternoon.
Around him, Germany’s night had the feel of a procession almost from the opening whistle. Nmecha and Wirtz combined for the opener inside six minutes. Schlotterbeck headed home from a Brown corner to restore the lead before half time. Musiala added a fourth three minutes into the second half, finishing across the goalkeeper from fourteen yards. By the time Brown and Undav scored in the space of ten minutes, the only remaining question was how many Germany would manage before full time, with Opta giving them a literal 100 percent win probability by the 70th minute.
For Curacao, appearing at a World Cup for the first time as the smallest nation in tournament history, Comenencia’s goal will live on regardless of the final margin. Jearl Margaritha, the forward who watched the second half unfold from the bench having been an unused option for much of it, called the moment one that belonged to the entire island, not just the scorer.
Havertz’s contribution carried different weight. He has spent a career being asked whether he belongs among Germany’s leading men, shuffled around midfield and attack without ever fully settling. Two goals against a debutant nation will not silence every doubt, not with Ivory Coast waiting in Toronto on Saturday as a far sterner examination. But for one night in Houston, with a clipped finish that barely seemed to require effort, he looked exactly like the player Julian Nagelsmann needs him to be when the games get harder.