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When Germany last won the World Cup in 2014, their first Group E opponents, Curacao, had only been an independent nation for four years.
The Blue Wave are sailing into uncharted territory in Texas today, having blasted past a strong Jamaica side – plus Trinidad and Tobago and Bermuda – in their World Cup qualifiers to earn their spot here.
Naturally, there will be a buzz about the team whatever happens on the pitch in their opening game, but could they utilise some beginner’s luck?
Germany vs Curacao prediction
There’s no point beating around the bush, Germany are the clear favourites here.
An experienced Manuel Neuer between the sticks, a Swiss army knife of a captain in Joshua Kimmich and one of the world’s most expensive footballers in Florian Wirtz – knitted together with master tactician Julian Nagelsmann.
But, having said that, this is far from a vintage Die Mannschaft crop, and their history in this competition means the weight of expectation is all the same, regardless of the talent on the pitch.
As we saw when Brazil got underway against Morocco, even some of the game’s top talents can wilt under that pressure initially – with key names like Wirtz and Aleksandar Pavlovic just as new to World Cup football as Curacao.
If the competition debutants can use that pre-match energy to bolt out of the blocks, they may just catch the four-time winners by surprise.
It wouldn’t shock us if Curacao draw the first blood in this contest.
With Championship-standard attackers like Sontje Hansen and Tahith Chong in their ranks, they cannot be simply dismissed as warm-up fodder for the later main events.
However, after a potential early surge, we expect the mix of experience and young forward talent of Germany to win out.
Score prediction: Germany 3-1 Curacao
