The Caribbean side, competing at the tournament for the first time in their history, were beaten 7-1 by a dominant German team that quickly showed why they remain one of football’s most successful nations.

Germany opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Felix Nmecha combined with Florian Wirtz before firing a first-time finish into the far corner.

But Curaçao responded in historic fashion. In the 21st minute, Livano Comenencia scored the nation’s first-ever World Cup goal, with his effort taking a deflection before finding its way past veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to spark celebrations among the Curaçao supporters.

The equaliser, however, was short-lived as Germany regained control before halftime.

Nico Schlotterbeck restored Germany’s lead in the 38th minute, heading home from a corner, before Kai Havertz converted a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time after Riechedly Bazoer brought down Nmecha inside the area.

Germany continued their attacking surge after the break, with Jamal Musiala making it 4-1 in the 47th minute after finishing a well-placed pass from Joshua Kimmich.

Nathaniel Brown added another goal in the 68th minute with a composed volley on his World Cup debut, while substitute Deniz Undav scored Germany’s sixth from close range.

Havertz completed his brace in the 88th minute to seal a convincing victory for the four-time world champions.

Despite the result, Curaçao midfielder Leandro Bacuna said the team could take pride from scoring on their historic debut but admitted they were punished for mistakes against elite opposition.

“We can be really proud to play against a nation like Germany and scoring a goal. Coming from behind and scoring a goal, 1-1. After that, we gave the goals a bit easy to them,” Bacuna said.

“At this level, you can’t make these kind of mistakes. We got to look in the mirror, take the positives of the game.”

For Comenencia, the match represented a lifelong dream becoming reality.

“I have dreamed about it since I was a little kid, when I was five or six years old and I began with football. It’s just beautiful that my dream is actually true,” he said.

Germany move to the top of Group E, while Curaçao will look to bounce back when they face Ecuador on June 20.