Germany opened World Cup Group E with a 7-1 victory over Curacao that lifted pressure and set records. Felix Nmecha, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala, Nathaniel Brown and Deniz Undav all scored in Houston, while Kai Havertz added two goals as Julian Nagelsmann’s team dominated almost from start to finish.

The heavy defeat also marked a harsh introduction for World Cup debutants Curacao, whose defence struggled against Germany’s movement and finishing. Curacao still had a brief highlight, though, when Livano Comenencia made it 1-1 in the 21st minute, giving the underdogs a short spell of hope before the match turned one-sided again.

Germany’s seven goals in Texas moved the national team to 239 World Cup goals, including matches played as West Germany. That total took Germany above Brazil’s 238 strikes, making Germany the highest-scoring nation in the competition’s history and underlining the attacking strength that Nagelsmann’s side showed against Curacao.

This victory also stretched Germany’s current winning streak to 10 matches across all competitions. That run equalled Germany’s second-longest series of wins. Germany previously managed a longer sequence only once, when the team put together 12 consecutive victories between 1979 and 1980 during a different era for the national side.

Despite the emphatic scoreline, Germany still continued a less positive trend at World Cups. Germany have now gone seven World Cup games without a clean sheet, starting from 2018. That matched Germany’s longest previous run without a shutout at the tournament since 1970, and Germany have only once gone nine matches in succession without preventing a goal.