Germany made a flying start to their World Cup campaign with a commanding 7-1 victory over debutants Curacao on Sunday, while Japan fought back twice to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw against the Netherlands.
Curacao, the smallest nation by population ever to qualify for the World Cup, briefly celebrated a historic moment when Livano Comenencia scored the country’s first-ever World Cup goal to cancel out Felix Nmecha’s opener.
However, the four-time world champions quickly took control, with Kai Havertz netting twice as Germany powered to their biggest World Cup opening-match win in years.
“It took us a few minutes to get back into the game after they equalised,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann.
“I’m very satisfied with us scoring seven goals and our performance. A winning start is always important.”
Curacao coach Dick Advocaat refused to be discouraged by the heavy defeat.
“It is not embarrassing to lose like that against such a team,” said the 78-year-old Dutchman.
In Arlington, Japan showed their resilience by twice coming from behind to claim a valuable 2-2 draw against the Netherlands.
Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring with a powerful header before Keito Nakamura quickly restored parity for Japan.
Crysencio Summerville appeared to have secured victory for the Dutch with a superb curled effort after the break, but Daichi Kamada struck in the 89th minute, with his effort taking a deflection on its way into the net.
Meanwhile, Iran finally arrived in the United States ahead of their Group F opener against New Zealand after months of uncertainty surrounding their participation due to geopolitical tensions.
The team landed in Los Angeles from their base camp in Mexico and completed immigration procedures before heading to their hotel.
However, Iran were forced to leave behind 15 members of their administrative and management staff after they were denied entry visas by US authorities.
Elsewhere, Ivory Coast were set to face Ecuador in Philadelphia, while Sweden prepared to take on Tunisia, with Premier League stars Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres leading the Swedish attack.
