The expanded World Cup, featuring 48 nations for the first time, was always likely to throw up some mismatches in the group phase (and possibly the round of 32 as well). And once the draw was made, it was clear that Germany v Curacao was going to be one of the biggest examples of such a clash of the 2026 tournament.
For one thing, there is the obvious disparity in population between the Group E rivals. If Curacao were a German city, its population of around 158,000 would not even make it one of the biggest 50 cities in Germany! Die Mannschaft can draw from a population of around 84 million (ignoring the fact that most of those are women, children or far too old to play for the men’s national side!) and also has a far stronger footballing history and culture.
With Germany also boasting vastly superior resources, it was no surprise that the four-time World Cup winners and record eight-time finalists recorded an easy win over the minnows, who were playing in their very first game at the finals.
Does 7-1 Win Make Germany Contenders?
Germany love a 7-1 scoreline at the World Cup 😅 pic.twitter.com/4qCN70HbFs
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 14, 2026
Julian Nagelsmann’s men beat Curacao 7-1 and after their comprehensive victory, their odds for the tournament shortened a little. They played well enough, but whether a big win over a small nation counts for all that much is certainly open to debate.
Perhaps more surprising than the margin of the victory was the fact that Curacao managed to score a goal. Livano Comenencia got that goal and the youngster, who has been involved with PSV and Juventus’s youth teams, now plays his club football in Switzerland.
He stunned the Germans with an equaliser after 21 minutes that was his nation’s first at a World Cup finals. It would not be a huge surprise if it was also their last, although they managed eight shots against Germany and posed enough of a threat to suggest they can score again in North America.
That the minnows had 35% of the possession and mustered two shots on target is testimony to how well they played, despite the final score. It was a handsome win for Germany, but we think it is a stretch to consider them among the favourites on the back of one big victory. But how does their 7-1 triumph compare to the biggest World Cup wins ever?
Hungary for More
Hungary have recorded the biggest win of all time at the World Cup, smashing 10 goals past El Salvador at the 1982 World Cup. The clash took place in Group 3 and despite their incredible win in Elche, they didn’t make it out of a tough group that also contained Argentina and Belgium, with the latter topping the pile.
Hungarian skipper Tibor Nyilasi opened the scoring after just four minutes and he also got the 10th after 83. El Salvador got a consolation goal after 64 minutes but that only made the score 5-1. It seemed only to make Hungary angry, though, as they then netted five more between the 69th and the 83rd minutes. That included a rapid seven-minute hat-trick for sub Laszlo Kiss, who came on in the 56th minute before scoring in the 69th, 72nd and 76th!
Hungary finished third in the group and were eliminated, but this was not the first time they had won by nine goals at the World Cup. Back in 1954, Hungary’s greatest-ever side, the Mighty Magyars, using their famous 2-3-3-2 formation, thrashed South Korea 9-0 in Zurich.
Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Kocsis were just two of the stars of that incredible team that really should have won the World Cup. As well as their 9-0 win, they also beat West Germany 8-3 in Group 2. They beat Brazil 4-2 in the quarters and Uruguay by the same score in the semis, albeit after extra time.
They were big favourites in the final against West Germany and after eight minutes they were 2-0 up and the World Cup was as good as theirs. Except it wasn’t. Did we write the Germans off earlier? Apparently, one should never do that and 1954 is a case in point, as they came back to win 3-2.
Yugoslavia Also Net Nine
Yugoslavia beat Zaire 9-0 at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.
The scoreline was so large that they had to switch to player numbers once they ran out of room for the names. pic.twitter.com/8WzoUV2a0g
— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) October 13, 2020
In a clash between two countries that no longer exist (Zaire was the name used for the DR Congo between 1971 and 1997), Yugoslavia recorded the joint-biggest (by margin) win in World Cup history. At the 1974 World Cup in Germany, they beat Zaire 9-0 in the first group stage.
The Group 2 game took place in Gelsenkirchen and helped Yugoslavia top the group. They qualified for the next phase along with Brazil, with Scotland coming third and Zaire losing all three games. Their goal difference was minus 14.
Biggest World Cup Wins
As good as it was, Germany’s 7-1 success over Curacao does not even make the top 10 of biggest wins at the World Cup.
- Hungary 10-1 El Salvador, 1982
- Hungary 9-0 South Korea, 1954
- Yugoslavia 9-0 Zaire, 1974
- Sweden 8-0 Cuba, 1938
- Uruguay 8-0 Bolivia, 1950
- Germany 8-0 Saudi Arabia, 2002
- Uruguay 7-0 Scotland, 1954
- Turkey 7-0 Korea Republic, 1954
- Poland 7-0 Haiti, 1974
- Portugal 7-0 DPR Korea, 2010
- Spain 7-0 Costa Rica, 2022