A Caribbean island of roughly 150,000 people made the scoreboard read 1-1 against Germany. Livano Comenencia scored Curaçao’s first-ever World Cup goal in the 21st minute of their Group E opener on June 14, 2026, at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The equalizer came 15 minutes after Germany’s Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the 6th minute. Curaçao is the smallest country by population and area to qualify for a FIFA World Cup, facing a four-time champion for the first time in competitive play.
The island nation posted the strongest expected-goals metrics among Concacaf teams during qualifying, proving their path to the tournament was the product of tactical discipline.