Before the World Cup began, a video of the Curacao team went viral. In it, the players are arriving in an old-fashioned blue school bus with no windows, players sticking their arms out and banging away on the metal exterior from the outside. The video was meant to portray the down-to-earth vibe of the team headed to its first ever World Cup.
On Sunday, though, Curacao were dreaming of their campaign taking flight in Houston, the space capital of the USA. For a brief phase, fans and players even dared to day dream of an upset over Germany. Never mind that they were playing their first-ever game in the country’s history at the FIFA World Cup or that their opponents have won the World Cup four times. Never mind that it’s a tiny island in the Caribbean with a population of just over 1,58,000 inhabitants and a land area of 171 square miles. Never mind that their opponents, with a population of 83.6 million, are the most populous country in the European Union and the 19th most populous globally.
As Curacao coach Dick Advocaat put it succinctly, “We’re just a small town compared to Germany and the other opponents.”
For a few minutes on Sunday, Curacao dared to dream about beating Germany. Or at least holding them to a draw. In the 21st minute of the Germany versus Curacao game, Livano Comenencia curled the ball past the recently un-retired Manuel Neuer to equalise at 1-1.
Despite the side being obvious underdogs, Curacao was set up by veteran manager Dick Advocaat to go on the offensive.
As Advocaat explained their philosophy later: “Just defending will definitely lead to defeat so we tried to play more offensively, but it didn’t work on all fronts.” Advocaat, who, at the age of 78 is the oldest ever World Cup manager, was seen wiping tears from his eyes before kick-off.
Their first ever World Cup goal had the players and the fans delirious. They would have thought they could at least take home a point, if not more.
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Then the floodgates opened as Germany inflicted another 7-1 scoreline in a FIFA World Cup game. Kai Havertz scored twice with Felix Nmecha, Jamal Musiala, Nico Schlotterbeck, Deniz Undav and Nathaniel Brown also scoring.
“We really needed this convincing win,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said at the post-match press conference. “We needed this self-confidence. It was there but it definitely grew.”
“We have to show fans that we can perform and we have to have confidence. I think we’re in a better spot than we were entering this match.”
Japan hold Netherlands
Japan came into this World Cup with a reputation for being giant killers. At the previous World Cup in Qatar four years ago, Japan had defeated Germany and Spain in the group stage. At the 2018 edition, Japan had taken down Colombia. The Asian side had won its opening match in three of the last four editions.
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Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen (1) is beaten by a header from Japan’s Daichi Kamada (15) for their second goal during the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo)
But on Sunday, twice, they had to claw back from trailing by one goal against the Netherlands. The final result was frustrating for the Dutch side and their coach Ronald Koeman.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t win, but that’s because we were ahead twice,” Koeman said. “Many people underestimated Japan, but for the 100,000th time, if you underestimate them, that’s your problem. You think Japan’s strength was overexaggerated before the match? Let’s wait until the end of the tournament to see who’s right.”
The Japan vs Netherlands game saw a futile first 50 minutes where no goals were scored.
Then the game erupted with three goals in 14 minutes. First, Virgil van Djik headed the ball in first for a Dutch goal to give them a 1-0 lead. But they could not really enjoy their lead as Keito Nakamura put Japan level seven minutes later. Crysencio Summerville then scored to give the Dutch a 2-1 lead. It looked like Japan was heading for defeat when, with two minutes left for the full-time whistle, Daichi Kamada scored Japan’s equaliser.
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“Our players managed to be tenacious but at the same time be patient and just keep calm and find and seize an opportunity,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said.
Japan fans back at it again
After Japan held the Dutch team to a draw thanks to a last-gasp equaliser, their fans were back at doing what they are renowned for: cleaning up the stadium seats.
🚨TRENDING: Japan fans stayed behind to clean up the stadium after their World Cup match pic.twitter.com/XXqldD9Bgk
— Polymarket Sports (@PolymarketSport) June 14, 2026
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Japan fans had used blue trash bags to celebrate the Kamada goal two minutes before full-time. And then used the same bags to collect trash at the stadium.
Japan fans clean up trash in the stadium following the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo)
Scenes of Japanese fans picking up and sweeping trash first drew public attention during the team’s first World Cup appearance in France in 1998. Japan fans have cleaned up after themselves like a ritual at every big-ticket event.
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