PREVIEW: Germany tipped for winning start against World Cup debutants Curaçao | OneFootball

Germany face World Cup debutants Curaçao in their opening Group E match at the Houston Stadium in Texas looking to rectify back-to-back exits at the group stage.

The four-time World Cup winners are unbeaten in their last six matches, recording victories over Switzerland, Ghana, Finland and World Cup co-hosts USA in recent friendlies.

Julian Nagelsmann’s men are expected to win comfortably against the Blue Wave, in a group that many tip Die Mannschaft to top having bowed out bottom of their group in Russia and third in Qatar at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

It will be the first ever meeting between Germany and Curaçao in any competition, which should make for an intriguing encounter in which the latter will make history as the smallest nation to compete at the World Cup finals.

With a population of just 158,000 – fewer inhabitants than the English city of Chelmsford – Dick Advocaat’s side will assume the record set by Iceland when they qualified for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Though they will be clear underdogs in every one of their group stage matches, Curaçao can take inspiration from Iceland’s Euro 2016 campaign in which they famously dumped out England to reach the quarter final against hosts France.

Iceland may have finished bottom of their 2018 World Cup group but the second smallest nation to play on the world stage showed that teams of the Blue Wave’s stature can still shock even the biggest of footballing institutions.

Curaçao became the smallest nation to qualify for the tournament after topping their group and impressively going unbeaten, sealing their place with a 0-0 draw against Jamaica last November.

It will also be an historic day for their head coach Dick Advocaat, who at 78 will become the World Cup’s oldest ever manager after Czechia boss Miroslav Koubek set a new record in their 2-1 defeat to South Korea on Friday.

The tiny Caribbean nation, ranked 82nd in the world by FIFA, have won just once in their last seven matches in all competitions, including a 4-1 defeat against Scotland last month, beating Aruba 4-0 in their final warm-up friendly.

Curaçao will also have some familiar faces in their squad for fans of English football, with former Cardiff City and Aston Villa midfielder Leandro Bacuna captaining the side.

Former Manchester United midfielder Tahith Chong is also set to be a key player throughout their first World Cup campaign, and is the only one of Advocaat’s 26-man squad to have been born on the island.

The island country is an autonomous constituent of the wider Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the other 25 players in Curaçao’s squad born on the mainland to show the strong Dutch influence on the Blue Wave team.

Germany will be without wingers Serge Gnabry and Lennart Karl due to injury, but profit from being able to call up 40-year-old Manuel Neuer after the 40-year-old came back out of international retirement to aid his country over the pond.

Germany and Curaçao will also face Ivory Coast and Ecuador, and it would be a major shock if the former fail to progress to the knockout stages for a third tournament running with more third-place sports offering progression to the round of 32.

The match is expected to be one of the most watched of the opening weekend when it kicks off at 18:00 (BST) on Saturday evening, with live coverage available on ITV1 and ITVX for viewers in the UK.