Germany: 7, Curacao: 1

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Curacao is the smallest country to ever participate in a World Cup, and they scored their first ever goal in their first game against the German giants. That is where the good news ended for them.

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Defensive midfielder Felix Nmecha opened the scoring for the Germans on a beautiful team play and a great pass from left winger Florian Wirtz. After Curacao’s historic tying goal, centre back Nico Schlotterbeck headed in a corner kick from left back Nathaniel Brown.

Germany scored one more in the first half on a penalty from striker Kai Havertz, and in the blink of an eye it was 3-1. The Germans continued to pour it on in the second half, attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala scored right after the second half started, Brown capped off his strong day with his first international goal, substitute Deniz Undav came off the bench and scored, and assisted both Brown’s goal and Havertz’ second in the 88th minute.

The fulltime whistle blew, and Germany won 7-1. It wasn’t a complete embarrassment for Curacao, scoring their first ever goal, but it was German domination all around.

Player of the Match: Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Netherlands: 2, Japan: 2

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A second half thriller, all started from the foot of central midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who lifted a cross in the 50th minute to the captain centre back Virgil van Dijk, who headed the ball off the post and in.

The Dutch didn’t lead for very long, and Japan equalized just 7 minutes later, a great shot from outside the box by right wing back Keito Nakamura. Seven minutes after that, the Netherlands grabbed the lead again, this time from right winger Crysencio Summerville.

It looked like the Netherlands were going to take the 3 points home, but in the 88th minute, a Japanese corner took a deflection off of defensive midfielder Daichi Kamada and into the back of the net, tying the game at 2. 

It was the latest goal in Japanese World Cup history, and it puts Japan in a great position to try to win the group, which would be an upset over the Netherlands.

Player of the Match: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)

Ivory Coast: 1, Ecuador: 0

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Ecuador fans took over the Philadelphia Stadium, excited to see their team in the World Cup, but they were ultimately disappointed in the end.

Both teams had numerous chances that resulted in near misses in the first half. Both teams hit crossbars in the span of 7 minutes.

The game was getting late, and it looked like neither team was going to find the winner, resulting in the first goalless draw of the tournament. That was until centre back Wilfried Singo passed a ball into substitute Amad Diallo, who finished his chance just inside the box, winning it for Ivory Coast.

Diallo is likely Ivory Coast’s best player, and he came off the bench against Ecuador, but he still scored the winner, in what will be a huge advantage for Ivory Coast trying to finish in the top two spots of Group E.

Player of the Match: Amad Diallo (Manchester United)

Sweden: 5, Tunisia: 1

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Sweden’s elite attack was on display in this one. There is not a better pair of strikers in the tournament, and that was shown in the final game of the day.

It was ultimately defensive midfielder Yasin Ayari that scored the first goal on a rocket from outside the box in the seventh minute. Later in the 30th minute, striker Alexander Isak got on the board with an excellent run before cutting in past a defender and scoring.

Tunisia got on the board after a cross was sent in and scored by centre back Omar Rekik, but that would be all the Tunisians could muster. Later in the second half, a defensive mishap led to the ball finding the foot of the other striker, Viktor Gyokeres, who buried his chance.

Substitute Ivan Svanberg was subbed on in the 84th minute and immediately scored, but the goal was originally ruled out for offside, but after the VAR check, the goal was given. Ayari scored again in stoppage time to make it 5-1 Sweden, a dismantling of the Tunisian defense.

Sweden is going to be a tough team to finish over for the Netherlands and Japan, with the Swedes now owning 3 points and a +4 goal difference.

Player of the Match: Yasin Ayari (Brighton)