Curaçao’s Shock Goal Against Germany Evokes Football’s Greatest Upsets

A commentary on Germany’s 7-1 win over Curaçao in a World Cup match uses a famous Israeli cup tie as its frame of reference. The writer recalls the 1963-64 State Cup game in which Hapoel Kfar Blum forced Maccabi Haifa, then packed with stars such as Helda, Amer, Menchel, Almany and Shmulovitz (Rom), into a dramatic 4-4 draw on February 11, 1964, at Kfar Blum. Although Haifa won the replay and advanced, the match remained a cherished memory in the Upper Galilee for decades.

The piece argues that Curaçao, a small Caribbean team of about 150,000 people, had its own version of that moment on Thursday night when Livano Comenencia scored in the 21st minute to make it 1-1 against Germany, the four-time world champion. The goal briefly made the game feel open, and the author compares Comenencia to Motaleh Spiegler, who remains Israel’s only World Cup scorer, calling him Curaçao’s own Motaleh.

By halftime, however, Germany had regained control and later added a third goal in stoppage time of the first half. The writer says Curaçao’s naïveté, including a foul in the box, an early move by the goalkeeper on the penalty, and poor late-game defending, prevented a more sensational result at the break. Even so, the author notes that an equalizer at 1-1 would not necessarily have changed the group outlook, since Ecuador and Ivory Coast are expected to beat Curaçao as well.

Beyond the scoreline, the column says Germany did not look especially impressive despite the big margin, describing it as a starless but very collective team. In the end, the only lasting image worth taking from the match, the writer says, is Comenencia’s goal, which revived the childhood belief that every match starts at 0-0 and anything can happen.