Curaçao, an island nation with a population about the size of Macon, Georgia, became the smallest country to qualify for the men’s World Cup late Tuesday, punching its ticket to the tournament next summer in North America alongside regional peers Haiti and Panama.
The bid came after a 0-0 draw against Jamaica.
“It’s an impossibility that is made possible,” winger Kenji Gorré told the Guardian. “It’s literally impossible for such a small island, such a small 150,000 population, and now to go to the biggest pinnacle of football is unbelievable.”
Curaçao (population 156,115), located off the coast of Venezuela, is the smallest country to qualify by close to 200,000 people. Iceland (352,721) previously was the smallest nation to earn a bid ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Cape Verde, a West African archipelago of 524,877, ranks third, having qualified last month for this summer’s expanded 48-nation field.
CURAÇAO HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THEIR FIRST-EVER WORLD CUP
WHAT A MOMENT FOR THE BLUE WAVE
pic.twitter.com/Xn4Tm29MAv
— CBS Sports Golazo
(@CBSSportsGolazo) November 19, 2025
This is what it looks like when you become the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup
Curacao, population roughly 150,000 people, will be mixing it with giants the at the big dance next summer. There’s nothing quite like international football
pic.twitter.com/Tp1ipBAO86
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) November 19, 2025
Curaçao formerly was a part of the Netherlands Antilles. It became an autonomous territory within the Netherlands kingdom in 2010, and began competing as a separate country the following year.
Those colonial ties play a central role in its qualification story as the country recruited talent from its diaspora. The team largely relies on players born and raised in the Netherlands, and just one, Tahith Chong of English second-division side Sheffield United, was born on the island. Its starting lineup Tuesday was made up entirely of players born in the Netherlands.
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Former Aston Villa midfielder Leandro Bacuna may be the team’s most notable player, though he currently plays for second-tier Turkish side Bandırmaspor. His brother, Juninho, plays for Gaziantep in Turkey’s top division. Chong and Gorré, whose father is an assistant coach for Curaçao, played in Manchester United’s academy. Gorré now plays for Maccabi Haifa in Israel.
“To experience going to the World Cup with my dad being the coach and my dad leading us to the World Cup, it’s something that was only a dream,” Gorré said. “ … Even just for my family, like my mum, who is from Curaçao, and her mum, my grandma, they’ve got so much family in Curaçao as well that I’m just proud. And that just does something to my soul.”
The team topped St. Lucia, Aruba, Barbados and Haiti in the opening group phase. In the final round of qualifying, Curaçao landed in Group B against more established Caribbean counterparts Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago — as well as Bermuda.
Gorré scored the game-sealing goal to defeat Jamaica in their first meeting last month, 2-0. Curaçao crushed Bermuda, 7-0, last Thursday. On Tuesday, the team withstood Jamaica’s advances — then breathed a sigh of relief after its opponent was awarded an injury-time penalty that was overturned after video review. By the final whistle, the team had drawn for a point, maintaining its top spot in the group just above Jamaica.
Joining Curaçao in qualifying were Caribbean neighbors Haiti and Panama. Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince late Tuesday to celebrate the country’s first World Cup berth since 1974. Panama will play in its second men’s World Cup, following its 2018 tournament debut.
HAITI ARE INTO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP IN HALF A CENTURY
— CBS Sports Golazo
Curaçao won six of 18 matches across its three previous World Cup qualifying campaigns. Juninho Bacuna partly credits Manager Dick Advocaat for the program’s transformation.
Advocaat took the reins in early 2024 after expressing interest in the job when Curaçao’s top two candidates declined. In doing so, he took charge of his 10th men’s national side, following three stints with his native Netherlands, plus others with the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Belgium, Russia, Serbia and Iraq. During Advocaat’s first go-around with the Netherlands, he led the Dutch to the quarterfinals of the 1994 tournament.
Advocaat missed Tuesday’s game to be home with his wife, who is ill (per the Athletic). He said he watched Tuesday’s game and later texted the team to say, “Congrats. Incredible, fantastic, so good! What an adventure.”
The dream came true! pic.twitter.com/hu1nndGBBu
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) November 19, 2025
For Juninho Bacuna, Advocaat provides a “big presence” on the pitch. He has also professionalized Curaçao’s soccer program off it.
“It changed a lot, I would say, outside the pitch,” Bacuna told the Athletic. “Preparations, more professionalism. And on the pitch, it’s more like, ‘We need to get a result, we need to win games, and if we don’t win, make sure you don’t lose.’”
At 78, Advocaat may become the oldest coach in World Cup history. Otto Rehhagel set the previous record when he led Greece to the 2010 World Cup at age 71. Advocaat would claim that distinction if Romania, which is coached by 80-year-old Mircea Lucescu, fails to qualify through the playoffs.
“He’s been fantastic,” Gorré said of Advocaat. “As soon as he came in he brought a lot of experience with him. For him to believe in us and believe in our dream as well just shows also the potential that he saw, and I’m just really grateful that he said yes to the job and trusted his feeling on it. Now we’re walking in the destiny of what we’ve called.”
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