Archive · 21 Nov 2025
Curaçao's World Cup Qualification: A Football Fairytale
Curaçao, a small island in the Caribbean, is going to the World Cup for the first time ever!
They have a famous coach who used to lead the Netherlands team.
Most of the players have family from Curaçao, even if they were born elsewhere.
They worked together and felt like a team, which helped them win and qualify for the big tournament.
Curaçao, a tiny Caribbean island, qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
This is Curaçao's first World Cup appearance, despite becoming a FIFA member only in 2010
The team is coached by Dick Advocaat, a veteran coach who led the Netherlands to the World Cup quarterfinals in 1994
Curaçao's squad features players with Curaçaoan family roots playing professionally elsewhere
The team's shared sense of identity and belonging helped them qualify despite having only one player born on the island
- Who
- Curaçao's national football team
- What
- Qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- When
- Recently
- Where
- North America
- Why
- To aim high and represent their island in the global spotlight
- Population of Curaçao
- Approximately 160,000
- Year Curaçao became a FIFA member
- 2010
- Year of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- 2026
- Number of players born on Curaçao in the current squad
- 1
- Age of coach Dick Advocaat in 2026
- 78