Curaçao: Tiny Nation, Massive World Cup Moment.
In my childhood days, my mom sometimes boasts about me in front of our relatives, asking me to name 25 African countries. I was good at naming countries and their continents from a very young age, so she loved showing that off. Being a Cartophile, learning about Curaçao and Cape Verde only when they qualified for FIFA world cup was a surprise for me. Yes football lovers, these tiny nations have qualified for FIFA world cup and surprised football world with their qualification especially Curacao. Curacao is the smallest nation ever to qualify for FIFA world cup.
Curacao is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of Netherlands. It is located in the southern carribean sea. Curacao has a tiny population of 156,115 people and a land mass of just 444 square kilometers. It surpassed Iceland's record of tiniest nation when they qualified for world cup in 2018 with a population of just over 350,000. Curacao finished as the only team from the region undefeated amassing 12 points from Group B. They were managed by dutch coach Dick Advocaat.
By Leading Curacao to world cup, Advocaat aged 78 became the oldest manager to participate in the FIFA world cup. He displaces Otto Rehhagel, who was 71 years and 317 days when he led Greece in their World Cup match in 2010. A much travelled coach who had 28 stints with different clubs and countries. He has coached Netherlands three times including FIFA 1994 world cup finals. Serbia, Russia, Iraq, Belgium, South Korea, United Arab Emirates are the other countries Dick Advocaat has coached.
Regular representatives from CONCACAF Unites States, Mexico along with Canada are set to compete as hosts in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. Along with it, FIFA's decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams have opened up opportunities for tiny nations like Curacao, Jamaica, and Panama to qualify for the tournament from the region. But FIFA's expansion also raises concerns about the potential dilution of quality viewers are going to experience in World cup. Do you also agree with the concerns?
