‘An impossibility made possible’: how tiny Curaçao made World Cup history

Caribbean island team are the smallest to reach tournament after appointing wily coach and drawing on diaspora

Curaçao players and fans celebrate World Cup 2026 qualification after a 0-0 draw with Jamaica at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica  Photo by RICARDO MAKYN/AFP via Getty Images 

The delay in Dick Advocaat becoming Curaçao’s head coach might have been ominous but instead was the foundation for glory. Frustrated by the national federation’s financial problems, he deferred starting until January 2024, when the issues were resolved and players paid, paving the way for a historic World Cup qualifying campaign.

Curaçao will be the smallest nation – by land area and population – to play at the 2026 World Cup after their 0-0 draw in Jamaica on Wednesday. The Caribbean island has a population of 156,000, sinking the previous record holders Iceland, which has about 400,000 inhabitants. Last month Cape Verde were confirmed as surprise tournament debutants but the African nation is almost 10 times bigger by area than the former Dutch colony, indicating the level of achievement by Advocaat and his squad.

“Literally, it’s an impossibility that is made possible,” says the winger Kenji Gorré from the team hotel in Jamaica after two hours’ sleep. “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.”

Fans of Curacao react   (Photo by ANGEL BATTA/AFP via Getty Images)

Advocaat initiated contact with Curaçao about the job, knowing that by the time the tournament came around he would be 78. That could be another bit of history because Advocaat may become the oldest coach in the tournament’s history, surpassing Otto Rehhagel, who was 71 years and 317 days old when he oversaw Greece’s third and final group game in 2010. Although Romania’s coach Mircea Lucescu is hoping to make it through the playoffs and take charge in North America at the age of 80.

“He’s been fantastic,” Gorré says 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.” Advocaat was joined by his long-time assistant Cor Pot but there was also a desire to maintain some local knowledge. The former Huddersfield and Barnsley midfielder, and Kenji’s father, Dean Gorré, was kept on the staff, having worked as the interim head coach.

“It’s been amazing,” says Kenji Gorre. “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. These are things that were dreamt of when I was young. With God all things are possible and you can see that even with a faith of a side as a mustard seed, you know, God can do a miracle. And even just for my family, like my mum, who is from Curaçao, and her mum, my grandma, and they’ve got so much family in Curaçao as well that I’m just proud. And that just does something to my soul.”

Advocaat was unfortunately absent from Kingston, having returned to the Netherlands to deal with a personal matter. When he arrived last year he set about making the national setup more professional and instilling a desire to avoid defeat at all costs. Few know better how to run camps and qualifiers. This is Advocaat’s 10th spell in charge of a men’s national side, his previous appointments being the Netherlands (three times), UAE, South Korea, Belgium, Russia, Serbia and Iraq.

His compatriots Patrick Kluivert and Guus Hiddink previously held the Curaçao role but neither had the impact of Advocaat. A key part of Advocaat’s plan to take Curaçao to the next level was to integrate members of the diaspora. In years gone by the Netherlands internationals Patrick van Aanholt, Gregory van der Wiel and Jetro Willems were eligible to play for Curaçao, and the current Netherlands players Jurriën Timber and Justin Kluivert have Curaçaoan heritage.

Most of the squad were born in the Netherlands, including the starting XI from Tuesday night’s decisive draw. Many of Advocaat’s charges featured for Netherlands age-group teams.

There is plenty of experience. The defender Armando Obispo has played in the Champions League for PSV, as has the striker Jürgen Locadia, who cost Brighton £15m in 2018 but is unemployed after leaving the Spanish fourth-tier side Intercity in the summer. Three of the squad play in the English Football League, including the former Manchester United midfielder Tatith Chong, the only squad member born on the island, who moved to Sheffield United from Luton Town in August. The former Ajax youngsters Ar’jany Martha and Sontje Hansen play for Rotherham and Middlesbrough respectively, the former PSV full-back Joshua Brenet moved to Livingston in September, and Shurandy Sambo of Burnley is on loan at Sparta Rotterdam.

The Bacuna brothers, Leandro and Juninho, have Premier League experience with Aston Villa and Huddersfied respectively. The links to South Yorkshire do not end there because Kenji Gorré, who has 35 caps, moved to England when his dad joined Huddersfield in 1999. Kenji Gorré came through the ranks at Manchester United before embarking on a nomadic career taking in Portugal, Qatar and now Israel.

“It’s not really sunk in yet,” says Kenji Gorré with his Mancunian twang. “What if we do get England? What if we do get Holland? What if we do get Brazil? It will be phenomenal.” Curaçao, situated north of Venezuela, is no longer a colony but remains within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Their first international was in 2011, having previously played as the Territory of Curaçao until the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved. In three previous World Cup qualifying campaigns Curaçao won six of 18 matches.

In the opening group phase this time they had a 100% record, defeating St Lucia, Aruba, Barbados and most notably Haiti, who will also be in North America next summer. In the third round the more established nations of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago stood in their path in a group that also included Bermuda. Kenji Gorré scored in the crucial 2-0 home victory over Jamaica last month. and Bermuda were thrashed 7-0 last week to boost confidence going into the decider. Fortitude got them through, even though there were nerves when Jamaica were awarded an injury-time penalty that was overturned after a video assistant referee consultation. They finished top of group B and Curaçaoan delirium greeted the final whistle.

“All the emotions were flying up in the air. He goes to the VAR and he says ‘no penalty’,” says Kenji Gorré. “My heart just dropped again and we were like, wow, we are actually going to the World Cup. This is destiny. This is meant to be.”

Guardian