Football sensation
The smallest country to ever qualify for a World Cup
Undefeated group winners, qualified for the World Cup for the first time – fewer residents than Heidelberg: Curaçao creates a football sensation. Even the trainer was missing.
The small Caribbean state of Curaçao sensationally qualified for the World Cup and thus set a record: never before has a country with fewer inhabitants bought a ticket to the World Cup.
Curaçao took part in the World Cup in North America – as undefeated group winners
A 0-0 draw in Jamaica was enough for the small island nation off the coast of Venezuela to defend their undefeated first place in Group B of the CONCACAF qualification and secure participation in the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Coach Dick Advocaat couldn’t even be there because the Dutchman had traveled to his home country for family reasons.
It is Curaçao’s first participation in a World Cup. According to the national statistics authority, the country had 156,115 inhabitants in January – less than half as many as Iceland, which was the smallest FIFA state to date to qualify for a World Cup in 2018.
Haiti also qualified for the first time since 1974
In addition to Curaçao, two other CONCACAF teams also secured their ticket to the World Cup. Panama secured its second World Cup participation after 2018 with a 3-0 win against El Salvador. Haiti won Group C with a 2-0 win against Nicaragua and beat the favored teams from Honduras and Costa Rica. The only World Cup participation in Haiti’s history so far was the 1974 World Cup in Germany.
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