The smallest country in terms of population in the history of the World Cup. What is known about Curaçao

For the first time in its history, the Curaçao national football team has made it to the final of the 2026 World Cup, which starts on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The island nation with a population of about 150,000 people has become the smallest country to ever participate in the World Championship. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

How the Curaçao team reached the World Cup

In November 2025, in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, the Curacao national team had to avoid losing to the home team in order to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history. The team led by Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, who has been known to the Russian audience since his time at Zenit St. Petersburg, withstood the onslaught of the opponent and drew 0-0. This result forever inscribed the names of the Curacao players in history: the island state became the smallest (in terms of population) participant in the final part of the World Cup.

Group E rivals

During the World Cup group stage draw, the Curacao national team got into Group E. The team will have to play with the four—time world champions, the German national team, as well as Ecuador and Côte d'Ivoire. The Lawyer's team will play all the games in the United States: on May 14, Curacao will face the Germans in Houston, on May 20 they will play Ecuador in Kansas City, and on June 25 in Philadelphia they will play the Ivory Coast national team.

The Dutch Trail and the coaching staff

Curaçao's success is the result of a long—term strategy to attract Dutch-born players. Back in 2015-2016, the legendary Dutch forward Patrick Kluivert laid the foundation by instilling total football in the team. Over the past decade, the training of the national team has been supervised by such mastodons of the coaching workshop as Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat. It was the 78-year-old Lawyer who led the team to the coveted qualification spot. In February 2026, he resigned due to his daughter's health problems, but the Curaçao Football Federation had to contact him again after Fred Rutten's successor resigned a month before the start of the tournament. Thus, the Lawyer not only led the team to the World Cup, but will also lead it in the final, setting a record as the oldest coach in the history of the World Championships.

Key players

Contrary to the opinion about the weakness of the team, Curacao has players with experience of playing in top championships. The Bakuna brothers pose the main threat to the opponent's goal: 34-year-old captain Leandro Bakuna, who played in the English Premier League (Premier League) for Aston Villa and Cardiff, is a key midfield player. His younger brother, Juninho Bacuna, works with him in the center of the field. On the flanks of the attack, one can single out Tahit Chong (Sheffield United) and Sontje Hansen (Middlesbrough). Richedli Bazour (Konyaspor) and Joshua Brenet (Kayserispor) will play in the center of defense, while goalkeeper Eloy Rom from Miami Fc protects the team's goal.

Forecasts and chances of success

As of April 2026, the national team ranks 82nd in the FIFA ranking, which is the second weakest indicator among all participants in the World Cup (below only New Zealand, 85th place). The chances of leaving the group are assessed as extremely unlikely. The Opta statistical agency estimates the chances of the national team below other teams. So, according to the analysis of the supercomputer, the lawyer's wards will reach the 1/4 finals with a probability of only 0.6%, and the supercomputer does not give Curacao a chance to win at all. However, for millions of fans around the world, the very fact that a country with a population comparable to a small area of a large city was able to make it to the main football tournament on the planet is already a real sports fairy tale.