Curaçao complete fairytale journey as they seal World Cup spot for 2026 following their goalless draw against Jamaica.
Curaçao complete fairytale with battling draw in Jamaica to qualify for World Cup.
Along with Panama, Haiti secured their first World Cup comeback in 52 years, making the tiny Caribbean nation of Curaçao the smallest nation ever to qualify.
With a 0-0 tie against Jamaica in Kingston, Curaçao, which has a population of barely 156,000, managed to qualify for next year’s finals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in a thrilling conclusion to the Concacaf qualifying campaign. Despite the fact that Jamaica might make it to the World Cup through the intercontinental playoffs, the result led to Steve McClaren’s resignation as coach.
With a 2-0 victory over Nicaragua, Haiti, whose last World Cup appearance was in 1974, also finished an unlikely qualification campaign. Paradoxically, Haiti won their qualifying match handily in Curaçao, where they had to play their home qualifiers because of turmoil in their native country.
On Tuesday, Panama defeated El Salvador 3-0 at home to secure the other automatic qualification berth available. Suriname’s chances of earning automatic qualification were dashed by that victory. Despite losing 3-1 to Guatemala on the road, Suriname managed to qualify for the playoffs.
Curaçao celebrated a historic victory after famous Dutch coach Dick Advocaat was forced to skip the match due to a family matter in the Netherlands. With 12 points from six games, “the Blue Wave” finished first in Group B, one point ahead of Jamaica.
The World Cup is being expanded to 48 teams for the first time next year, and Curaçao is by far the smallest country ever to qualify. With a population of about 350,000, Iceland was the last tiny nation to qualify for the competition in 2018.
After an incredible final at Kingston’s National Stadium, where Jamaica launched a ferocious attack in an attempt to secure a World Cup spot at their opponent’s expense, Curaçao finally secured their spot.
In the second half, the Jamaicans struck the woodwork three times. In the 87th minute, replacement Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri came dangerously near with a header that went off the post.
When substitute Jeremy Antonisse’s sliding tackle knocked down Dujuan Richards in the area, Jamaica was awarded a penalty in stoppage time, setting up further drama.
Salvadoran Ivan Barton pointed to the spot to leave Curaçao facing the prospect of a heartbreaking defeat. However, the decision was overturned by VAR due to protests from Curaçao players.