Curacao are about to make their World Cup debut, and the scale of it matters as much as the football. The island has a population of 158,000, smaller than the Isle of Man, and will become the smallest nation ever, by size and population, to take part in a World Cup. The squad has 26 players, but only one, Tahith Chong, was born on the island.
Why this team looks so different
The other 25 players were born in mainland Netherlands, which is why this feels less like a conventional underdog story and more like a national project built through connection. L. Bacuna has been part of that for a decade, and he framed it in personal terms: "We've done something so nice for Curacao. I started this journey 10 years ago and wanted to make the people from Curacao proud." He added that the group still wants to show that "as small as we are, we have a big heart. If you have a big heart I believe you can get far."
That identity has not stopped the team from sounding practical about the job ahead. Bacuna said: "People look at us always having fun and dancing. We are all together. But as soon as the referee blows the whistle we have one thing on our mind - getting a result." That is the right way to read this team, because the diaspora link is the story, but it is not the whole football argument.
Advocaat's role and what comes next
Dick Advocaat will become the oldest manager in World Cup history at 78, and Curacao Football Federation president Gilbert Martina said his arrival created belief and a different mindset. "A high-quality coach, like Dick Advocaat, it creates a ripple effect, it creates a belief," Martina said. "He prepared the mindset and the mentality that the team has to learn to play for results instead of playing for fun."
Martina also captured the mood on the island neatly: "It brings so much joy and pride to the island that you can't describe it. The whole island is turning blue." That is not hard to believe when you factor in the size of the country and the make-up of the squad.
Curacao have not yet played a World Cup match, so their opener is still all ahead of them. The first test will tell us plenty about whether this unusual blend of island identity and Dutch-born experience can translate into results on the biggest stage.
Compiled by the ClutchBrief Desk with AI assistance, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →