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Only one player was born in smallest nation to ever qualify for World Cup as Curacao kick off tonight
Home>News>Sport
Published 15:42 14 Jun 2026 GMT+1

Only one player was born in smallest nation to ever qualify for World Cup as Curacao kick off tonight

It's got a population of just 180,000

James Moorhouse

James Moorhouse

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While this World Cup is already proving to be a controversial one, that won't dampen the spirits of Curacao.

The tiny island nation has become the smallest ever country to qualify for football's biggest tournament and will make its debut at the World Cup against Germany later today.

We've already seen some big upsets at the tournament, and I'm not just talking about the fans, staff members and referees who have been denied entry, as Qatar nicked a last-minute equaliser against Switzerland yesterday.

But for Curacao to do anything of note against Germany would be mightily impressive, and perhaps even more so when you consider that just one of their players was actually born on the island, which is smaller than the Isle of Man.

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You see, the Caribbean island is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and that's where they've been getting a lot of their players since the mid 2010s.

When Patrick Kluivert was hired as manager there, it began a tradition of bringing in Dutch coaches and players, with many players switching allegiance after representing Oranje in the youth set up.

That means that, when the squad takes to the field against Germany tonight, only Tahith Chong, a name familiar to English fans, can claim to have been born on the island.

Sheffield United player Tahith Chong is the only island native (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images)
Sheffield United player Tahith Chong is the only island native (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images)

That certainly won't bother Curacao and it's 180,000 inhabitants however, as they will no doubt be determined to enjoy the World Cup experience no matter what the scoreline against the 2014 winners.

"It brings so much joy and pride to the island that you can't describe it. The whole island is turning blue," Curacao Football Federation (FFK) president Gilbert Martina told BBC Sport.

Despite the fun that they've been having in the build-up, it will be nothing but focus for Curacao once things officially kick off at 6pm UK time.

"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," captain Leandro Bacuna said in the pre-match news conference.

Curacao are managed by experienced boss Dick Advocaat (Maddie Meyer - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Curacao are managed by experienced boss Dick Advocaat (Maddie Meyer - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

He added: "We've done something so nice for Curacao. I started this journey 10 years ago and wanted to make the people from Curacao proud.

"The manager keeps saying we are not finished. We want to show people as small as we are, we have a big heart. If you have a big heart I believe you can get far."

Under the tutelage of the World Cup's oldest manager Dick Advocaat, there's no reason why Curacao can't surprise a few people with their performances this summer.

Considering the country's population is smaller than most UK cities and towns however, it will be impressive if the island nation can improve on the ticket sales we've seen for several games so far, with lots of folks online calling the number of empty seats 'embarrassing' as FIFA continues to face backlash for its astronomical ticket prices.

Featured Image Credit: Ricardo MAKYN / AFP via Getty Images

Topics: World Cup, Football

James Moorhouse
James Moorhouse

James is a NCTJ Gold Standard journalist covering a wide range of topics and news stories for LADbible. After two years in football writing, James switched to covering news with Newsquest in Cumbria, before joining the LAD team in 2025. In his spare time, James is a long-suffering Rochdale fan and loves reading, running and music. Contact him via [email protected]

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@JimmyMoorhouse

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