The tiny country of Curaçao has become the smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup.
With a total population of about 156,000 souls, the Caribbean island's improbable qualification for the 2026 World Cup is quite a feat, beating out the previous smallest country, Iceland, which has about 350,000 inhabitants. When you consider that about half the population is female, and an estimated 17% are under the age of 15 and 16% over 65, that leaves an adult male pool of roughly 50,000 by my estimate.
There are mitigating factors, though. Curaçao is technically an autonomous territory of the Netherlands, and not really a country in its own right. Many of its players were actually born and raised in the Netherlands, a world-class soccer nation, but choose to play for Curaçao. (They were granted permission from FIFA under its nationality rules, so there is nothing underhand going on here.)
And, credit where credit is due, Curaçao finished top of its qualifying group, above Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bermuda. They did have a substantial measure of good luck, with Jamaica hitting the post three times and having a penalty waved off during the two team's last qualifying match. But luck is part of the game too.
I'll be cheering for Canada in the World Cup next year. But there's still a piece of my heart rooting for Curaçao.
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