Curacao’s World – Curacao—set to make its World Cup debut as the smallest nation ever to qualify—arrives with a roster built from Dutch-Kingdom citizenships, a homegrown hunger for soccer, and a qualification run that ended with a scoreless win over Jamaica. With coach Dick Adv
The call came late enough for the night to feel different. and when it did. Tahith Chong didn’t sleep like it was just another match. Curacao had qualified for the World Cup—and the moment that followed wasn’t quiet. When the team flew home from Jamaica. thousands of people were already there. gathering in the streets as if it were “like a national holiday. ” Eloy Room said. “Nobody was at work. Everybody was on the street. So it was really nice to see that everybody was so emotional, too, and happy.”.
Now the Blue Wave are heading into their biggest stage yet. with their first group stage match against Germany on Sunday. June 14. Curacao’s World Cup debut carries a statistic that doesn’t need explanation: the island nation’s population is approximately 158. 000—about 50 times smaller than Houston. the city where Curacao will play that opener.
For Eloy Room, the point is simple. Curacao isn’t just here to participate. “We bring a lot of energy to games and we want to show the world that a small island like us. we have a lot of talent. ” the goalkeeper said. “We want to show the world who we are. We want to show that we don’t only qualify for the World Cup, we also deserve to be there.”.
That message lands differently on Curacao because qualifying for soccer’s biggest tournament is still an event the country can trace back to the work of building an entire football structure—something Chong has never treated as background noise.
Curacao achieved autonomy as a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010 following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. and joined FIFA in 2011. Because Curacao was a Dutch colony. Curacao citizens all have Dutch passports. a detail that shaped how the national team grew. The squad is mostly made up of dual nationality players who grew up in the Netherlands and were recruited to play for Curacao. Chong is an exception: at 26. he is the only player on Curacao’s World Cup roster who was born on the island.
Chong’s story starts far from the stadium lights. At age 6, he remembers being awakened to the sport that would become his livelihood—after the 2006 World Cup. “I don’t know why I was for France. but France lost the final and I remember I cried. ” he said. After that, he told his father, “I want to play football.”.
Soccer took over. When Chong was 8. he received a trial with Dutch professional club Feyenoord. and his family moved to the Netherlands so he could play there. He later moved to Manchester United as a teenager and represented the Netherlands internationally. because Curacao’s national federation “was still getting on its feet” and didn’t have youth national teams at that time. Even then, he kept Curacao close.
“Curacao had some stuff to figure out before. and that has nothing to do with the team or anything but in terms of the organization. ” Chong said. “I’ve been in conversation with them for years and years. I said. ‘You know what. if we can sort that out and get that to a good standard. I’m willing to come.’”.
He got his first Curacao call-up in 2021 for the Concacaf Gold Cup. The Blue Wave ultimately withdrew because of a coronavirus outbreak, but Chong saw signs the federation and its direction were improving. In 2025, he officially switched his international allegiance to Curacao.
For Chong, the turnaround is personal, too. His first game for the Blue Wave in Curacao was played in the same stadium he trained in as a child with local club Excellence. That first appearance was also the first time his grandmother saw him play in person. He called it a homecoming.
“It was always Curacao,” Chong said. “My family’s from there, everyone’s from there, so the pride just feels a bit different.”
Room’s pathway mirrors that connection. He was one of the first players to switch his national allegiance from the Dutch team to Curacao. where his father was born. Room grew up visiting family on the island during summers and debuted for the Blue Wave in 2015 after being recruited by former Curacao coach Patrick Kluivert. Room and midfielder Leandro Bacuna—who joined the national team in 2016—share the title of Curacao’s most-capped players.
A decade ago, Curacao’s team lacked the facilities and infrastructure it needed to compete. Chong credited Gilbert Martina. who was elected president of the Curacao Football Federation in 2025. with investing resources and driving an organizational shift. But the players also carried the change in their own way—through commitment that. for a while. had to exist without any guarantee it would be rewarded on the World Cup stage.
“We were not at the level where we are now, but I saw already the potential,” Room said. “There was a lot of talent, a lot of players who still could switch. But yeah, I was happy that I chose Curacao, and my goal was at the end to go to a World Cup with Curacao. But it was still a long road.”
The road to qualification had to be earned in the same places where smaller teams often get overlooked. Curacao helped recruit additional players, and the country won its first Caribbean Cup in 2017. It then qualified for the next two Gold Cups, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2019. In World Cup qualifying. Curacao went undefeated and clinched its World Cup spot last fall after Room shut out Jamaica in a scoreless draw.
When the team returned from Jamaica, the celebrations weren’t restrained. Room described a crowd taking over the streets—proof that the World Cup, for a small nation, is not only a tournament. It’s a shared moment.
That shared moment now sits alongside another reality: Curacao has not traditionally been driven by soccer. Baseball has historically been more popular on the island, and Curacao has produced 22 Major League Baseball players. Room believes this World Cup could shift that balance.
“I think this World Cup is going to give a huge boost to that, too,” Room said. “More kids want to play soccer, so I think that’s a good thing, and also financially it’s going to bring a lot of tourism to the island. So I think it’s only a matter of time that soccer is going to develop even more.”
The players are carrying that responsibility with them, including Room himself, who plays club soccer for USL Championship team Miami FC and previously played four years in MLS for the Columbus Crew. He’s seen how quickly the world can misunderstand a place like Curacao—even in the U.S.
“I came to Ohio and then people asked me. ‘Oh. where is Curacao?’ I tried to explain it. and then I asked the question. ‘Do you guys know where Aruba is?’” Room said. “‘Oh yeah. I know Aruba.’ It’s like. yeah. we’re actually the biggest island there. and we’re next to Aruba. … Now I get messages from people from Ohio who go to Curacao on vacation.”.
On the pitch, Curacao’s World Cup hopes are guided by its coach and shaped by its structure. Dick Advocaat took over Curacao in 2024 and briefly stepped away earlier this year to care for his ill daughter before returning in May. At 78, he will become the oldest coach in World Cup history.
The squad’s defensive organization is anchored by Room and Zurich right-back Livano Comenencia. In attack. Chong and Bacuna—along with Chong’s younger brother Juninho Bacuna—bring quality. and the game plan relies on speedy counters. Room described the team’s biggest strength as how close-knit the players are.
Curacao is considered the underdog in Group E, which also includes Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast. Room said the pressure works in two directions. “It’s normal that we are the underdog. but maybe that also gives a little bit of pressure to the other team so we can use that. ” he said. “We have to prove ourselves for the world. But I think a lot of people were also thinking Jamaica would make it to the World Cup. not us. so at the end of the day. we’ve been there already. Now we want to show what we’re made of.”.
Chong said his family and friends on the island have shared that same sense of reward. By uniting Curacao through the historic achievement, they felt the team had already won—even before the first whistle in the group stage.
For Chong, the World Cup is also a bridge to the next generation. He wants to inspire young Curacaoans, and older generations like his father. Chong said his father never dreamed Curacao would qualify for the World Cup, but the current team’s path has opened doors.
“I said to the boys, the only obligation we have now is to represent Curacao in a good way, whether we win or lose,” Chong said. “Hopefully in a few years time when Curacao qualifies again for a World Cup, these kids can go and say, ‘I was inspired by the 2026 World Cup.’”
As Curacao prepares to face Germany on June 14, the island’s “small” label stops feeling like a limitation. It becomes the measurement of what has already happened: a population the size of a city’s worth of fans. built into a national team by endurance. organization. and dual-national paths—then sent across the ocean to prove it belongs.
Curacao World Cup 2026 Germany Eloy Room Tahith Chong Dick Advocaat Concacaf Gold Cup Jamaica scoreless draw Group E soccer on small islands Caribbean Cup 2017