Smaller than Isle of Man & huge Dutch influence: Curacao making history

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Curacao won all four games in their first qualifying group - and remained unbeaten in the second By Emlyn Begley BBC Sport journalist in Houston Published 53 minutes ago A stunningly beautiful small Caribbean island, with a huge Dutch influence but fiercely proud of their own heritage - Curacao has, until now, possibly been most famous for its alcoholic drink of the same name. But that is all about to change as they prepare to make history as the smallest nation ever, by size and population, to take part in a World Cup. Smaller than the Isle of Man and with a population of 158,000 - less than 40 UK cities and towns - they are not even a fully sovereign nation, being part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. "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. Only one of their World Cup squad, Tahith Chong, was born on the island - with the other 25 players all hailing from the mainland Netherlands. They have been placed in a difficult Group E with Germany, who they face on Sunday (18:00 BST), Ecuador and Ivory Coast. Thousands of Blue Wave fans are expected for their World Cup debut in Houston - with some same-day charter flights from the island. "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. And in another bit of history, on-again, off-again manager Dick Advocaat will become the oldest boss in World Cup history at the age of 78. Fifa World Cup 2026: What you need to know about Curacao Published 5 June Curacao become smallest nation to qualify for World Cup Published 19 November 2025 Why so many Dutch-born players have declared for Curacao To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Gorre family on realising Curacao's World Cup dream Some 18 players in the squad have represented the Netherlands at youth levels, with two - Riechedly Bazoer and Joshua Brenet - winning senior caps. The shift from the Curacao national team, from local amateur players to members of the diaspora, started when they started to hire big-name Dutch managers - starting with Patrick Kluivert in 2015. Miami FC goalkeeper Eloy Room, 37, was the first member of this squad to play for Curacao that year, with ex-Aston Villa and Cardiff midfielder Leandro Bacuna among those to follow in 2016. Bacuna said: "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." His brother Juninho, who has played for Huddersfield, Rangers and Birmingha