Tears, anthems and history: Curacao celebrate unlikely World Cup journey

KANSAS CITY, Missouri June 19 : When Curacao's players stood shoulder to shoulder before their World Cup debut against Germany, singing an anthem most of them had had to learn from scratch, coach Dick Advocaat wiped away tears.

The Dutch coach was emotional again when Livano Comenencia scored the tiny Caribbean nation's first-ever World Cup goal in a 7-1 thrashing by Germany.

The scoreline that night, Advocaat said, told only one story. The journey that brought Curacao to football's grandest stage told another.

As Curacao - the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup with a population of about 156,000 - prepared to face Ecuador on Saturday in Kansas City, there was no sense of despair within a squad that has already rewritten the island's sporting history.

"Obviously 7-1 is a major result, but we were playing a major team as well," Advocaat said on Friday. "It was also the first time we experienced this. A stadium this size, (Curacao players) usually only drive by, never play football there. 

"This is a great opportunity. That's how we should see this for the island, for the team. It's unfathomed that we're actually playing in this huge tournament. These (fans) will never forget that in their lives. 

"So, let's be proud we made it."

When Advocaat was hired in January 2024, the set-up barely resembled that of an international team.

"The players had to pay for their own airplanes, we didn't have the facilities that are normally available to a national team," he said. "But many things have changed in favour of the island, in favour of the team."

Because Advocaat's squad is largely made up of Dutch-born players with family ties to the island, one of the first tasks in creating a national-team culture was ensuring every player