KINGSTON: The tiny Caribbean nation of Curacao became the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup on Tuesday as Haiti defied the odds to book their return to the tournament for the first time in 52 years along with Panama.

The three clinched top spots in their respective groups to advance from the North and Central Amer­ican and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region to the 48-team finals in Canada, Mexico and the US.

A nerve-shredding finale to the qualifying campaign saw Curacao — with a population of just 156,000 — squeeze into next year’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico with a 0-0 draw against Jamaica in Kingston to stay one point ahead of their hosts at the top of Group ‘B’.

Haiti, meanwhile, who last appeared in the World Cup in 1974, also completed an improbable qualification campaign with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua to finish top of Group ‘C’.

Ironically, Haiti secured their decisive qualification victory in Curacao, where the team have been forced to play their home qualifiers due to unrest in their homeland.

Panama, meanwhile, grabbed the other automatic qualification spot on offer on Tuesday with a 3-0 win over El Salvador at home ensuring they ended up as winners of Group ‘A’.

That victory ended Suriname’s hopes of grabbing automatic qualification. Suriname, beaten 3-1 away by Guatemala, nevertheless squeezed into the playoff places.

Curacao, whose veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat was forced to miss the game due to a family issue in the Netherlands, were left celebrating a historic result.

The team, made up entirely of players born in the Netherlands with Antillean roots, known as the ‘Blue Wave’ finished top of Group ‘B’ with 12 points from six games.

A self-governing part of the Netherlands, Curacao are by far the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup, which is being expanded to 48 teams next year for the first time.

The previous smallest country to qualify for the tournament were Iceland in 2018, with a population of around 350,000.

Curacao finally booked their place after an extraordinary finale at Kingston’s National Stadium, where Jamaica — coached by former England manager Steve McClaren — launched a furious onslaught as they chased the win which would guarantee them a World Cup place at their opponents’ expense.

The Jamaicans hit the woodwork three times in the second half, with substitute Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri going agonizingly close with a header that crashed off the post in the 87th minute.

There was more drama in store in stoppage time, when Jamaica were awarded a penalty after substitute Jeremy Antonisse’s sliding tackle brought down Dujuan Richards in the area.

Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed to the spot to leave Curacao facing the prospect of a heartbreaking defeat.

But as Curacao’s players protested, the decision went to VAR and was dramatically overturned to leave the Caribbean islanders on course for the World Cup.

Haiti’s qualification was remarkable given that armed gangs have taken control of almost all of the capital, Port-au-Prince, in a conflict that has forced some 1.3 million people from their homes and fuelled famine-level hunger.

The levels of danger in Haiti are such that their coach, Sbastien Migne, has not been there since being appointed 18 months ago but the Frenchman has nevertheless managed to engineer a fairytale qualification their second after a first appearance in 1974.

Haiti started the final round of fixtures on Tuesday behind Hon­duras on goal difference, but goals from Louicious Deedson and Ruben Providence lifted them to 11 points, while Honduras drew 0-0 away at Costa Rica and finished on nine.

Panama romped through their game, ahead early after a thunderous strike from wingback Cesar Blackman, with their second coming from the penalty spot courtesy of Eric Davis, who was in the squad when Panama made their only previous World Cup appearance in 2018.

Substitute Jose Luis Rodriguez added a third late in the game.

Suriname had been ahead of Panama on goal difference before the start of Tuesday’s games but in Guatemala. However, a late own goal kept them in World Cup contention as they will go, along with Jamaica, to the inter-confederation playoff tournament in March.

There, the two CONCACAF teams will be matched against Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, and New Caledonia. The six teams will be vying for two spots at the finals.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025