Curacao Becomes the Smallest Nation to Ever Qualify for a FIFA World Cup

Charlie Zschau Updated: May 13 2026 21:40

Curacao have become the smallest nation by population to qualify for a FIFA World Cup but topping their Concacaf qualifying group.

Curacao played Jamaica to a 0-0 draw on November 18th, 2025 to book their place in the 2026 World Cup in North America. The small Caribbean island nation was the only Concacaf team to go undefeated through all six qualifying matches, and topped Group B with 12 points.

Curacao are managed by former Premier League boss, Dick Advocaat. 2026 will be Advocaat's third World Cup appearance, after previously qualifying for the tournament with both South Korea and the Netherlands.

At 78-years-old, the Curacao manager will also break the record for being the oldest coach at the World Cup.

With a population of 156,000 people, Curacao's population is less than half the size of the previously smallest nation to qualify, Iceland, who had a population of 350,000 people in 2018.

Curacao's current population is roughly the same as Charleston, South Carolina.

Incredibly, two of the three smallest nations to ever qualify for a World Cup qualified for the tournament in 2026 (Curacao and Cape Verde). On the other hand, of the six most populated countries in the world - India, China, USA, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Nigeria - only the USA will be present at the 2026 World Cup.

The United States qualified automatically as a host nation of the tournament.