“We’re making history. This will go down in the history books. The best way to put it is that it’s a dream come true,” declares Livano Comenencia ahead of 's maiden .
With just over 150,000 inhabitants and a land area of only 444 square kilometres, the Caribbean island will become the smallest country ever to qualify for the tournament, eclipsing Iceland, which has a population of around 350,000, and Cabo Verde, which covers 4,000 square kilometres.
Jael Monte, a Willemstad-born electrician and Blue Wave supporter, says qualifying for the World Cup has unleashed "total madness" across the country, marking one of its greatest ever achievements. “Sometimes I stop and think about it, and I still can’t quite wrap my head around it. It’s incredible," he says.
"The whole country has been caught up in the excitement. Even those who had no interest in football before are now talking about the national team and the World Cup non-stop. It’s had a huge impact. As far as we’re concerned, qualifying already feels like we’ve won the World Cup, because it’s something we never imagined could happen. We’re already winners, in our eyes. We’re champions already."
Monte is counting down the days until the World Cup gets under way and their third group-stage game against Côte d'Ivoire on 25 June in Philadelphia. He’ll be in the crowd with some of his friends. “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime that might not come around again, so we’ve got to make the most of it. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Curaçao will make their World Cup debut on 14 June in Houston against , a four-time world champion with a population of more than 80 million.
Curaçao is a tourist-driven island with strong ties to the Netherlands. It was established in 2010 following the break-up of the Netherlands Antilles and remains part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its citizens hold Dutch passports. The is made up entirely of players born in the Netherlands, apart from, who was born in Willemstad and joined Feyenoord’s academy at the age of ten.
He later came through the youth ranks at Manchester United. He now plies his trade in the second tier of English football with Sheffield United and is one of the most high-profile names for the Blue Wave.
The returning will be managing at his third World Cup and will become the oldest manager in the tournament’s history, at the age of 78. Over the past decade, every coach has been a Dutchman, bar one from Suriname. One of Advocaat’s predecessors was , born in Amsterdam to a Surinamese father and a Curaçaoan mother. Over half of the players to be called up for have played for the Netherlands at youth level, including Chong and Comenencia. They have since gone on to represent Curaçao because of their roots.
Comenencia’s parents, for example, are from Curaçao. “This is a massive moment for them as well. They’re over the moon. My dad’s got a big smile permanently plastered across his face,” said , who plies his trade for FC Zurich. He joined the Swiss outfit last summer after spending much of his youth career at PSV Eindhoven’s academy and two years in Juventus’ youth ranks. Since 2024, he has racked up 17 caps for Curaçao.
The Blue Wave booked their place at the World Cup in November after a stalemate with Jamaica on the final matchday of qualifying. “Words can’t really describe how we felt when we qualified for the World Cup. I hugged my team-mates, the coaching staff and the supporters who spilled onto the pitch at the final whistle. I cried so much there were no tears left. I was visibly shaking. I couldn’t quite believe it was actually happening. Nobody could quite wrap their head around it,” he said.
The national team has put the island firmly on the world map: “We want the whole world to know who we are and where we are. It’s amazing to see so many people talking about Curaçao online now.”
Comenencia admits that Curaçao’s biggest weakness is their lack of experience and know-how at the highest level, but says they are "fearless" and that being huge underdogs could actually work in their favour: “We’ve been brought up playing the Dutch way and we’ve got real quality and excellent technique. We’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
He says the team will aim to win every game: “As soon as the game gets under way, anything can happen. It’s always 11 against 11, not five against 11. Anything’s possible, even against Germany. I think four points will be enough to see us through to the next stage of the competition, a win and a draw. We’ll do everything in our power to make it happen.” In the space of ten years, Curaçao have gone from 150th to 82nd in the FIFA rankings.
“For us, qualifying for the World Cup is already a huge milestone, because we’ve never achieved anything on this scale before and we’ll be the smallest country in tournament history. A lot of people already see us as winners. But we’ve got a winning mentality and we’re not here to just make up the numbers. We’re going to the World Cup with the intention of winning it,” said Comenencia.
He has spent weeks dreaming about the tournament and the prospect of coming up against players like Jamal Musiala and Antonio Rudiger: “I just hope I can do what I’ve been dreaming about when it comes down to it.”
Sources: FIFA Official
