The small team, once on par with the Vietnamese team, has a great chance to attend the World Cup.

(Dan Tri) - Curacao is facing the opportunity to become the football team from the smallest country and territory to qualify for the World Cup.

Recently, Cape Verde made history by becoming the smallest country and territory to participate in the World Cup with an area of ​​4,033km2. However, this record is about to be broken by a country with an area of ​​only 1/10 of Cape Verde, that is Curacao (area of ​​444km2).

Curacao is just one step away from a ticket to the 2026 World Cup (Photo: Getty).

The penultimate round of the CONCACAF 2026 World Cup qualifiers this morning (November 14) saw a turning point. After a 7-0 win over Bermuda, and Jamaica being held to a 1-1 draw by Trinidad & Tobago, Curacao overtook Jamaica to take the lead in Group B with 11 points, one more than their opponents.

In the final match, Curacao will face Jamaica. They only need a draw to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. This is based on the fact that in the first leg, Curacao won 2-0 against Jamaica.

Currently, Curacao is ranked 82nd in the FIFA rankings. They are being led by experienced coach Dick Advocaat, who has led many strong teams such as the Netherlands, Serbia, Russia, Korea... In addition, he has worked at many clubs such as PSV, Feyenoord (Netherlands), Zenit (Russia), Sunderland (England), Rangers (Scotland)...

In the current Curacao squad, fans can see some prominent names such as Tahith Chong (formerly Man Utd), Cuco Martina (formerly Everton, Southampton), Leandro Bacuna (formerly Aston Villa). In general, most of the Curacao players are of Dutch origin.

Notably, Curacao faced the Vietnamese team in the final match of the 2019 King's Cup. At that time, the "Golden Star Warriors" played on par with this team and only lost in the penalty shootout.

Curacao drew with Vietnam in 2019, before winning in the penalty shootout (Photo: Huyen Trang).

Along with Curacao, Suriname are also in the running to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. They remain top of the group with the same 9 points as Panama but with a better goal difference. In the final match, Suriname face Guatemala. If they win this match, they will likely qualify for the US, Canada and Mexico.

In the CONCACAF region, in addition to the three hosts, the United States, Mexico and Canada, there are three direct tickets to the 2026 World Cup for the top teams in each group. In addition, two-thirds of the best second-placed teams will qualify for the Intercontinental Play-offs.

29 teams soon have tickets to attend World Cup 2026

Host (3 teams): USA, Mexico, Canada

Asia (8 teams): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar.

South America (6 teams): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Europe (2 teams): England, France

Oceania (1 team): New Zealand

Africa (9 teams): Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Cape Verde, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana.

CONCACAF 2026 World Cup qualifying standings (Photo: LS).

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/doi-bong-nho-be-tung-ngang-ngua-tuyen-viet-nam-co-co-hoi-lon-du-world-cup-20251114180211137.htm