Curacao seal World Cup fairytale as Haiti, Panama qualify

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

A nerve-shredding finale to the CONCACAF 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.

Haiti, meanwhile, who last appeared in the World Cup in 1974, also completed an improbable qualification campaign with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua. 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.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 known as the ‘Blue Wave’ finished top of Group B with 12 points from six games, one point clear of Jamaica.

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 opponent’s expense.

The Jamaicans hit the 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. Back in Curacao, Haiti ensured their return to the World Cup thanks to goals from Louicius Don Deedson and Ruben Providence in a 2-0 win over Nicaragua.

That result, combined with Honduras’s 0-0 draw with Costa Rica, left Haiti on top of Group C with 11 points from six games. Honduras finished second with nine points, but just missed out on a place in next year’s inter-continental playoffs on goal difference from Suriname. Haiti will now advance to the World Cup for only the second time. The team’s previous appearance came in 1974, when they were beaten by Italy, Poland and Argentina before exiting in the first round.