00:00Nick Z here in the beautiful island nation of CuraƧao, a tiny island of just 150,000 people
00:06just off the coast of Venezuela. They've done something no one thought would be possible.
00:10They qualified for the World Cup. Becoming the smallest nation ever to reach the tournament.
00:17Let's see how they did it.
00:26So CuraƧao, or as Wayne Gretzky called it at drawing Caracos, anyways, CuraƧao is a former
00:35Dutch colony, part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. That's why you see all this Dutch architecture
00:40everywhere you look here. Families here for decades have gone to the Netherlands for opportunity
00:46in general. So what you have with this squad is something really, really unique. The entire
00:50team was born and raised and developed in CuraƧao, but they have these CuraƧao and Diaspora Caribbean
00:58roots developed in Europe instead of local academies here on the island. And that's because
01:05on the island, when it comes to developing domestic talent, just isn't there. CuraƧao is semi-pro
01:12at best, and they have just one stadium on the island. But it happened. 2026 was a World
01:19Cup destined for CuraƧao.
01:22Expanded 48-team World Cup had six spots open for CONCACAF. USA, Mexico, Canada, the usual
01:29giants, qualified automatically as hosts of the tournament. Then you combine that with the
01:35fact that, you know, Costa Rica, Honduras, these usual Central American giants, they just
01:41didn't show up in the qualifiers, leaving the door open for smaller squads to show up. And
01:46guess what? CuraƧao did amazing in the qualifiers, winning their first round of matches, all four
01:52of them. Their biggest opponent, Jamaica, beat them 2-0 at home, and then drew 0-0 in Kingston
01:59to clinch their spot in the World Cup. CuraƧao have done it! A blue wave is heading to the
02:05World Cup for the first time in their history! And it has been a problem ever since.
02:15You won't find this squad without their Bluetooth speaker nearby. CuraƧao know how to have a good
02:20time. And this squad is heading into this World Cup with confidence and all-around good vibes.
02:26So head coach for CuraƧao is a 78-year-old unique advocate.
02:36He's coached the Netherlands, he's coached Russia, Sunderland. He even played in the American
02:41Soccer League way back in the 1970s for the Chicago Sting. He was a midfielder. He heads into
02:47this World Cup as the oldest coach ever in the tournament. That's going to be an asset,
02:53given his experience.
02:58Very excited. I'm happy for CuraƧao, I'm happy for our team, our people, that it's a new achievement,
03:05a goal. We had the opportunity, but we didn't really quite make it. The step we already took
03:13is the biggest step, and only up from here. And if we do win, that's a hater. But I don't
03:21think that's realistic. But I am rooting for CuraƧao all the way, yeah.
03:26CuraƧao are in a really, really tough group. Thanks, Wayne Gretzky.
03:30CuraƧao.
03:31But no matter what happens from here on out, they get the opportunity to do something they've
03:34never done before. And that's prove to the world who CuraƧao is as a footballing nation.
03:39We are small. We're a small country, but we're still great. And there's nothing that's
03:43going to stop us. Beautifully said.
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