World Cup 2026: Curaçao becomes smallest nation ever to qualify with draw against Jamaica – The Athletic
Curaçao has become the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Jamaica.
Curaçao has a population of 185,487 —the world’s 189th most populous nation, as ranked by Worldometer — and surpasses Iceland (population 398,266), who qualified in 2018 — as the smallest nation by population to play in the tournament.
Last month, Cape Verde — whose 525,000 inhabitants make it the second-smallest country by population ever to qualify — joined Jordan and Uzbekistan as first-time participants. Curaçao nearly tumbled to second in the group, but a penalty call in Jamaica’s favor in second-half stoppage time got overturned by video review.
CURAÇAO HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THEIR FIRST-EVER WORLD CUP ❤️
WHAT A MOMENT FOR THE BLUE WAVE 🌊 pic.twitter.com/Xn4Tm29MAv
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 19, 2025
Meanwhile, Panama, a 3-0 winner over El Salvador, clinched qualification by winning its qualifying group over Suriname, which missed out on its first qualification through automatic means by coming in second in its group. A late own goal in their 3-1 loss to Guatemala did salvage a place in March’s inter-confederation playoffs, though, as one of the top two second-place finishers in the qualifying round, while Jamaica will also play for its World Cup life in the playoffs.
Curaçao and Panama will be joined at the World Cup by Haiti, which beat Nicaragua 2-0 to top its group and has reached its second men’s World Cup, having competed in the 1974 tournament.
HAITI ARE INTO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP IN HALF A CENTURY ❤️ pic.twitter.com/GozOLqXUBb
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 19, 2025
The 2026 World Cup will be contested between 48 nations for the first time, an expansion from the 32-team format that ran between 1998 and 2022.
Due to the U.S., Canada and Mexico qualifying as co-hosts, Concacaf had three World Cup spots available through the qualification process, alongside two additional spots in the inter-confederation play-off system. Honduras and Costa Rica surprisingly missed out altogether.
Those playoffs are held in North America in March, with Bolivia, DR Congo, Iraq and New Caledonia the other four participants. The mini tournament will yield the final two qualifiers for next summer’s competition.
