WILLEMSTAD (DA) — Curaçao has every reason to aim high in its first FIFA World Cup appearance. History says the climb will be steep.
Curaçao will enter the 2026 men’s World Cup as one of four debutants, alongside Cabo Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan, in the expanded 48-team field. The Caribbean side was drawn into Group E with Germany, Ecuador and Côte d’Ivoire, giving the smallest nation ever to qualify for the men’s World Cup an immediate test against established opponents.
Curaçao Football Federation president Gilbert Martina has pushed a clear message of higher standards, while coach Fred Rutten has backed the team to compete and try to make an impact. Their shared target of trying to get out of the first round gives Curaçao a bold and necessary mindset.
But ambition and realism are not the same thing.
Excluding the all-debutant 1930 tournament, 67 men’s World Cup debutants reached later editions through 2022. Forty-two of them — 62.7% — were eliminated in the first phase of their first World Cup. Only six reached the semifinals or better, and only one, Italy in 1934, won the tournament on debut.
That makes Curaçao’s goal understandable, but difficult. Reaching the knockout stage would not simply be a strong showing. It would be a historic achievement for a first-time World Cup nation.
Group E’s own history shows how different a debut can be. Germany finished third in its World Cup debut in 1934. Ecuador was eliminated in the first round in its first appearance in 2002. Côte d’Ivoire also went out in the first round in its debut in 2006.
For Curaçao, that means the group includes one country that made an immediate breakthrough as a newcomer and two that experienced how unforgiving a first World Cup can be.
The same caution applies across the debutant field. Runs like Croatia in 1998 and Senegal in 2002 are remembered because they were exceptional, not routine. For most newcomers, the first World Cup ends before the knockout rounds begin.
That does not mean Curaçao should lower its sights. A debutant that arrives only hoping to participate is already limiting itself. Belief, preparation and ambition matter, and Martina’s message reflects the standard Curaçao wants to set.
The more balanced expectation may be this: competing well would be credible, taking points would be meaningful, and getting out of the first round would be historic.
For Curaçao fans, that perspective matters too. Win, lose or draw, this World Cup is already a historic journey. Curaçao is one of the 48 teams that earned its place on the world’s biggest stage, and that alone deserves to be celebrated fully.
The football belongs to the players and coaches who do it for a living. The fans have their own role: support the team, carry the island’s pride and enjoy a chapter Curaçao has never experienced before.
Curaçao will go to the World Cup lifted by confidence and a nation’s belief. The challenge now is turning that belief into something few debutants have managed to do.