Curacao becomes smallest nation to ever reach World Cup

The tiny Caribbean nation of Curacao became the smallest country by population 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.