Curacao have become the smallest ever country to qualify for a World Cup finals after hanging on for a 0-0 draw against Jamaica on the last day of Concacaf qualfiying.
Panama and Haiti also booked their spots in a tense final round of qualifying for the region that is also home to host nations and automatic qualifiers the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The tiny island nation, located in the Caribbean, boasts a population of just 156,115 people and a land mass of just 444 square kilometers. Curaçao finished as the only undefeated nation in the tournament and finished atop of Group B with 12 points.
They surpassed Iceland’s record when they qualified in 2018 with a population of just over 350,000.
Curacao, managed by former Premier League boss Dick Advocaat, who missed the match against Jamaica for personal reasons, went their entire qualification campaign unbeaten, recording a mammoth 7-0 win over Bermuda on their way to securing their place at the World Cup.
Advocaat was at the helm of the Netherlands national team for three stints and managed South Korea, Belgium and Russia before taking the job with Curacao.
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Curacao will find out their group stage opponents for a historic first World Cup appearance when the draw is made on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
Panama advanced to its second World Cup after defeating El Salvador 3-0 on first-half goals from Cesar Blackman and Erick Davis. Jose Luis Rodriguez added a goal for the Panamanians, who have Russia 2018 as their only World Cup appearance.
Panama finished as the best team in Group A with 12 points while Suriname, which came into the last round leading the way on goal difference, lost 3-1 against Guatemala and finished in second place with nine points.
Haiti had a surprising campaign winning Group C over favorites Honduras and Costa Rica after beating Nicaragua 2-1. The results from Group C mean both Honduras and Costa Rica won’t be involved in the next summer’s tournament.
Loicious Deedson opened the scoring in the ninth minute and Ruben Providence added a goal in the 45th. Haiti’s only previous trip to the World Cup was in Germany in 1974.
The Haitians finished with 11 points while Honduras had nine and Costa Rica finished with seven.
Second-place finishers Jamaica and Suriname clinched the final two Concacaf spots for FIFA’s inter-federation playoff and will compete with Bolivia, New Caledonia, DR Congo and Iraq in a six-team tournament in March for two World Cup spots.
