Germany brought 84 million people, four World Cup titles, and a world ranking of 10th into today's match. Curaçao brought 156,000 people, no prior World Cup appearances, and a Guinness World Record from this morning. In the 21st minute, Curaçao scored.
The previous record for the smallest nation to reach a World Cup was Iceland, with about 350,000 people at Russia 2018. Curaçao has 156,000, less than half. Their Group E opponents, Germany, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador, have a combined 135 million inhabitants. For every person on the island, 865 people walked into the tournament on the other side. The stadium today holds 72,000 fans. Curaçao's entire country could fill it twice.
Guinness gave them the World Record certificate this morning, hours before kickoff, for the smallest nation in the tournament's 96-year history. Then Curaçao went out and scored against Germany.
The goal came from Livano Comenencia, a 22-year-old defender born in Breda, Netherlands. He spent nine years at PSV Eindhoven's youth academy, one of the best development systems in European football. In 2024 he chose to represent Curaçao, a self-governing island within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where players of Curaçaoan heritage can switch their allegiance. He had already scored against Jamaica in qualifying. Today he scored against Germany.
Almost every player on the squad followed the same path. All but one of the 26 was born in the Netherlands, and 16 played for Dutch national youth teams before choosing the island. The manager, Dick Advocaat, is 78 years old, the oldest coach in World Cup history.
In CONCACAF qualifying (the regional competition for North and Central America and the Caribbean), Curaçao finished their group unbeaten and locked it up with a 0-0 draw in Kingston, Jamaica last November. The 2026 World Cup expanded from 32 to 48 teams. They qualified for a tournament that, four years ago, would not have had room for them.
A nation of 156,000 has a World Cup goal now. That is a fact, and it will stay one.
❤️🔥🇨🇼 156.000 population, smallest country ever to reach the World Cup… and Curaçao scored in a magic, historical moment for them.