HOUSTON — It was a lopsided scoreline, but nothing could steal the joy from Curacao supporters after their nation made its long-awaited World Cup debut on Sunday — a 7-1 loss to Germany that still felt like a victory of sorts for the smallest country ever to qualify for the tournament.
Curacao, a tiny island nation that stands out as the smallest country by both population and geographic size to reach a World Cup, faced a harsh welcome from a sharp and efficient German squad. Yet even as the goals piled up, the fans in the stands never stopped cheering.
The moment that had supporters on their feet came in the first 38 minutes, when Livano Comenencia netted what will go down in history as Curacao’s first-ever World Cup goal, briefly leveling the match at 1-1. After that, Germany pulled away decisively.
Still, the pride among Curacao supporters was impossible to contain. Fan Otmar Cornelia captured the emotion of the moment: “(I am) very proud because we are the smallest island, smallest country and we scored against Germany! We are very happy and very, very proud!”
Many supporters expressed hope that the team’s appearance on the world’s biggest soccer stage would ignite a passion for the sport among young people both on the island and in the Curacao diaspora around the globe.
Supporter Sandy Martina put it simply after the match: “Children who see this game know exactly that the future is without any limits. I am honoured, I am happy, I am blessed, I celebrate Curacao. We are again on the world map. We scored our first World Cup goal. I am proud, I am happy and it means a lot to me, it means a lot to my nation.”
Caroline Sluys made the trip from Curacao with her son specifically to witness the historic occasion. “This is so much fun. This is the first time Curacao have made it to the World Cup and we are just a little island of 150,000 inhabitants. It is amazing,” she said.
Curacao’s World Cup journey continues Saturday when they take on Ecuador in Kansas City. They will then wrap up group play against Ivory Coast in Philadelphia on June 25.
