5 days ago
13
By population
©IMAGO
To many Westerners, the small Caribbean island of Curaçao is best known as a holiday destination, boasting colourful Dutch-Caribbean architecture, pristine beaches, and vibrant coral reefs. But the nation rarely hits the headlines for its sporting achievements... until now. Curaçao have become the smallest nation to ever reach the World Cup after the islanders drew 0-0 with Steve McClaren's Jamaica in their latest qualifier. Victory meant they secured top spot in their qualifying group and a place at the 2026 finals - a truly remarkable achievement.
The country achieved autonomy in 2010, but remains a constituent within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With a population of just 156,000, Curaçao have become the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup. But which other nations feature int he top 10? Transfermarkt has calculated the 10 smallest nations to qualify for a World Cup since the Second World War based on the countries' population at the time. Each nation has also only been included once.
The smallest nations to qualify for the World Cup
As mentioned, leading the way is now Curaçao. They have overtaken now second-placed Iceland. The European Island, located near the Arctic circle, qualified for a World Cup for the first time in their history for the 2018 tournament. At the time, the country had a population of just 352,000. They crashed out in the group stages, but did manage to take a point off of Lionel Messi's Argentina. Cape Verde, who have also qualified for the 2026 tournament next summer now rank third with their 525,000 population. In fourth place is the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, who qualified for the 2006 World Cup with a population of just 1.3 million. They were also eliminated in the group.
Fifth goes to Northern Ireland who made it to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup with a population of just 1.4m. In sixth are the South America nation of Paraguay who had a population of just 1.5m when they made it to the 1950 World Cup, 75 years ago. Located at the head of the Persian Gulf, the Asian nation of Kuwait take seventh having qualified for the 1982 World Cup with a 1.7m population. Their Persian neighbours, the United Arab Emirates are eighth with a 1.9m population during the 1990 World Cup. The small European nation of Slovenia take ninth position, having made it to the 2002 World Cup with a population of just 2m. Uruguay complete the top 10 with a 2.2m population at the 1950 World Cup - a tournament they remarkably went on to actually win.
