Jamaica and Suriname, both Caribbean Community nations, have missed out on directly qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup in North America. Instead, they will need to compete in a play-in tournament next year. Meanwhile, Trinidad is completely out of contention after a disappointing 1-1 draw against Jamaica at home last week.
Despite this, Curacao — an associate member nation — continues mass celebrations after drawing 1-1 with Jamaica. This draw secured their efforts to play in next year’s 48-nation tournament at venues in the US, Canada, and Mexico. For Jamaica, the draw was a major disappointment for the Reggae Boys. They had previously reached the 1998 finals in France, but now must wait for the play-in tournament in March. Trinidad had qualified for the 2006 championships in Germany.
Curacao, a Dutch colony 40 miles north of Venezuela, will become the smallest and least-populated nation ever to reach the world’s premier soccer championships if they qualify. The island has just 160,000 residents in 171 square miles. Curacao is near the better-known holiday destination of Aruba, another Dutch colony.
FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino reacted to Curacao’s surprising draw with Jamaica by putting their success into context. He predicted the “Blue Wave” players would bring excitement to the upcoming finals.
“Congratulations to Curaçao on a fantastic achievement. This is only your fourth cycle as an independent nation, but you have inspired all of us. You fully deserve this qualification. The world will see your talent and passion. Your participation will make the excitement even greater. The world will see your talented players and passionate fans. We can’t wait to welcome you next summer — and to see you at the draw.”
In the region, Haiti has also qualified for next year’s tournament with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua. This will be Haiti’s return to the World Cup for the first time in over 50 years, since the 1974 finals in West Germany. Haiti overcame significant challenges, including the inability to host home games due to gang control of the main stadium and ongoing unrest. Most of their games took place in Curacao.
In Suriname, another Dutch-speaking nation, officials were unable to declare Wednesday a national holiday as promised. The team lost 3-1 to Guatemala, and Panama’s 3-0 win over El Salvador ended Suriname’s hopes of directly qualifying for North America without the play-in games.
Before the midweek game, police in Paramaribo blocked main streets for Tuesday’s match, letting supporters watch on large public TV screens as a possible national holiday was considered. However, an already eliminated Guatemala played without pressure and defeated Suriname easily. President Jennifer Simons watched alongside fans and said the nation would now look ahead to next year.
“Today, unfortunately, things didn’t go as we had hoped. We’ll move on calmly. Sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t, but we keep going. We stand behind our guys. This is history, something we’re making together. We have to process this now, but we’ll keep building. We’ll keep trying, we’ll keep believing. Power Suriname,” she said.
