Curaçao defeated Bermuda 7–0 in the penultimate qualifying round. The decider will be on Tuesday when Curaçao meets heavy favorites Jamaica, who only managed a 1–1 draw against Trinidad and Tobago and thus lost first place in the group to Curaçao. If the small Caribbean island nation, with a population of around 150,000, draws in Kingston, they will be ready to play in the World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico next year.
Curaçao is led by Dutch veteran coach Dick Advocaat.
Suriname, with a population of 633,000, is also heading to the World Cup for the first time. It was also a big victory for the small South American nation, beating El Salvador 4–0.
Suriname is still undefeated in qualifying and tops the group with nine points. Panama also has nine points but a worse goal difference. On Tuesday, Suriname faces Guatemala and Panama meets El Salvador.
The fact that such small nations as Curaçao and Suriname can play in the World Cup is primarily due to the fact that the large nations in Concacaf, the USA, Canada and Mexico, are directly qualified for the World Cup. In addition, the number of teams is being increased from 32 to 48.
Corrected: A previous version had the wrong number of inhabitants in Curaçao, the correct number is around 150,000.
