The Smallest Country in the World Cup Just Made History

There have been a long list of firsts that have occurred throughout this year’s World Cup, which features an expanded field of 48 teams, bumped from 32 where the field had stood since the 1998 tournament.

The latest historic performance came from Curacao, whose second group match resulted in a scoreless draw with Ecuador, earning the Curacaoans their first-ever point in World Cup play in their first-ever appearance in the event.

Curacao is the smallest country in World Cup history, a title that was previously held by Iceland, which last qualified for the tournament in 2018. Curacao has a population of approximately 156,000 people. Iceland has a population of about 350,000.

Powering Curacao’s performance was goalkeeper Eloy Room, who made 15 saves during a herculean individual effort. His performance was the best-ever on record (since 1966) by a World Cup goalkeeper in normal time. Former USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard holds the all-time World Cup record with 16 saves during a 2-1 extra-time defeat at the hands of Belgium in 2014.

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Ecuador had a number of chances throughout the match, particularly early in the first half. But due to Room’s heroics and the strong play from the Curacao defense, the Ecuadorians came up empty and face a tough road to the knockout round as a result. Ecuador had previously fallen to Ivory Coast 1-0 on June 14, which earned its first-ever World Cup win with an improbable effort.

It’s been a rough tournament for La Tricolor and head coach Sebastian Beccacece, who was hired in August 2024. We have already seen one World Cup coach fired, and following another dreadful result for the Ecuadorians, Beccacece could be the next one out the door.

With that said, for the Curacaoans, they now look forward to a matchup with Ivory Coast, with the winner in position to advance to the Round of 32. Ivory Coast is also participating in its first World Cup in program history and is coming off a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Germany. Ivory Coast held a 1-0 advantage early in the contest but gave way to the Germans in the second half.

Kick-off of the critical Group E match is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday.