Curaçao national football team reaches World Cup: 'Humility, but also pride'. Curaçao makes its debut at the World Cup, with Dick Advocaat as coach. The Caribbean island is with 156,000 inhabitants the smallest country ever at the World Cup. Advocaat is at 78 years old the oldest World Cup coach ever. 'It's the craziest thing I've ever achieved as a trainer', said Advocaat about the World Cup qualification. Also for the Curaçaoans, the participation in the World Cup is already a victory in advance. Their participation revolves around more than football; it's a national celebration where the whole island turns blue. 'Everyone together. That's important', says a woman on the island. 'Many people didn't know anything about Curaçao, now they do', says another. Curaçao is plagued by a humanitarian crisis and gang violence. 'We're not afraid of anyone', says Duckens Nazon, the French-born top scorer of the Haitian team. 'We're humble, but also proud, because we're Haitians.'