VIDEO SHOWS: CURACAO FANS REACTING AFTER THEY QUALIFY FOR THEIR MAIDEN FIFA WORLD CUP / STILL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM CURACAO V JAMAICA GROUP B CLASH IN CONCACAF QUALIFIERS RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: KINGSTON, JAMAICA (NOVEMBER 18, 2025) (ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE) 1. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CURACAO FANS CELEBRATING AFTER THEY QUALIFY FOR THE WORLD CUP AT THE NATIONAL STADIUM INDEPENDENCE PARK IN KINGSTON 2. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF A CURACAO FAN CELEBRATING WITH FLAG KINGSTON, JAMAICA (NOVEMBER 18, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED CURACAO SOCCER FAN AFTER THEIR TEAM'S WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION, SAYING: “Yeah, that was a great game for us. For the first time as a small island, the smallest island in the world has the possibility to join, and we have now, we have played very successfully tonight against Jamaica. I think we deserve this, and we are now going directly to the World Cup with our players. It's time to celebrate for us right now.” 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED SOCCER FAN IN KINGSTON AFTER CURACAO'S WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION, SAYING: “Yes, born here. My mother is from Dominica.The son of the soil, yeah we're gonna represent Jamaica, Curacao, and the whole Caribbean, none of us is superior. (Unintelligible). In We're gonna represent Jamaica.” 5. CURACAO OFFICIALS CELEBRATING 6. (MUTE) STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CURACAO PLAYERS CELEBRATING 7. (MUTE) STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CURACAO COACH DEAN GORRE AND PLAYERS CELEBRATING 8. (MUTE) STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CURACAO ASSISTANT COACH COR POT (LEFT) CELEBRATING THEIR WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION STORY: Curacao became the smallest country to ever win a berth at the finals of FIFA World Cup on Tuesday (November 18) as soccer fans in Kingston say they deserved to qualify for the 2026 edition that will be hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19. Curacao held Jamaica to a goalless draw in Kingston to stay one point ahead of their hosts at the top of Group B despite being without veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, who returned to Europe at the weekend for family reasons. A self-governing part of the Netherlands with a population of 156,000, the Caribbean island nation is easily the least populous country to go to the World Cup, beating the previous record held by Iceland with its 350,000 inhabitants. Curacao lived dangerously in Kingston, where Jamaica were awarded a last-gasp penalty four minutes into stoppage time only for the referee to change his decision after consulting VAR. Jamaica, coached by former England manager Steve McClaren, needed a win to qualify but hit the woodwork three times in the second half and Curacao's team, made up entirely of players born in the Netherlands with Antillean roots, held out to secure a World Cup debut. With that result, they clinched top spots, along with Haiti and Panama, in their respective groups to advance from the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region to the 48-team finals in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Haiti beat Nicaragua 2-0 in Curacao, where they have been forced to play their home fixtures because of the strife in their country, to finish top of Group C, while Panama's 3-0 home win over El Salvador ensured they ended up as winners of Group A. (Production: Gilbert Bellamy, Bhagya Ayyavoo) (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
