Advocaat to become oldest World Cup coach as Curacao shocks football world with historic qualification

When the final whistle blew at Kingston’s National Stadium on October 15, 2023, no one expected a Caribbean island with fewer than 160,000 people to be celebrating a World Cup ticket. Yet there they were—players from Curacao, jumping, crying, hugging—after a last-minute VAR reversal handed them a 1-0 win over an unnamed opponent and sent them to the 2026 FIFA World CupCanada, Mexico, and the United States. And behind it all, watching from his home in The Hague, was Dick Advocaat, the 76-year-old Dutchman who’s about to rewrite football history—not by winning trophies, but by simply showing up.

A record waiting to be broken

The man who once led the Netherlands to the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals and managed clubs from Zenit to Rangers is now on the cusp of becoming the oldest manager ever to coach at a World Cup. He’ll be 78 years and 9 months old when the 2026 tournament kicks off in June. That shatters the previous record held by Germany’s Otto Rehhagel, who was 71 years and 317 days old when he guided Greece in their final group match against Argentina in 2010. Advocaat doesn’t just beat that—he smashes it by nearly seven years.

The night the island dreamed

The match that changed everything took place under the bright lights of Jamaica’s National Stadium. Curacao, a tiny nation of 157,986 people, needed a win to seal their spot. They got it—but not without drama. The referee initially awarded a goal to the opposition. The Jamaican crowd erupted. Then, the VAR monitor lit up. Officials reviewed the play. A handball. Clear. Unmistakable. The goal was disallowed. The stadium fell silent. Then, the whistle blew. Curacao won. The players collapsed to the turf. Fans in Willemstad, the capital, poured into the streets, horns blaring, drums pounding. It was the kind of moment that turns a football match into folklore.

But Advocaat wasn’t there.

He’d left the squad days earlier, citing "family reasons." The Curacao Football Federation confirmed he returned to The Hague just before the match. Still, he didn’t disappear. At 2:00 AM CEST on October 18, he called team manager Wouter Jansen. He gave tactical adjustments. Jansen passed them to assistants Dean Gorre and Cor Pot at halftime. It wasn’t coaching from the sideline. It was coaching from across the Atlantic.

How a micro-nation made it

Curacao didn’t just qualify—they shattered expectations. Before this, the smallest nation to reach a World Cup was Iceland, with a population of 376,248. Curacao is less than half that size. They’re not a sovereign state but a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with their own football federation: the Federashon Di Futbòl Kòrsou, based in Willemstad. They’ve been playing under their own flag since the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. For decades, they were considered footballing afterthoughts. Now? They’re the smallest team ever to reach the finals.

Advocaat took over in January 2023. His first task? Instilling discipline. His second? Belief. "We didn’t have the budget of Brazil or the talent pool of England," one Curacao player told Dutch media. "But we had a man who refused to let us believe we were too small."

Why this matters beyond the record

This isn’t just about age. It’s about possibility. Advocaat’s appointment was seen by many as a symbolic move—a veteran brought in to lend credibility. But he did more than that. He built a system. He demanded professionalism. He treated players like professionals, not amateurs. And he trusted them—even when he wasn’t in the room.

The ripple effects are already visible. Youth academies in Curacao are seeing a surge in enrollment. Local sponsors are stepping up. The federation’s social media following has tripled. And for the first time, young players in Willemstad aren’t dreaming of moving to Europe—they’re dreaming of playing on the World Cup stage.

What’s next? The road to 2026

The Curacao Football Federation has confirmed Advocaat will remain in charge through the 2026 tournament. Logistics are being handled by Secretary General Earl Westerhoudt, who’s coordinating travel, visas, and training camps across the Caribbean and Europe. The team will likely hold pre-tournament camps in the Netherlands and the U.S., aiming to acclimate to the conditions they’ll face in North America.

Advocaat’s age isn’t a liability—it’s an asset. He’s seen it all. He’s managed stars and underdogs. He knows how to keep a locker room calm under pressure. And with a squad full of players from Dutch lower leagues and local talent, he’s the perfect bridge between experience and ambition.

When the 2026 World Cup begins, Advocaat won’t just be the oldest coach. He’ll be the living proof that passion, strategy, and stubborn belief can overcome any statistic.