Here is a post by Peter Jordens. He shares fascinating facts on the participation of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) nations at 2026 FIFA World Cup. [Many thanks to our collaborator from Curaçao!]
On November 18, 2025, three nations from the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) qualified to participate in the 2026 FIFA Men’s Football World Cup by finishing on top of their respective qualification group: Curaçao, Haiti, and Panama. They will join Canada, Mexico, and the USA, who are the co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup. These six CONCACAF nations may yet be joined by Jamaica and Suriname, who were the two best second-place finishers in the qualification groups and who will compete for two World Cup spots together with four nations from South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania in an intercontinental play-off tournament to be held in March 2026.
Here are nine notable facts about the six CONCACAF nations that are at present certain to compete at the FIFA World Cup in June-July 2026.
- It is the first time that the FIFA World Cup will have three co-hosting nations. And all three are from the CONCACAF: Canada, Mexico, and the USA.
- Curaçao is the smallest nation ever in terms of both population and geographic size to participate in the World Cup.
- Curaçao has participated in the qualifying rounds with a squad consisting almost entirely of diaspora players: born and raised in The Netherlands, of Curaçaoan heritage, playing in football leagues in Europe and Asia.
- Haiti will be participating in the World Cup for the second time. Haiti’s first participation was in 1974. No other Caribbean island nation has participated more than once in the World Cup.
- Haiti has qualified for the 2026 World Cup without playing a single match in Haiti. For security reasons, Haiti has played all its ‘home’ matches in Curaçao.
- Haiti’s coach, French-born Sébastien Migné, has never actually set foot in Haiti, for the same security reasons mentioned above.
- Curaçao and Haiti are ranked only 82nd and 84th on FIFA’s world ranking of football nations yet will be among the 48 nations competing for the 2026 World Cup. This contrast accentuates the odds that they beat in order to qualify and their amazing journey to the 2026 World Cup.
- Panama’s qualification confirms their recent surge as a regional football nation, having finished as runners-up in both the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2024-2025 CONCACAF Nations League.
- Of the six CONCACAF nations that will certainly compete at the 2026 World cup, only Mexico has a coach who was born in the country that he is coaching. Canada’s coach is from the USA, the USA’s coach is from Argentina, Curaçao’s coach is from The Netherlands, Haiti’s coach is from France, and Panama’s coach is from Denmark/Spain.
Sources
Curacao, Haiti and Panama qualify for World Cup, Reuters, November 19, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/curacao-haiti-panama-qualify-world-cup-2025-11-19
Curacao become smallest nation to qualify for World Cup, BBC, November 19, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c14p3dmdld1o
Curaçao national football team, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cura%C3%A7ao_national_football_team
Haiti reach World Cup despite coach having never been to the country, BBC, November 19, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cwy70v7grl4o
Panama overcome hurdles to reach World Cup, November 19, 2025, https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/panama-qualify
Concacaf’s World Cup 26 qualifying in stats, FIFA, November 19, 2025, https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/concacaf-world-cup-26-qualifying-stats
Latest Men’s World Ranking, FIFA, November 19, 2025, https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men
[Photo above: Getty Image from https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/o]
Here is a post by Peter Jordens. He shares fascinating facts on the participation of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) nations at 2026 FIFA World Cup. [Many thanks to our collaborator from Curaçao!] On November 18, 2025, three nations from the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean