"Small island, big dreams" reads a poster for the soccer team of the Caribbean island of Curacao — the smallest country ever, by population, to qualify for soccer's World Cup.

The qualification is expected to give tourism on the island paradise, home to white sand beaches, a boost over the 1.5 million visitors it welcomed last year.

Visitor numbers were already up 13 percent in the first three months of 2026.

"Soccer is putting us on the global map," Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas, himself a former soccer player, said, predicting a visitor influx.

Far from the luxury seafront hotels and Caribbean cruise ships that dock in the port of the capital Willemstad, a group of teenagers kick a ball around a dirt pitch in the low-income neighborhood of Fuik.

The players are from a foundation for young people from underprivileged backgrounds set up by former Dutch-Curacaoan soccer manager Remko Bicentini, who played professionally in the Netherlands and later coached Curacao.

On the gate, a motivational slogan in Papiamento, the creole spoken in the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, advises young people to take their destiny in their hands.

"You are responsible for your future," it reads.

"If you come on holidays to Curacao, you see beaches and everything looks perfect," Bicentini said. "But there are also areas where poor people live."

"Many families have three, four, five children, but no money. We help them when they don't have enough to eat," he said.

Neveron Alberto, one of his young disciples, dreams of being called up for the national team, but the road to selection is littered with obstacles for local players.

The island owes its World Cup berth entirely to its Dutch-based diaspora, the president of Curacao's soccer federation, Gilbert Martina, admitted.

"All the players on the national team play in foreign leagues," he said.

The only team member born in Curacao, Tahith Chong, moved to the Netherlands at the age of 13 and currently plies his trade in England's second tier at Sheffield United. But soccer is increasingly in vogue on what has traditionally been a baseball-mad island.

Martina hopes the World Cup will swell the ranks of the island's 3,500 to 4,000 officially registered players.

The most famous Curacaoan is perhaps former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was born to a Surinamese father who played for the South American country and a mother from Curacao.

The former striker, who coached Curacao between 2015 and 2016, said he was "very happy" about its qualification.

"It's fantastic that the island is in the World Cup," he said.

"In my day, (soccer) was not that big on the island, but the players have given Curacao visibility. It's important for the future, for the next generation."

Former Argentine star Claudio Caniggia, who traveled to Curacao for a retired legends tournament — together with Brazil's Ronaldinho, Kluivert, the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder and Italy's Marco Materazzi — predicted the World Cup would motivate the island's youth and lead to the emergence of new talent.

"If they manage to get through the first round, it would be extraordinary," he said, while noting that the early stages of the World Cup often produce surprises.

The optimism sweeping the island is reflected in the official team store, where locals and tourists jostle for jerseys, caps and scarves.

As he rings up sales, Rovien Petronilia, a 21-year-old cashier, believes soccer's greats will be humbled by lowly Curacao.

"We will beat Germany," he predicted.

AFP