There is one team that shouldn't be in the World Cup, but against all odds, they are. We're talking about a nation that has a smaller population than the attendance of single matches that have been played before. And while most describe their qualification as a miracle, others are calling it a scam. And here is why. You see, Curaçao qualifying for the most competitive football tournament in the world shouldn't be possible for a number of reasons. Firstly is this Caribbean island is so small that you can literally drive from one end to the other in less than an hour. So the chances of finding world-class footballers here are close to zero. I mean, India has 1.4 billion people to choose from and yet, they still have never participated. To make it crazier, Curaçao didn't qualify for the World Cup in South Africa because their national team didn't even exist yet. It was only formed in 2011. Oh, and don't even get me started on budgets. Curaçao as a whole is among the smallest economies in the entire world. Apple makes the entire nation's GDP in less than a week. I mean, just look at the vehicle they rocked up in to their farewell match. So by all measurements, this is an incredible achievement. But, there's another side to this team qualifying that doesn't fit this fairytale narrative. Because you might not know, but Curaçao isn't even an independent country. They're technically an autonomous region within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. And have a guess at how many players on the 26-man squad were actually born in Curaçao? 10? Half? The answer is one. The rest mostly grew up in the Netherlands, one of the best footballing countries in the entire world. So after a national team was formed in 2011, Curaçao systematically hunted down Dutch players—particularly the ones that had Curaçao-born parents or grandparents, but were never able to crack the first team in the Netherlands—and then convinced them to flip and play for Curaçao. And that's why a lot of people are arguing that this feels like a loophole. But ultimately, what do you guys think? Is Curaçao qualifying a miracle or a sc@m?
