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Caribbean Island nation Curacao has made Historybecoming the smallest Country According to population to qualify for the World Cup. They secured their place with a goalless draw Jamaica Final day of CONCACAF qualifying.
Curaçao remained undefeated throughout their campaign, topping Group B with 12 points, and have now joined Panama and Haiti in booking a World Cup ticket.
Their crucial match against Jamaica was played without head coach Dick Advocaat, the 78-year-old former Rangers and Sunderland boss, who was absent for personal reasons.
The nation has an area of 171 square miles and a population of less than 157,000.
Iceland previously held the record as the smallest nation to reach the World Cup when it qualified for the tournament in Russia in 2018.
Elsewhere, Spain secured automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup despite losing their 100 per cent record and conceding their first goals of the campaign in a 2–2 draw with Turkey.
Mikel Oyarzabal secured a point – and extended his run to 31 international games without defeat – with his sixth goal of qualifying just before the hour mark as the visitors hit back from Dani Olmo’s opener to take the lead through Deniz Gul and Salih Ozcan.
Bulgaria’s 3–1 win over Georgia could not prevent them from finishing bottom of Group E.
Belgium confirmed their place by defeating Liechtenstein 7-0 with the help of Manchester City winger jeremy doku Scored twice and Hans Vanaken, Brandon Mechele, Alexis Saelemaekers and Charles de Ketelaere (two) were also on target.
This led to Wales’ 7–1 victory over North Macedonia, with Harry Wilson’s hat-trick the highlight, academic but still giving them home advantage in their play-off semi-final.
Austria’s 1–1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina guaranteed them top place in Group H, with their rivals having to settle for the runners-up spot, with Romania beating San Marino 7–1.
Similarly, Switzerland’s 1–1 draw in Kosovo was enough for them to qualify from Group B as the hosts failed to become historic winners after Florent Muslija’s 74th-minute equaliser.
Sweden earned their first point of the campaign with a 1–1 draw at home to Slovenia but still finished bottom of Group B.
Ten-man Denmark reached the play-offs after a dramatic 4–2 defeat to Scotland, qualifying for their first World Cup since 1998.
rasmus hojlund And Patrick Dorgu twice pushed his hosts back in front, the second after Rasmus Christensen was sent off, only for Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean to score in extra time.
Belarus’s match against Greece remained goalless.