Jamaica faces a World Cup qualifying final against Curacao. It is also the duel between veteran trainers Steve McClaren and Dick Advocaat. Jamaica’s footballers also want to rebuild the country that was hit hard by a hurricane.
In Europe, almost all fixed starting places for the 2026 World Cup have been taken. In the Concacaf zone, which includes North, Central America and the Caribbean countries, World Cup qualification is heading towards an exciting, final countdown.
Three tickets for the World Cup will be awarded directly to the group winners; in all three groups the race is completely open before the final game. In Group B there will even be a direct duel for the World Cup ticket next Tuesday in Kingston, between hosts Jamaica and Curacao.
It is also the meeting of two coaches with a long, eventful career: Steve McClaren in Jamaica against the selection from Curacao trained by Dick Advocaat. The Jamaicans were actually in a better position, but by conceding a late goal in the 1-1 draw against Trinidad and Tobago, they lost the league lead to the team from Curacao, who celebrated a 7-0 win against defeated and winless bottom team Bermuda.
Jamaica hit hard by Hurricane Melissa
This puts Jamaica’s second World Cup participation after 1998 in jeopardy, and the upcoming “final” in Kingston is also taking place at a difficult time: it was only three weeks ago that the country was badly hit by Hurricane Melissa. 45 people were killed, tens of thousands lost their homes, and many still live in emergency shelters.
Association President Michael Ricketts spoke in local media about the most important qualification in the country’s history: “Jamaica was destroyed, physically but also mentally. Participation in the World Cup would lift up the entire country, especially the many people in the West who have lost their homes.”
The national stadium in Kingston was spared from the hurricane, only the national team’s training facilities sustained damage. According to a report by the Guardian, however, the communication structure in particular is still disrupted: some areas are further cut off from the mobile phone network, which also makes it more difficult to sell tickets for the game against Curacao.
Jamaica’s Coach McClaren: “Give people confidence again”
Jamaica’s English national coach McClaren also addressed the difficult situation in the country and swore his team accordingly: “We will try everything to give people some confidence again in the midst of all the suffering and maybe give them their smile back.” McClaren got the pictures of the destruction from his native England “with horror” persecuted, the Guardian quoted him as saying. The game against Curacao is also for this reason “the most important thing in many, many years”.
McClaren before possible World Cup debut – at 64 years old
For the 64-year-old, participating in the World Cup with Jamaica would also be a personal success – after many positions as a coach that often ended unhappy and prematurely, including in the Bundesliga with VfL Wolfsburg. McClaren’s previous only position as national coach will probably remain behind him forever: with England he missed qualifying for the 2008 European Championships due to a home defeat at Wembley against Croatia. On the island this was viewed as a national catastrophe, and McClaren in particular suffered the wrath of England’s tabloid press.
McClaren most recently had an assistant position at Manchester United and seemed almost forgotten before he was offered the job with Jamaica’s national team in 2024. Now he actually has a great chance to go to a World Cup as a coach. All we need is a win in front of our home crowd against Curacao.
Showdown in the World Cup qualification with Curacao and trainer Advocaat
His counterpart, Dick Advocaat, who is twelve years older, has already been to a World Cup twice: in 1994 with the Netherlands and in 2006 with South Korea. But Advocaat has also suffered a few failures in his long career, for example in 2017, when he missed taking part in the World Cup in his third engagement as a Dutch bond coach.
Qualifying with Curacao would be another strange turn for veteran Advocaat. The Caribbean island with just around 150,000 inhabitants would be the smallest country that would ever qualify for a World Cup. Curacao certainly also benefited in the World Cup qualification from the fact that three starting places were free for countries from the North and Central American region at the XXL World Cup with the hosts USA, Canada and Mexico, all of whom qualified automatically. Nevertheless, the fact that they have made it this far is certainly thanks to their Dutch coach.
Curacao with many Dutch professionals
Advocaat pursued a creative strategy in Curacao. He specifically scouted for players with Caribbean roots in the Netherlands. The team from Curacao consists almost exclusively of players who were born in the Netherlands and who also started their professional careers in the Dutch Eredivisie, although not with the big clubs. Some of the team’s leaders now play in Turkey, such as playmaker Juninho Bacuna (Gaziantep), his older brother Leandro Bacuna (Bandirmaspor) and the former Wolfsburg player Riechedly Bazoer (Konyaspor). Jordi Paulina also celebrated a successful debut in the 7-0 win against Bermuda: The striker, who previously played for Borussia Dortmund’s regional league team, scored two goals.
After the big win and Jamaica’s slip-up, Curacao goes into the final for group victory as table leaders; in the event of a draw, the dream of participating in the World Cup for the first time would come true. Or Steve McClaren celebrates a late triumph with the Reggae Boyz – it will definitely be a happy ending for one of the two experienced coaches.