THEY are countries for whom the World Cup was not even worth considering.
Yet next summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a series of the most unlikely nations will be walking among the giants of the game.
Curacao, with a population less than that of BLACKBURN, could be just a month away from claiming the chance to take on England, Germany or Brazil.
And Jordan as well as Uzbekistan are already certain of taking their place among what was, once, described as the global elite.
Even when Gianni Infantino started to talk about expanding the World Cup from the 32-team model introduced in 1998, the Fifa president surely did not envisage some of the sides that would be walking through the door.
Back in 2018, Infantino explained: “If you allow 16 more teams to participate, it not only means 16 more countries with World Cup fever but also 15 or 16 more countries being able to dream.”
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That prediction has certainly proved to be true, although at a potential cost to the credibility of the greatest show on earth.
But it is the list of potential World Cup novices which demonstrates — much to the consternation of many fans in major European nations — just why Infantino and Fifa are so popular among the rest of the football planet.
The key was the split of the extra places once it had been decided to go to a 48-team competition in 2026.
Europe saw its 13 slots raised by three, the lowest percentage since just four European sides — Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia — travelled to Uruguay for the 1930 inaugural event.
But for the other confederations, the growth in opportunity was huge.
Africa, with five guaranteed places in 2022, now has nine, Asia are up from five to eight, South America got a 50 per cent rise to six, while Oceania were given their first automatic place.
With three co-hosts, the other trio of slots opened up the most unexpected opportunities, especially as the region has a pair of the six places in March’s intercontinental play-offs.
Going into last night’s games, two of the three group leaders, who will be assured of a ticket if they stay in pole position, were former Dutch colonies, Curacao and Suriname.
Veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, who led his homeland and South Korea to World Cups, is Curacao boss.
They are captained by 34-year-old former Aston Villa midfielder Leandro Bacuna.
Last week’s 2-0 win over group favourites Jamaica at a sold-out Ergilio Hato Stadium in the capital Willemstad left the tiny island, 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela, shaking.
Qualification would make Curacao, with 155,000 inhabitants, the smallest nation to play at the World Cup.
Beating the odds
Advocaat, 78, said: “When we started, there were 100 people, now it’s 10,000, so there’s such a big difference.”
Some 1,000 miles to the southwest, perched on top of the South American mainland, it is a similar story in Suriname, the ancestral homeland of Dutch greats including Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Virgil van Dijk.
Suriname’s population of 630,000 is still tiny by global standards and the ‘Suriboys’ were massive outsiders — but are now in a close qualifying battle with Panama.
In Asia, Jordan and Uzbekistan both qualified for their debuts in June.
Once managed by Ray Wilkins and Harry Redknapp, Jordan’s ‘Chivalrous Ones’ — as modest a nickname as you can imagine — were the real shock, with the Uzbek ‘White Wolves’ having gone close three times since 2006.
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And, in the continent that benefited most, Cape Verde — the African island home to the Blue Sharks — have clinched their World Cup bow, while Gabon and DR Congo are pushing hard to join them.
New names, new faces. You just hope they do not get walloped next summer.
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