Curaçao made history in 2026 — here's how every World Cup debutant nation has fared over the years

Curaçao, with under 150,000 people, became in 2026 the smallest nation ever to score a World Cup goal. The goal came from Livano Comenencia, at minute 21 of their debut match against Germany — the first of three matches Curaçao played in their first World Cup: 1-7 vs Germany, 0-0 vs Ecuador, 0-2 vs Ivory Coast.

Before Curaçao, the record for smallest nation ever to reach a World Cup belonged to Iceland, with just 352,000 people, at Russia 2018. Iceland also scored early: Alfreð Finnbogason scored in their own debut, at minute 23 against Argentina, in a 1-1 draw that became part of World Cup lore on its own. The tournament, however, didn't last much longer for them: they lost their next two matches (0-2 to Nigeria, 1-2 to Croatia) and were eliminated in the group stage — a good reminder that scoring on debut doesn't guarantee anything beyond that one match.

2026 had four debutant nations in total: Curaçao, Cape Verde, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. Of the four, three scored in their very first World Cup match: Curaçao against Germany, Jordan against Austria, and Uzbekistan against Colombia. Only Cape Verde didn't score on debut (though they did later, in a subsequent match of the same tournament).

How common is it to score in your own World Cup debut? Pretty common, actually: of the 84 nations that have played at least one World Cup match, 55 scored in their very first match — 65.5%. The 2026 debutants didn't do anything out of the ordinary; if anything, they came in slightly above the historical average.

But on the other side of that statistic there are much longer stories. There are still three nations that have never scored a World Cup goal: Indonesia (whose only World Cup, in 1938, was played under the name Dutch East Indies), China, and Trinidad and Tobago. And among those that did manage it, some took entire generations. Bolivia debuted at the very first World Cup in history, Uruguay 1930, and didn't score their first goal until 64 years later, at USA 1994 — Erwin Sánchez against Spain, 14 World Cups after their debut.

The most recent case on that list is even more striking: DR Congo — who played that debut under the name Zaire — debuted at Germany 1974 and didn't score a single goal — not one — until 2026, fifty-two years and thirteen World Cups later. When it finally arrived, several came at once: five goals in the same tournament, three of them from Yoane Wissa, who went from a single World Cup to becoming his nation's all-time top scorer.

With Curaçao already scoring on debut, the next natural question is when their first win will come — something that, unlike scoring, if it happens at all, tends to take longer. We'll find out, at the earliest, in 2030.