Tiny Curaçao qualifies for its first World Cup, which Panama and Haiti will also attend

Curacao on Tuesday became the smallest country to qualify for a World Cup in a frantic final day of the Concacaf, in which Panama and Haiti also sealed their passage to soccer's showpiece event, to be held in North America in 2026. The other side of the coin were Costa Rica and Honduras, the Central American teams with the most World Cup participations, who mourn their elimination.

In addition, Jamaica and Suriname won the two places in play for an intercontinental playoff to be held in March.

Hundreds of people crowding bars and restaurants in Curacao's capital Willemstad erupted in jubilation after their team qualified.

"It makes me feel incredible, incredible because we are the smallest country to ever make it to the World Cup, we will show everyone that we are small, but we have a big heart," an unidentified Curacao fan who came out to celebrate told AFP.

Farewells and tears in Costa Rica and Honduras

Costa Rica's coach, Mexican Miguel Herrera, announced he will not continue in his post, while Honduras' coach, Colombian Reinaldo Rueda, broke down in tears in the middle of a press conference after being left out of the World Cup.

The CONCACAF qualifiers awarded three places to the group leaders, and two playoff berths to the two best runners-up.

It was the end of a qualifier that filled with enthusiasm the fans of the smaller teams, who saw in the absence of Mexico, the United States and Canada -qualified as hosts- a historic opportunity to go to the World Cup.

Curaçao takes surprise advantage of the absences of hosts USA, Canada and Mexico

Curaçao made history by drawing 0-0 against Jamaica in Kingston to take first place in Group B of the CONCACAF qualifiers.

The Curacao team arrived in Jamaica needing only a draw against the Reggae Boyz, who will postpone the illusion of returning to a World Cup after 28 years, with the playoffs as their last chance.

After the final whistle, the feat of the team coached by Dutchman Dick Advocaat turned into cheers, hugs and tears, an expected celebration for a team representing an island with less than 200,000 inhabitants.

Curacao, accustomed to inhabiting the region's bottom places until just a decade ago, thus becomes the fifth Caribbean team to reach a World Cup finals, after Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Panama, a dream qualifying campaign came to an end with a thumping win

In Group A, Panama sealed its place in Group A with a 3-0 home win over El Salvador in a match played at the Rommel Fernandez Stadium in the Panamanian capital.

This victory qualifies Panama for the second time to the World Cup, after Russia-2018, and sends Suriname, which was also playing for a direct ticket, to the playoffs.

"Now there's no stopping us," said Panama's Spanish-Danish coach Thomas Christiansen, visibly emotional at the end of the match.

In this last matchday, Suriname arrived tied with Panama at the top of the table, but with a 3-goal advantage over the Canaleros, who had to wait for a slip-up from their rival, who lost 3-1 in Guatemala.

With Christiansen, a lover of touch soccer from the school of FC Barcelona, where he was a former player, the Canal team was undefeated in this qualifier.

Haiti, back in the World Cup 50 years later

Haiti returns to a World Cup half a century after its first participation, in Germany-1974. The Caribbeans earned their ticket after a 2-0 win over Nicaragua.

The Haitians, who played as locals in the "exile" of Curaçao, due to the social and political crisis in their country, finished as Group C leaders, ahead of two of the a priori favorites to qualify, Honduras and Costa Rica.

In San Jose, Costa Ricans and Hondurans drew 0-0, but the accumulated score in the key was not enough for them to qualify for the playoffs.

Fourth-finalists at Brazil 2014, where they recorded their best-ever performance in six World Cup appearances, the Ticos only managed one win in the final round.