Two countries from the Kingdom of the Netherlands will play in next year’s World Cup finals after Curaçao booked their place with a 0-0 draw in Jamaica.

The Caribbean island with a population of 155,000 became the smallest nation ever to reach the tournament as they clinched the point they needed in their final match.

The Blue Wave had to ride their luck as Jamaica hit the post twice and the crossbar and were denied a last-minute penalty on a video review, but they held their nerve through 10 minutes of injury time.

Fans packed into bars across the Netherlands to cheer on the team, whose players were born in Dutch towns such as Spijkenisse, Hoorn, Boxtel, Odijk and Groningen.

Head coach Dick Advocaat, who will be the oldest World Cup manager ever at 78, was unable to oversee the team’s triumph after he had to fly back to the Netherlands for family reasons, but kept in touch with his coaching staff by phone during the game.

One big party

His assistant, Dean Gorré, described the scenes of jubilation across the island. “This will take the roof off. The island is too small. Everywhere in the world where there are people from Curacao, it’s one big party.”

Gorré said he had been given Advocaat’s “blessing to lead the team for this crucial match”. “It’s fantastic,” he said. “It starts with a dream, and then you have to believe in the dream, turn your belief into a plan and see the plan through, and in the end this is what you get.”

Gorre´s son Kenji, who grew in England and currently plays in Israel with Maccabi Haifa, scored vital goals against Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago during the World Cup campaign, while brothers Leandro and Juninho Bacura, born in Groningen, also played a key role.

PSV defender Armando Obispo said: “You dream of playing in the World Cup as a small boy and now it’s happening.”

Jamaica’s coach, the 64-year-old former FC Twente and England manager Steve McLaren, resigned immediately after the game.

Suriname also had the chance to secure qualification, but went down to a 3-1 defeat in Guatemala to finish runners-up in their group.

However, a late own goal meant Suriname have a second chance through the inter-continental play-off round, where six teams will compete for the last two places.

“We’ve come a long way,” their Amsterdam-born forward Sheraldo Becker said. “When I started here I didn’t dare to dream of a World Cup and now we’re very close. We just have to go all out.”

The draw will be made at 1pm on Wednesday, with Suriname destined to face either Bolivia or New Caledonia in the semi-finals. Either Iraq or DR Congo will await the winners. Jamaica can also still qualify through the mini-tournament.