The teams from Central America and the Caribbean have managed just one draw at the 2026 World Cup, another failure for a region that has not seen one of its teams advance beyond the group stage since 2014. Neither Panama, Haiti nor Curaçao managed to win any of their matches in North America and all had to leave the competition early, with a combined record of eight defeats, three goals scored and 21 conceded across nine matches.
Only Curaçao, making its first appearance at a World Cup, was able to scrape out a surprising scoreless draw against Ecuador. The Central American and Caribbean teams “are still not ready; they do not have the ability to aspire to the next round” at a World Cup, former Panama international Víctor René Mendieta said.
The structure of soccer in the region “is completely weak” and player development “is not at the level of the elite in Europe, Asia or Africa,” meaning they “will continue to suffer,” barring “some kind of surprise,” he added. In nearly a century of World Cups, Costa Rica, with six appearances, is the only Central American country that knows what it means to get out of the group stage.
It did so at Italy 1990 and, above all, at Brazil 2014, when it reached the quarterfinals after eliminating Italy, England and Greece. However, Costa Rica failed to advance past the first round in Russia 2018 or Qatar 2022, and in this edition did not even qualify. Honduras, with three appearances, and Panama and El Salvador, with two each, have always fallen at the first hurdle.
El Salvador holds the grim record for the heaviest defeat in World Cup history: 10-1 against Hungary in Spain in 1982. In the Caribbean, only Cuba reached the quarterfinals, at France 1938, in a knockout competition that had no group stage. Since then, neither Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago nor Haiti has made it past the opening round.
Panama Comes Up Empty Again
Panama took nearly 90 years to qualify for its first World Cup, Russia 2018, where it finished last with no points. Since then, its progress has been considerable, with runner-up finishes in the 2023 Gold Cup and the 2024-2025 Nations League. It arrived in North America with the goal of making history. However, the injury absence of star player Adalberto Carrasquilla and a lack of finishing condemned the team, the only side that failed to score a single goal in the entire first round.
The Canal Men, led by Spanish-Danish coach Thomas Christiansen, produced solid performances against Ghana and Luka Modric’s Croatia but lost by the narrowest of margins. Against England, they fell 2-0 and finished bottom of Group L. “Panama came to this World Cup to compete, and Panama competed (…) maybe we had little luck, because based on the performance it gave, it deserved something more,” former Panama international Julio Dely Valdés said.
Haiti, Despite Everything
Haiti, coached by Frenchman Sébastien Migné, arrived after having played its entire qualifying campaign as the home team in Curaçao because of the grave crisis affecting the country. Its fans were restricted from traveling because of a ban imposed by the U.S. government of Donald Trump.
Days before its debut, FIFA also forced the team to change its jersey design because it featured a war scene related to the country’s independence. It was an ordeal from start to finish. The Haitians, in Group C, lost to Scotland 1-0, were beaten heavily by Brazil 3-0, and put up a fight against Morocco in a 4-2 defeat, half a century after losing all three of their matches at Germany 1974.
“We managed to get people talking about Haiti in positive and flattering terms for a few days,” but “when you have Brazil and Morocco in the group, it becomes complicated,” Migné said.
Curaçao, the Lone Bright Spot
When Livano Comenencia temporarily equalized against Germany, Curaçao coach Dick Advocaat cried with emotion, and so did the little more than 180,000 residents of the smallest country ever to play in a World Cup. The joy did not last long, and Germany won 7-1.
The second match brought the breakthrough, as the team, with only one player born in Curaçao, earned a heroic draw against Ecuador, with an inspired Eloy Room in goal matching the World Cup record for saves. In the end, the Caribbean side lost 2-0 to Ivory Coast and finished bottom of Group E.
“The team exceeded itself against true world powers (…) we have to try to take advantage of this to keep improving and see whether we can find even more players who want to play for Curaçao,” Advocaat said.
