Joel Balsam joins islanders at watch parties and World Cup events across Curaçao
In Willemstad, Curaçao’s candy-coloured capital, Inosha Bonafastia has been leading new football-themed tours riding the wave of tourists who have come to sample the World Cup atmosphere. “When we heard our national anthem being sung in Houston, we saw our flag being opened over there on the big stage, it was something magnificent for us,” she said. “And that goal, the whole island of Curaçao went crazy.”
For millions around the planet, the World Cup came alive when Curaçao equalised against Germany, keeping the score level for 17 memorable minutes.
Nafthaly Martina was watching the game at the Capital Ç event centre close to the airport when Livano Comenencia netted his historic leveller. “Hell, I was in shock,” she said the morning after the game, showing me a video on her phone of blue streamers being shot over thousands of screaming fans. “I’m still recovering.”
Though the four-time champions went on to pummel Curaçao 7-1, Martina didn’t mind. She had had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch her country, a Caribbean island of 171 square miles and 156,000 inhabitants, play in the World Cup against mighty Germany – and even score a goal. “I was so, so, so proud that we made it into history and that I got to experience it,” said Martina.
For its next match against Ecuador, thousands again crowded into watch parties, sports bars and snek bars with TVs showing the game behind metal gates. And again, Curaçao made history, earning their first World Cup point with a 0-0 draw in which goalkeeper Eloy Room stood on his head with a near all-time record 15 saves.
With one match left in the group stage, Curaçao face Ivory Coast – a game they have no business winning. But don’t tell that to these fans. “We still have hope that we’re going to make it to the next round,” says Martina. “If we don’t qualify, we’re still proud.”
When tour guide Bonafastia used to travel abroad, people would often ask her to explain where she was from. She’d respond by saying that Curaçao is right next to Aruba, or it’s off the coast of Venezuela. “But now if we say Curaçao, they’re like, ‘Oh, that little country that made history in the World Cup,’” she says. “Now we’re on the map. You can see us – we’re not just a sister island.”
Bonafastia first steers her tour to Landhuis Chobolobo, a distillery for the country’s most famous export before it became known for football: Blue Curaçao. Here, too, the World Cup has made its mark, with miniature footballs presented alongside bottles of the sweet liqueur and signature drinks mixed to honour the tournament. The Blue Wave cocktail combines white rum and banana mix with pineapple juice – plus Blue Curaçao, of course.
Next, she takes her groups to Otrobanda, a colourful historic neighbourhood across the Queen Emma swinging bridge. There, an alleyway is covered with plastic water bottles, Future Goals, a programme helping to grow football on the island by recycling plastic waste and fishing nets into football materials for Curaçao schools.
Bonafastia then heads to the Sambil Mall, home to the Official FFK Fan Store, where shoppers clamour to buy one of the tournament’s most popular jerseys.
The tour ends at the Ergilio Hato Stadium, where Curaçao hosted home matches before qualifying for the World Cup in November with a 0-0 draw against Jamaica – a feat all the more impressive considering that Curaçao was only registered by FIFA as an independent nation in 2011.
“That Jamaica game was a fork-in-the-road moment and you could feel it,” says Curaçao historian Jason Fullinck from the beach at Sandals Royal Curaçao, an all-inclusive resort where a large TV on the waterfront has been showing matches and the bar has been serving World Cup-themed drinks.
From Kalki Beach on the north-west end of the island to Sandals in the south-east, the smallest nation to ever make a World Cup finals is awash with blue and yellow. Flags flap from car windows, slogans are plastered on billboards and the sides of buildings proclaim the Blue Wave. Watch parties abound.
Fullinck points out that growing up as a football fan in Curaçao meant that you had to choose one of the big countries like Argentina, Italy or Brazil to support at the World Cup. “You never thought that it would come one day when your own country would be there for you to cheer for,” he says.
And cheering has brought the country together like never before. According to Fullinck: “We are an island where you have different cultures, but now you can see a real union, because everybody is representing the flag, and it feels like we’re just one now,” he said. “No matter what happens, we are winners, we’re champions.”
WHERE TO WATCH THE WORLD CUP IN CURAÇAO
Curaçao has set up several watch parties for the World Cup, one located just outside the airport at Capital Ç, an event venue also known as The Dome. And there are two in Willemstad at Queen Wilhelmina Park beside the Curaçao sign, and another – a circle of bleachers centred on a TV – is outside the Wind Creek Hotel Casino and Renaissance Mall & Rif Fort, a 19th-century fort turned into an outdoor mall.
Many of Curaçao’s resorts and beach clubs are getting in on the act. Sandals Royal Curaçao has a huge TV on the beach with lounge beds, a board tracking the matches and World Cup-themed cocktails included in the price of the stay.
In Willemstad, most outdoor bars with terraces are screening the World Cup. Plein Café Wilhelmina is perfectly located across from the Curaçao sign and has plenty of tables, and BlackJack, part of the Saint Tropez Hotel, is another solid option for burgers and football.
Across Santa Barbara Bay, Otrabanda is one of the most picturesque neighborhoods, with a bar called RustiQ that shows matches outside. If you’re there during the World Cup, look out for the Future Goals alley festooned with water bottles as part of a recycling initiative benefitting local schools.
Towards the waterfront, The Sopranos Sports Bar inside the Renaissance Mall & Rif Fort has seating on its terrace, inside and on the rooftop. The aptly-named 5 O’Clock Somewhere has TVs and terrific sea views.
Outside Willemstad are two bars popular with locals: PasaWá, a food court made out of shipping containers centred around TVs; and Fruity Fusion, a food truck and restaurant with TV-facing bleachers. Many locals also love to stand outside snack bars and mini-markets with TVs hanging behind metal gates.
