If you asked people about the Netherlands Antilles you’d probably be greeted by confused looks, as most people won’t even have heard of them.

The Netherlands Antilles (also known as the Dutch Antilles) are a small collection of islands in the Caribbean Sea, with a total population of just under 200,000. The small population means that they rarely make an impact in the grand scheme of things. However, that is not true in UFWC circles, because for a brief period in the 60s they were the unofficial champions of the world.

On March 24th 1963, they faced then-champions Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup, in a match which they were thoroughly expected to lose. However in what is argubally the greatest upset in UFWC history, they won 2-1 to claim the trophy. Sadly they did lose the title in their first attempted defence against Costa Rica four days later, but that doesn’t take away from the great accomplishment, as they became the smallest nation to ever hold the UFWC title.

So why are we bringing this up now? Because they will never have the opportunity to repeat the feat again; not in their current form, at least. On October 10th this year, the Netherlands Antilles are scheduled to be dissolved, meaning that the individual islands will go their separate ways to either join up with other nations or become single entities.

So what does that mean for the UFWC and who will officially be credited with the victory? A few months ago I contacted FIFA and the Netherlands Antilles FA to find the answer (the details of which you can find here in our forum). In the end, I discovered that the island of Curacao will be credited with all of the Netherlands Antilles’ records.

But that doesn’t change what was accomplished by the Netherlands Antilles, so even though the name may change in the rankings, it will still be the Dutch Antilles who played the match, and will be credited as such.

Eventually someone may overthrow the Netherlands Antilles as the smallest nation to claim the title, it may even be Curacao, their spiritual successors. But even if that does happen, and even though the Dutch Antilles in its current incarnation will be gone in less than three months, they will live on in the UFWC, and the hearts of its followers.

UFWC News Dutch Antilles

Mexico 1-2 Dutch Antilles 24 March 1963
CONCACAF Cup, Estadio Flor Blanca, Santa Ana, El Salvador
Scorers: Ortíz (Mexico) Ronald Delanoy, Jesús del Muro (o.g.) (Antilles)

So it was Mexico, one of the biggest countries in the world with a population of over 100 million, versus the Antilles, a small Dutch-claimed group of islands in the Caribbean Sea with a population of around 200,000. (The Dutch Antilles, also known as the Netherlands Antilles, previously known as the Netherlands West Indies, played as Curacao until 1948 when that island became part of the Antilles. The side’s national anthem is the humbly named Anthem Without A Title.)

Let’s not underestimate the shock value of this result. FIFA rankings didn’t start for another 30 years, but since they did the Antilles have never got within 100 places of Mexico. That’s Mexico, established as World Cup regulars and reigning UFWC champions, versus the Antilles, who had failed to qualify for any World Cup and were UFWC virgins. This was giant killing of the very tallest order indeed. Mighty Mexico – the Tricolores – took the UFWC title during the 1962 World Cup finals from eventual finalists Czechoslovakia. The lowly Antilles, managed by Brazilian Pedro da Cunha, beat Haiti over two legs to qualify for this inaugural CONCACAF Cup tournament in El Salvador. The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football formed at the beginning of the year. (The CONCACAF Cup only existed in this format for five years. It has since been re-jigged and is known as the CONCACAF Gold Cup.)

It was the Dutch Antilles, or Antillas Holandesas as the Mexicans would have it, who scored first, netting through Ronald Delanoy on 12 minutes. Mexico equalised through Guillermo Ortíz 12 minutes later, and it was 1-1 at half-time. The second half was an even match-up, but there was to be an almighty sting in the tail for Mexico. With 10 minutes left to play, Mexican defender Jesús del Muro put through his own net to give the Antilles a 2-1 lead. Could the little islanders hold on? Yes they could. And the fact that Mexico gave them something of a helping hand shouldn’t detract from the huge achievement of the minnows. The victorious Antilles qualified for the final round, while Mexico went out. The Antilles subsequently lost 1-0 to eventual winners Costa Rica and finished the tournament in third place.

10 years later Mexico gained some sort of revenge against the Antilles by cuffing them 8-0 in a World Cup qualifier. But giant-killers the Antilles retained their place in the record books as by far the smallest nation ever to win the UFWC. Indeed, the Antilles are the only UFWC winners with a population of under 1 million. They are also by far the lowest FIFA-ranked UFWC champs, having been ranked by FIFA as low as 188 out of 205 registered footballing nations. A true David among Goliaths.

This is an edited extract from the official UFWC book The Unofficial Football World Championships by Paul Brown.

Classic Matches Dutch Antilles, Mexico