King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands started their Saturday in Houston, where they watched the Dutch team cruise past Sweden.
By the end of the day, the royal couple had traveled to Kansas City to see Curaçao achieve a milestone result against Ecuador.
Curaçao, a small island nation in the Caribbean, is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, making King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima its heads of state.
After a quick flight north, the monarchs traded the bright orange scarves they had worn in support of Het Oranje Legioen for vivid blue ones backing Curaçao’s “Blue Wave.”
Curaçao, the smallest World Cup team by both population and land area, made its tournament debut last Sunday with a 7-1 defeat to Germany. The team responded strongly, holding La Tri to a 0-0 draw and collecting its first-ever point at the competition.
“It is an extra-special World Cup because we have both the Netherlands and Curacao,” Willem-Alexander told RTL-TV.
“So we have twice as many teams to cheer for. A great opportunity to cheer on both the Blues and the Oranges. All in all, it will be a special World Cup for me with two teams, and I naturally hope they go extremely far.”
The Netherlands, meanwhile, strengthened its push toward the knockout stage with a commanding 5-1 victory over Sweden.
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Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece to help coach Ronald Koeman’s team bounce back from a disappointing draw in its opener and move atop Group F. The Netherlands concludes group play against Tunisia on Thursday in Kansas City.
Curacao is still alive, too, after Eloy Room made 15 saves — one off the World Cup record — to earn a draw with Ecuador. It concludes Group E play on Thursday against Ivory Coast in Philadelphia at the same time Ecuador is playing Germany in New York.
“It’s amazing,” Curacao midfielder Tahith Chong said of celebrating with the royal family in the locker room. “I knew before the game that they were coming to the game. To have them at such a game that we pick up our first point ever in history is amazing.”
It is rare for sitting monarchs to come through the Kansas City area.
Queen Ann of Romania attended the dedication of the Liberty Memorial, which is where Kansas City is holding its World Cup FanFest, in the 1920s, while King Gustav XVI of Sweden made a stop in the small Kansas town of Lindsborg when he was passing through the Midwest in the 1970s.
Then again, there has never been a sporting event as big as the World Cup through the area, either.
Nor has a nation as small as Curacao ever earned a point in the tournament.
“Seeing how the king, his wife and daughter fit in our group is something that evokes a lot of respect,” said 78-year-old Curacao coach Dick Advocaat, who was born and raised in the Netherlands.
“They smile, they dance, nothing is too much for them, and you can see them radiating with joy. It was wonderful to see the royal family in this way.”
