Dick Advocaat resigned in February. He's back now, five weeks before Curaçao's World Cup debut, and when he walks out for that opening match against Germany, he'll be the oldest manager ever to stand on a World Cup touchline.
The 78-year-old stepped away after his daughter fell seriously ill — three months after he'd already done the hard part and guided Curaçao to qualification for the 2026 tournament. Fred Rutten stepped in as caretaker and promptly oversaw a 7-1 combined hammering across two March friendlies against Australia and China. Rutten resigned shortly after. The Curaçao Football Federation didn't take long to make the call.
A record that puts it all in context
The previous record for oldest World Cup manager belonged to Otto Rehhagel, who led Greece at 71 in 2010. Advocaat will be seven years older when Curaçao kick off in Group E. That's not a generational gap — that's a different era entirely.
His CV earns the respect. He took the Netherlands to the quarterfinals at the 1994 World Cup, managed South Korea at the 2006 edition, and racked up international stints with Belgium, Russia, Serbia, UAE, and Iraq across a career spanning decades. Three separate runs as Netherlands boss alone. This is a man who has forgotten more about tournament football than most coaches ever learn.
Curaçao are in arguably the toughest group draw they could have received — Germany, Ecuador, and Ivory Coast. The odds of progressing are slim by any realistic measure, and the nation's World Cup debut was always going to be about experience over expectation. Having Advocaat back at least means they go in with someone who knows exactly what the pressure of this stage feels like.
What Rutten's spell actually showed
The March results were a warning. Curaçao are not ready to compete at this level without their best preparation, and the Rutten experiment — brief as it was — exposed the fragility of a squad that doesn't have the depth to absorb poor management. Advocaat's return stabilises that, but it doesn't transform the squad overnight.
Still, this is a story worth following. A 78-year-old coach, a nation making its World Cup debut, a group containing Germany. Whatever happens in the matches, Advocaat will be making history just by being there.
