Dutch royals celebrate two World Cup wins in one day

King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Princess Ariane of the Netherlands experienced a unique World Cup day on Saturday, watching two matches involving teams from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The royal family first attended the Netherlands' 5-1 victory over Sweden in Houston, Texas, before flying approximately 800 miles north to Kansas City, Missouri, to see Curaçao secure their first ever World Cup point in a draw against Ecuador.

A day of firsts for Curaçao

Curaçao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with a population of 158,000, earned its first point in a World Cup finals match. All but one of the Curaçao squad were born in the Netherlands, and the royal party celebrated with the players in the dressing room after the match.

Royal reflections

Speaking to Dutch broadcaster RTL-TV, King Willem-Alexander said: "It is an extra-special World Cup because we have both the Netherlands and Curaçao. So we have twice as many teams to cheer for. It's 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."

Queen Maxima, who is originally from Argentina, may attend Argentina's match against Austria on Monday in Arlington, Texas.

Historical context

Curaçao is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a relationship rooted in the 17th century when the Netherlands colonized territories that now include Indonesia, South Africa, Curaçao and parts of West Papua. The Dutch engaged in the transatlantic slave trade, trafficking thousands of Africans to colonies in the Caribbean and South America—accounting for about 5% of the total trade—before abolishing the practice in 1863. In 2023, King Willem-Alexander formally apologized for the Netherlands' role in the slave trade, stating he felt "personally and intensely" affected.