Dick Advocaat

Dick Advocaat is the head coach of Curaçao at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — and at 78 years old, the oldest head coach in the history of the tournament, surpassing Otto Rehhagel's record from 2010. Born in The Hague on 27 September 1947, the man nicknamed The Little General has spent five decades on the touchline of European and international football.

He served as assistant to Rinus Michels at Euro 1988 before taking the Netherlands to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. From there came titles at PSV Eindhoven, a Scottish Premier League and domestic treble at Rangers in 1999, a second spell as Netherlands head coach to the Euro 2004 semi-finals, then the great peak of his club career — Zenit Saint Petersburg, who won the Russian championship and the 2008 UEFA Cup. He has since coached Belgium, Russia (Euro 2012), Serbia, AZ, Sparta Rotterdam, Utrecht, Feyenoord, Iraq and ADO Den Haag.

Advocaat first took the Curaçao job in early 2024 and led the islanders through CONCACAF qualifying — they finished top of their final-round group to seal a first World Cup in the country's history. After Fred Rutten was placed in interim charge for the final qualifier, Advocaat formally returned for the tournament itself on 11 May 2026. Curaçao are placed in Group H. With a Dutch-influenced squad built around Leandro Bacuna, Cuco Martina and a generation of Eredivisie professionals, Advocaat's task at his third World Cup is simple in framing but historic in stakes: make this debut count.