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Livano Comenencia surpasses Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic in World Cup goals
Curaçao's historic World Cup qualification puts a 22-year-old defender into a statistical club that says more about football's legends than about him
Here’s a stat that sounds like it was generated by a broken algorithm: Livano Comenencia, a 22-year-old defender who plays for FC Zürich, has scored more FIFA World Cup goals than Robert Lewandowski, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luis Figo, Eric Cantona, and Marco van Basten.
The number in question? One. He has scored one goal in World Cup qualifying. And that’s technically more World Cup tournament-stage goals than some of the greatest players to ever lace up boots, because several of those legends either never made it to the World Cup or never found the net once they got there.
The beautiful absurdity of the beautiful game
Comenencia was born on February 3, 2004, in Breda, Netherlands. He developed through Juventus Next Gen before signing with FC Zürich in August 2025. He has earned 12 caps for the Curaçao national team.
His lone international goal came during the 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Jamaica on October 11, 2025, a game that ended 0-0 — a result sufficient to secure Curaçao’s historic qualification.
Why Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic have zero
Zlatan Ibrahimovic never played in a World Cup match. Sweden failed to qualify during several of his peak years, and by the time they made it to the 2018 tournament in Russia, he had retired from international duty.
Luis Figo, the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner, appeared at World Cups but never scored. Eric Cantona retired from international football at 29 and never graced a World Cup. Marco van Basten, who won the 1988 European Championship, scored zero World Cup goals across his career.
Curaçao’s impossible qualification
Curaçao became the smallest nation in history to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. With a population of approximately 156,000, Curaçao is smaller than most mid-sized cities. They will be at the 2026 World Cup, having qualified on October 11, 2025, when Curaçao drew 0-0 against Jamaica.
This is a squad built from the diaspora — players born in the Netherlands who chose to represent their parents’ or grandparents’ homeland.
What this actually means for football fans
With 48 teams competing for the first time, the 2026 tournament will feature more nations from smaller federations. Comenencia is 22, playing for FC Zürich, and about to appear on the biggest stage in world sport.