The Caribbean island nation, the smallest country ever to qualify for the tournament, made history with five female doctors overseeing its opening match against Germany
When Curacao took the pitch against Germany on June 14, the smallest nation ever to appear at a World Cup wasn’t just making history with its presence. It was making history with its medical staff.
The match featured the first all-female medical team in World Cup history, a five-doctor squad led by Dr. Suzanne Huurman, Curacao’s head of medical staff. She’s the only female team doctor at the entire 2026 tournament.
Five doctors, zero precedent
The medical team consisted of Dr. Suzanne Huurman, Dr. Emma Lunan, Dr. Silja Schwarz, Dr. Carrie Bakunas, and Dr. Kerry Peek. Together, they represented something that had never happened across nearly a century of World Cup football.
Huurman’s credentials make her presence less surprising and the lack of precedent more glaring. She’s worked with elite European clubs including Real Madrid and PSV before joining Curacao’s national setup.
FIFA’s medical leadership called the all-female team a “fantastic example” for women in football medicine.
The smallest nation on the biggest stage
Curacao’s story at this World Cup extends well beyond its medical staff. The Caribbean island nation secured its qualification in November 2025, becoming the smallest country by both population and land area ever to reach the World Cup finals.
For context, Curacao is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, sitting in the southern Caribbean Sea.
What this means beyond the pitch
FIFA officials framing the all-female medical team as something that could “inspire more women to pursue careers in football medicine and leadership roles in sports” is the standard institutional response. The more interesting question is structural: why was Huurman the only female team doctor at a tournament featuring dozens of national teams in 2026?
Her resume, spanning Real Madrid and PSV, suggests the pipeline isn’t the problem. The opportunities at the national team level simply haven’t materialized at the same rate they have at club level.
