Article review : Sport and history in small states and non-sovereign territories

Abstract

On 18 November 2025, Curaçao became the smallest nation ever to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, relieving Iceland of that record. Such small state achievements make global headlines; at least briefly, and more so should the team then go on to do well at the tournament. The newsworthiness derives from the fact that being competitive on the global stage, in whatever sport, is always harder for small states (or, in the Curaçao case, subnational island jurisdictions or SNIJs) than it is for larger nations, for a variety of reasons. Besides, people love a good underdog story. Yet, sporting success in small states and dependent territories is not that rare, despite the odds. But even when and where a small state does not ‘punch above its weight’ (a knackered cliché perhaps, but one that is derived from the world of sport, so apt to use here) the stories and histories of sport still reveal much about a state’s population, identity, challenges, and international ties. Hence Matthew McDowell’s welcome effort to compile a special issue on the topic in the International Journal of the History of Sport (IJHS).