Royal Family Cheers on Two Teams at World Cup
King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, and Princess Ariane of the Netherlands attended two World Cup matches on Saturday.
The royals first watched the Netherlands defeat Sweden 5-1 in Houston. They then traveled to Kansas City to see Curaçao earn their first World Cup point in a draw against Ecuador.
All but one of the Curaçao squad were born in the Netherlands.
The royal party later celebrated with the Curaçao players in the dressing room.
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."
Background
Curaçao is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with a population of 158,000. The Netherlands colonized Curaçao during the 17th century.
King Willem-Alexander formally apologized for his country's role in the transatlantic slave trade in 2023.