World Cup double shift for Dutch royals

21 Jun 2026 • 3:51 PM MYT
DPA International
DPA International

DPA, founded in 1949, one of the world’s leading independent news agencies

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima celebrated and danced with the Curaçao team at the end of a World Cup double shift on Saturday to watch all of their subjects in action.

The royal couple first attended the mid-day kick-off in Houston where the Netherlands trounced Sweden 5-1. A few hours later they were in in Kansas City for Curaçao fight to a surprise 0-0 draw against Ecuador.

As king of Netherlands, Willem-Alexander is also the head of state of the countries which are part of the kingdom, which includes Curaçao.

The royals wore the team colours at both visits, the traditional orange for the Dutch game and then Curaçao's blue.

A a video posted by the Curaçao FA showed them dance and celebrate with the team in the dressing room after the match.

"It is a very special World Cup because we have the Netherlands and Curaçao. So we have double the amount of teams we can cheer on," Willem-Alexcander told broadcasters RTL.

He added that he "of course hopes that both can go far" in the tournament.

The Dutch took a big step towards the knock-out stages ahead of their final group game against Tunisia. Curaçao can also advance, for which they would need to beat Ivory Coast.

The royals had watched the first Dutch World Cup match earlier this week, a 2-2 draw with Japan, together with Japan's imperial couple of Emporer Naruhito and Empress Masako who were on a state visit to the Netherlands at the time.

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