The former Dutch colony of Suriname has failed to win one of the last tickets to this summer’s World Cup after losing the play-off semi-finals 2-1 to Bolivia.
Suriname took the lead just after the break with a goal from Liam van Gelderen, but Bolivia managed to score twice towards the end of the match.
“We played well but we missed the chances we had and we gave away cheap goals,” said coach Henk ten Cate after the game. “They were in possession of the ball a lot more than we were, but we had the better opportunities.”
The former Dutch colony of Curaçao, now an independent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, qualified for the tournament for the first time last year.
Curaçao, with a population of 155,000, is the smallest nation ever to reach the tournament. They will meet Germany in their first group match, while the Netherlands will take on Japan.
The World Cup will take place in Mexico, Canada and the US between June 11 and July 19.
