Dick Advocate became the oldest coach in the history of the World Cup

Legendary Dutch specialist Dick Advocate has officially become the oldest head coach to ever lead a team to a World Cup match. This achievement was established in the match of the first round of the World Cup 2026 Germany - Curacao. At the start of the game, the leader of the dwarf country is 78 years old and 260 days old. Until now, the absolute leader by this indicator was the German coach Otto Rehagel, who managed the Greek national team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa at the age of 71 years and 317 days. Dick Advocate's path to this historic achievement turned out to be as extraordinary as his entire multi-year career. In world football, the Dutchman has long earned the reputation of a fanatic in his field, who is simply unable to finally retire. A separate page in his biography is regular and very emotional attempts to say goodbye to the coaching profession: He left the bridge with tears in his eyes after working in the Dutch Feyenoord. He categorically announced the end of his career after a brief leadership of the Iraqi national team. He swore to the press and fans that saving Dan Gag would be his last dance in professional sports. Each time, the Advocate assured the public that from now on he would devote time exclusively to his family, rest and a peaceful life. However, a phone call with an offer to lead the ambitious project of the exotic national team of Curacao again forced the Little General to return to the big game. Now his name is forever inscribed in the annals of world championships. It will be recalled that Advokat made history in November of last year, when he led the Caribbean national team to the final part of the World Cup for the first time. However, he later left his post due to family circumstances and his daughter's health problems. During Rutten's short tenure, Curaçao suffered defeats to China and Australia in friendlies, prompting pressure from the players to demand a coach.