Dr Suzanne Huurman, head of medical staff for Curaçao’s national team, has become one of the defining off-field stories of the tournament. Among all 48 nations competing at the FIFA World Cup 2026, Dr Suzanne is the only woman serving as a lead team doctor. In nearly a century of men’s World Cup history, that makes her part of an exceptionally small club. And she is doing it with Curaçao, the smallest nation ever to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.
Curaçao’s rise to the 2026 World Cup already felt improbable enough. A Caribbean island nation with a population of roughly 150,000, and guided by veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat.
Suzanne Huurman, born in São Paulo and professionally shaped in elite European sport, now oversees the physical preparation, recovery and medical operations of a national team competing on football’s biggest stage. Reports across Dutch and international media describe her as the only female chief doctor among all participating nations this summer.
What makes the achievement remarkable is that Huurman herself reportedly did not even know she was making history. She only realised her unique status during a FIFA doctors’ meeting in Atlanta.
Before joining Curaçao, Suzanne built experience with some of the most demanding institutions in world sport. She worked within the medical structures of Real Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Dutch Olympic programs, while also gaining experience inside FIFA-linked sports medicine systems.
The head of medical staff is not simply the person who tapes ankles before kick-off. The role now sits at the intersection of sports science, psychology, load management, nutrition, recovery, injury prevention and tournament logistics. During a World Cup, where matches arrive in brutal succession and travel becomes relentless, the margin for error effectively disappears.
That pressure becomes even greater when managing a squad like Curaçao’s — a team made up of players scattered across multiple leagues, countries and physical systems. Some arrive after long European seasons. Others operate under very different conditioning standards. Bringing all of them to peak performance simultaneously is less glamorous than tactics boards and highlight reels, but often just as decisive.
Then on June 14, Curaçao faced Germany in its first-ever World Cup match. For that match, the medical operation included an all-female on-field medical team, a first in World Cup history according to FIFA reporting. Suddenly, what had been a niche football story became an international one.
Young physicians entering sports medicine can now physically see a woman occupying one of the highest-pressure jobs in international football. Representation may sound abstract in boardroom language, but in practice it often begins with something very simple: seeing proof that the role is possible.
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