Whether it was being one of the final cuts for making a squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, or twice being afflicted with cancer, it would have been really easy for Jean-Paul Boetius to have just said ‘enough’.
But that is simply not the way of the 32-year-old Suriname winger. He is resilience personified, and is on the precipice of fulfilling a World Cup dream that seemed distant even just a few years ago.
“It’s amazing to be here. If you are a football player, the World Cup is the biggest stage,” said Boetius the day before Suriname’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ Play-Off Tournament semi-final with Bolivia.
“It is where you can present your best self. We’re really close. It’s the biggest achievement for Suriname. It’s already being said that if we qualify, that day will be a national holiday, so let’s see if we can fulfill the dreams of a lot of people back home and our own dreams.”
Boetius came agonisingly close to the global finals at Brazil 2014 with the Netherlands. A rising star with Feyenoord at the time, Boetius was one of the final cuts to Louis van Gaal’s squad, having only previously appeared in one friendly for the Dutch.
Another Oranje call-up never came, but when the opportunity arose in 2025 to wear the colours of his parents’ homeland, he did not hesitate.
“I never gave up. When I was representing Holland, I did it with full commitment and I never gave up,” said Boetius. “But in the meantime, stuff happened along the way and I made a decision to represent Suriname. You just shift your dreams, and if you are this close with this country, the country where my parents are born, where my ancestors came from, you give your all.”
The ‘stuff that happened along the way’ was hardly pedestrian. In September 2022, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had a recurrence in March 2024. Suddenly, matters on the football pitch were not so important. When he reflects on that time, it’s impossible for Boetius to not get emotional about not only playing football again, but being so close to his World Cup dream.
“It means a lot. I never gave up, even though I was at the bottom and things didn’t look so bright as they are nowadays,” said Boetius. “I always kept football in the back of my head, even though it was Plan B at that moment.
“Plan A was to get healthy again. I already did that with the help of a lot of family members, friends, people I didn’t even know because they showed a lot of love along the way. Hopefully things will come together and we can take the right step tomorrow.”
Boetius‘s ability to overcome adversity has drawn admiration from all corners, especially Suriname coach Henk ten Cate. “He’s a special guy with a very strong character and besides that, a very good football player,” said Ten Cate.
With all that he has gone though, there is no other group with whom Boetius would rather share the pitch with at this important moment than his Suriname team-mates.
“They’re my brothers. I’ve known a lot of them for a very long time, some of them I’m very close to as well, not just because of the national team but from before,” said Boetius. “We all have this full commitment, most of us have similar backgrounds. I know for sure tomorrow we’ll stand side by side, hold each other’s hands, and we will walk off the pitch with a victory and a very nice feeling.”
