Every country never to have played in the World Cup
Of the 193 countries in the world, 127 have not played in the Fifa World Cup. We list them all here.
The World Cup has expanded to 48 teams for 2026, with four nations set to make their first-ever appearances, but most of the world has still never played in the tournament.
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Fifa has grown the tournament from the 24 teams of 1994, to the 32 from 1998 to 2022, to have its highest ever intake for this edition in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The move has been criticised, with some commentators arguing that allowing first-timers Curacao, Cape Verde, Jordan, and Uzbekistan to enter the tournament has weakened.
“More teams than ever before, more matches than ever before,” wrote Dr Ariel Hessayon for LBC, “I am finding it hard to get excited.”
But history shows that participation in any World Cup is still an elite list.
Of the 193 countries in the world, 127 have not played in the Fifa spectacle even once, and these range from microstates to India, which is the most populous country on Earth.
India did, in fact, qualify in 1950 but did not play, citing travel costs, lack of practice time, and team selection issues.
Indonesia (population 241 million), Pakistan (223 million) and Bangladesh (169 million) are other massively populous nations never to have made it.
Here is the full list of countries which have never played in the World Cup.
Read also: World Cup 2026: Complete guide to biggest ever Fifa tournament
Every country never to have played a Fifa World Cup match
Africa
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo
- Djibouti
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Guinea
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritius
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Kenya
- Central African Republic
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Asia
- Afghanistan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Brunei
- Bhutan
- Cambodia
- Philippines
- Guam
- Hong Kong
- Yemen
- India
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Kyrgyzstan
- Singapore
- Syria
- Sri Lanka
- Tajikistan
- Chinese Taipei
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Turkmenistan
- Vietnam
Europe
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Kazakhstan
- Cyprus
- Estonia
- Finland
- Georgia
- Gibraltar
- Faroe Islands
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- North Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Montenegro
Central America
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Cayman Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- Montserrat
- Nicaragua
- Puerto Rico
- Dominican Republic
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Suriname
- Turks and Caicos
Oceania
- Cook Islands
- Solomon Islands
- Papua New Guinea
- Samoa
- American Samoa
- Tahiti
- Tonga
- Vanuatu
- Fiji
- New Caledonia
South America
- Venezuela