List of national teams with no FIFA World Cup appearances
The FIFA World Cup™ is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) the sport's global governing body. The first tournament took place in 1930 and it has occurred every four years since then, except for 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War. Iceland is the least populous nation to ever qualify for a World Cup, doing so in 2018.
Every World Cup tournament other than the first has involved a qualification phase to determine which teams qualify for the tournament itself, often referred to as the World Cup finals (as distinct from the World Cup final, which refers to the final match of the tournament, played to determine the overall winners). 132 of the 211 current FIFA affiliates have not appeared in a World Cup finals tournament. In the tables below all qualification tournaments where the national team played at least one game are counted as attempts to qualify, even if the team subsequently withdrew or were disqualified. Withdrawals and disqualifications before the start of the qualification are excluded, as are occasions where teams withdrew or were disqualified during their campaign and had all their results from that campaign annulled.
By confederation
AFC countries
34 out of the 46 active FIFA and AFC members have not appeared in the FIFA World Cup final tournament.
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CAF countries
41 out of the 54 active FIFA and CAF members have not appeared in the FIFA World Cup final tournament.
CONCACAF countries
24 out of the 35 active FIFA and CONCACAF members have not appeared in the FIFA World Cup final tournament.
CONMEBOL countries
Only one of the 10 active FIFA and CONMEBOL members has never appeared in the FIFA World Cup final tournament.
| Country | Qualifying attempts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | First | Last | |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 13 | 1966 | 2018 |
OFC countries
10 out of the 11 active FIFA and OFC members have not appeared in the FIFA World Cup final tournament.
| Country | Qualifying attempts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | First | Last | |
 | 9 | 1982 | 2018 |
 | 7 | 1994 | 2018 |
 | 7 | 1994 | 2018 |
 | 7 | 1994 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 5 | 2002 | 2018 |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 4 | 2006 | 2018 |
 | 4 | 1998 | 2018 |
UEFA countries
22 out of the 55 active FIFA and UEFA members have not appeared in the FIFA World Cup final tournament.
| Country | Qualifying attempts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | First | Last | |
 | 20 | 1934 | 2018 |
 | 19 | 1938 | 2018 |
 | 15 | 1962 | 2018 |
 | 12 | 1966 | 2018 |
 | 12 | 1974 | 2018 |
 | 9 | 1934 | 2018 |
 | 9 | 1934 | 2018 |
 | 8 | 1938 | 2018 |
 | 7 | 1994 | 2018 |
 | 7 | 1994 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 6 | 1998 | 2018 |
 | 5 | 2002 | 2018 |
 | 3 | 2010 | 2018 |
 | 1 | 2018 | 2018 |
 | 1 | 2018 | 2018 |
Former countries
Two defunct national football teams took part in qualification but never appeared in the final tournament. This excludes teams whose record has been inherited by successor nations.
| Country | Qualifying attempts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Tournaments | ||
.svg.png){kind=small} | 1 | 1954[1] | |
 | 1 | 1986[2] | |
Footnotes
- ↑ Figures include
- ↑ Figures include
- ↑ Figures include
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References
- ↑ Stokkermans, Karel; Jarreta, Sergio Henrique (12 June 2009). "World Cup 1954 Qualifying". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ↑ Stokkermans, Karel; Jarreta, Sergio Henrique (3 January 2000). "World Cup 1986 Qualifying". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 11 September 2014.