World Cup History: Countries That Have Never Qualified

The FIFA World Cup is heading into its 23rd edition, yet 128 of FIFA's 211 member associations have never appeared at the tournament. That figure has decreased ahead of the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan all securing qualification for the first time in their history.

India remain the most notable absentee from the World Cup. Despite being the world's most populous country, India have never qualified for the tournament, having failed in all 10 of their attempts. Their latest qualification campaign ended in the second round, where they finished behind Qatar and Kuwait in the group standings.

Luxembourg hold the unwanted record for the most World Cup qualification campaigns without ever reaching the finals, having entered the European qualifiers on 22 occasions.

Meanwhile, Venezuela are the only South American nation yet to qualify for a FIFA World Cup, with every other CONMEBOL member having appeared at the tournament at least once.

One-time participants

Several countries have appeared at just one World Cup. Cuba featured in 1938, reaching the quarter-finals, but have never qualified since. Indonesia competed at the same tournament under the name Dutch East Indies and returned home after just one match.

More recently, Slovakia made their World Cup debut in 2010, knocking out defending champions Italy in the group stage before losing to the Netherlands in the round of 16. They have not returned since. In 2018, Iceland held Argentina to a 1-1 draw — complete with a missed penalty from Lionel Messi — but were eliminated in the group stage and have not qualified again.

Other nations to have appeared at only one World Cup include Angola, DR Congo, China, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Togo and Trinidad and Tobago.