National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of FIFA. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 when it was not held due to the Second World War.^[1] The competition originally featured 16 teams, and later 24, before settling on its current format of 32 teams starting with the 1998 tournament.^[2] Teams initially compete in a group stage, with the final 16 progressing to knockout stages to decide the winner.^[3]

As of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 79 national teams have competed at the final tournaments.^[4] Brazil are the only team to have appeared in all 21 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 19, Italy in 18, Argentina in 17 and Mexico in 16.^[5] To date, eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are France. The most successful nation in the competition are currently Brazil, who have won the cup on five occasions.^[6] Five teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning,^[7] while eleven more have appeared in semi-finals.^[8]

Debut of teams

Each successive World Cup has had at least one team appearing for the first time. This table shows the national associations in alphabetical order per year. Teams in parentheses are considered successor teams by FIFA.

Year	Debuting teams			Successor and renamed teams
Year	Teams	No.	CT	Successor and renamed teams
1930	Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, France, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, United States, Uruguay, Yugoslavia^[a]	13	13
1934	Austria, Czechoslovakia,^[b] Egypt, Germany,^[c] Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland	10	23
1938	Cuba, Dutch East Indies,^[d] Norway, Poland	4	27
1950	England	1	28
1954	Scotland, South Korea, Turkey	3	31	West Germany^[c]
1958	Northern Ireland, Soviet Union,^[e] Wales	3	34
1962	Bulgaria, Colombia	2	36
1966	North Korea, Portugal	2	38
1970	El Salvador, Israel, Morocco	3	41
1974	Australia, East Germany,^[c] Haiti, Zaire^[f]	4	45
1978	Iran, Tunisia	2	47
1982	Algeria, Cameroon, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand	5	52
1986	Canada, Denmark, Iraq	3	55
1990	Costa Rica, Republic of Ireland, United Arab Emirates	3	58
1994	Greece, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia	3	61	Germany,^[c] Russia^[e]
1998	Croatia,^[a] Jamaica, Japan, South Africa	4	65	FR Yugoslavia^[a]
2002	China, Ecuador, Senegal, Slovenia^[a]	4	69
2006	Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine^[e]	6	75	Czech Republic,^[b] Serbia and Montenegro^[a]
2010	Slovakia^[b]	1	76	Serbia^[a]
2014	Bosnia and Herzegovina^[a]	1	77
2018	Iceland, Panama	2	79
2022	Qatar	≥1	≥80

* The total number of teams which have participated in the World Cup through 2018 is 79, using FIFA's view on successor teams (e.g., Russia is a successor of USSR and not a separate team, whereas Ukraine is a newer separate entity).

Number of appearances

Team	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result (* hosts)
Brazil	21	21	21	1930	2018	Champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Germany	19	17	17	1934	2018	Champions (1954, 1974*, 1990, 2014)
Italy	18	14	0	1934	2014	Champions (1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006)
Argentina	17	12	12	1930	2018	Champions (1978*, 1986)
Mexico	16	7	7	1930	2018	Quarterfinals (1970, 1986)
Spain	15	11	11	1934	2018	Champions (2010)
France	15	6	6	1930	2018	Champions (1998*, 2018)
England	15	6	6	1950	2018	Champions (1966*)
Belgium	13	6	2	1930	2018	Third place (2018)
Uruguay	13	4	3	1930	2018	Champions (1930*, 1950)
Serbia^[a]	12	4	1	1930	2018	Fourth place (1930,^[g] 1962)
Sweden	12	3	1	1934	2018	Runners-up (1958*)
Switzerland	11	4	4	1934	2018	Quarterfinals (1934, 1938, 1954*)
Russia^[e]	11	4	2	1958	2018	Fourth place (1966)
South Korea	10	9	9	1954	2018	Fourth place (2002*)
United States	10	7	0	1930	2014	Third place (1930^[g])
Netherlands	10	3	0	1934	2014	Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)
Hungary	9	4	0	1934	1986	Runners-up (1938, 1954)
Czech Republic^[b]	9	3	0	1934	2006	Runners-up (1934, 1962)
Chile	9	2	0	1930	2014	Third place (1962*)
Scotland	8	5	0	1954	1998	Round 1
Poland	8	4	1	1938	2018	Third place (1974, 1982)
Paraguay	8	4	0	1930	2010	Quarterfinals (2010)
Portugal	7	5	5	1966	2018	Third place (1966)
Bulgaria	7	4	0	1962	1998	Fourth place (1994)
Cameroon	7	4	0	1982	2014	Quarterfinals (1990)
Romania	7	3	0	1930	1998	Quarterfinals (1994)
Austria	7	2	0	1934	1998	Third place (1954)
Japan	6	6	6	1998	2018	Round 2 (2002*, 2010, 2018)
Nigeria	6	3	3	1994	2018	Round 2 (1994, 1998, 2014)
Colombia	6	3	2	1962	2018	Quarterfinals (2014)
Australia	5	4	4	1974	2018	Round 2 (2006)
Saudi Arabia	5	4	1	1994	2018	Round 2 (1994)
Croatia^[a]	5	3	2	1998	2018	Runners-up (2018)
Tunisia	5	3	1	1978	2018	Round 1
Iran	5	2	2	1978	2018	Round 1
Costa Rica	5	2	2	1990	2018	Quarterfinals (2014)
Peru	5	2	1	1930	2018	Quarterfinals (1970, 1978 (top 8))
Morocco	5	2	1	1970	2018	Round 2 (1986)
Denmark	5	2	1	1986	2018	Quarterfinals (1998)
Algeria	4	2	0	1982	2014	Round 2 (2014)
Ghana	3	3	0	2006	2014	Quarterfinals (2010)
Ivory Coast	3	3	0	2006	2014	Round 1
Norway	3	2	0	1938	1998	Round 2 (1998)
Honduras	3	2	0	1982	2014	Round 1
Greece	3	2	0	1994	2014	Round 2 (2014)
Ecuador	3	2	0	2002	2014	Round 2 (2006)
Northern Ireland	3	2	0	1958	1986	Quarterfinals (1958)
Republic of Ireland	3	2	0	1990	2002	Quarterfinals (1990)
South Africa	3	2	0	1998	2010	Round 1
Egypt	3	1	1	1934	2018	Round 1
Bolivia	3	1	0	1930	1994	Round 1
Senegal	2	1	1	2002	2018	Quarterfinals (2002)
Turkey	2	1	0	1954	2002	Third place (2002)
North Korea	2	1	0	1966	2010	Quarterfinals (1966)
El Salvador	2	1	0	1970	1982	Round 1
New Zealand	2	1	0	1982	2010	Round 1
Slovenia^[a]	2	1	0	2002	2010	Round 1
Iceland	1	1	1	2018	2018	Round 1
Panama	1	1	1	2018	2018	Round 1
Cuba	1	1	0	1938	1938	Quarterfinals (1938)
Indonesia^[d]	1	1	0	1938	1938	Round 1
Wales	1	1	0	1958	1958	Quarterfinals (1958)
Israel	1	1	0	1970	1970	Round 1
DR Congo^[f]	1	1	0	1974	1974	Round 1
Haiti	1	1	0	1974	1974	Round 1
Kuwait	1	1	0	1982	1982	Round 1
Canada	1	1	0	1986	1986	Round 1
Iraq	1	1	0	1986	1986	Round 1
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0	1990	1990	Round 1
Jamaica	1	1	0	1998	1998	Round 1
China	1	1	0	2002	2002	Round 1
Angola	1	1	0	2006	2006	Round 1
Togo	1	1	0	2006	2006	Round 1
Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	0	2006	2006	Round 1
Ukraine^[e]	1	1	0	2006	2006	Quarterfinals (2006)
Slovakia^[b]	1	1	0	2010	2010	Round 2 (2010)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	1	0	2014	2014	Round 1

Breakdown of successor teams

Team	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result (* hosts)
Czech Republic (since 1998)	1	1	0	2006	2006	Round 1
Czechoslovakia (1930–1994)	8	3	0	1934	1990	Runners-up (1934, 1962)

Team	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result (* hosts)
Germany (since 1994)	7	7	7	1994	2018	Champions (2014)
West Germany (1954–1990)	10	10	0	1954	1990	Champions (1954, 1974*, 1990)
East Germany (1954–1990)	1	1	0	1974	1974	Quarterfinals (1974 (top 8))
Germany (1930–1938)	2	2	0	1934	1938	Third place (1934)

Team	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result (* hosts)
Russia (since 1994)	4	2	2	1994	2018	Quarterfinals (2018*)
Soviet Union (1930–1990)	7	4	0	1958	1990	Fourth place (1966)

Team	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result (* hosts)
Serbia (since 2010)	2	1	1	2010	2018	Round 1
Serbia and Montenegro (2006)	1	1	0	2006	2006	Round 1
Yugoslavia (1994–2002)	1	1	0	1998	1998	Round 2 (1998)
Yugoslavia (1950–1990)	7	4	0	1950	1990	Fourth place (1962)
Yugoslavia (1930–1938)	1	1	0	1930	1930	Fourth place (1930^[g])

Overall team records

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.

Accurate as of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Rank	Team	Part	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Brazil	21	109	73	18	18	229	105	+124	237
2	Germany^[c]	19	109	67	20	22	226	125	+101	221
3	Italy	18	83	45	21	17	128	77	+51	156
4	Argentina	17	81	43	15	23	137	93	+44	144
5	France	15	66	34	13	19	120	77	+43	115
6	England	15	69	29	21	19	91	64	+27	108
7	Spain	15	63	30	15	18	99	72	+27	105
8	Netherlands	10	50	27	12	11	86	48	+38	93
9	Uruguay	13	56	24	12	20	87	74	+13	84
10	Sweden	12	51	19	13	19	80	73	+7	70
11	Belgium	13	48	20	9	19	68	72	−4	69
12	Russia^[e]	11	45	19	10	16	77	54	+23	67
13	Serbia^[a]	12	46	18	8	20	66	63	+3	62
14	Mexico	16	57	16	14	27	60	98	−38	62
15	Poland	8	34	16	5	13	46	45	+1	53
16	Hungary	9	32	15	3	14	87	57	+30	48
17	Portugal	7	30	14	6	10	49	35	+14	48
18	Switzerland	11	37	12	8	17	50	64	−14	44
19	Czech Republic^[b]	9	33	12	5	16	47	49	−2	41
20	Austria	7	29	12	4	13	43	47	−4	40
21	Chile	9	33	11	7	15	40	49	−9	40
22	Croatia	5	23	11	4	8	35	26	+9	37
23	Denmark	5	20	9	5	6	30	26	+4	32
24	Paraguay	8	27	7	10	10	30	38	−8	31
25	Colombia	6	22	9	3	10	32	30	+2	30
26	United States	10	33	8	6	19	37	62	−25	30
27	Romania	7	21	8	5	8	30	32	−2	29
28	South Korea	10	34	6	9	19	34	70	−36	27
29	Nigeria	6	21	6	3	12	23	30	−7	21
30	Japan	6	21	5	5	11	20	29	−9	20
31	Costa Rica	5	18	5	5	8	19	28	−9	20
32	Scotland	8	23	4	7	12	25	41	−16	19
33	Cameroon	7	23	4	7	12	18	43	−25	19
34	Peru	5	18	5	3	10	21	33	−12	18
35	Bulgaria	7	26	3	8	15	22	53	−31	17
36	Turkey	2	10	5	1	4	20	17	+3	16
37	Ghana	3	12	4	3	5	13	16	−3	15
38	Republic of Ireland	3	13	2	8	3	10	10	0	14
39	Northern Ireland	3	13	3	5	5	13	23	−10	14
40	Ecuador	3	10	4	1	5	10	11	−1	13
41	Senegal	2	8	3	3	2	11	10	+1	12
42	Algeria	4	13	3	3	7	13	19	−6	12
43	Morocco	5	16	2	5	9	14	22	−8	11
44	Saudi Arabia	5	16	3	2	11	11	39	−28	11
45	Ivory Coast	3	9	3	1	5	13	14	−1	10
46	South Africa	3	9	2	4	3	11	16	−5	10
47	Tunisia	5	15	2	4	9	13	25	−12	10
48	Iran	5	15	2	4	9	9	24	−15	10
49	Australia	5	16	2	4	10	13	31	−18	10
50	Norway	3	8	2	3	3	7	8	−1	9
51	East Germany	1	6	2	2	2	5	5	0	8
52	Greece	3	10	2	2	6	5	20	−15	8
53	Ukraine	1	5	2	1	2	5	7	−2	7
54	Wales	1	5	1	3	1	4	4	0	6
55	Slovakia	1	4	1	1	2	5	7	−2	4
56	Slovenia	2	6	1	1	4	5	10	−5	4
57	Cuba	1	3	1	1	1	5	12	−7	4
58	North Korea	2	7	1	1	5	6	21	−15	4
59	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
60	Jamaica	1	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3
61	New Zealand	2	6	0	3	3	4	14	−10	3
62	Honduras	3	9	0	3	6	3	14	−11	3
63	Angola	1	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
64	Israel	1	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	2
65	Egypt	3	7	0	2	5	5	12	−7	2
66	Iceland	1	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1
67	Kuwait	1	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1
68	Trinidad and Tobago	1	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4	1
69	Bolivia	3	6	0	1	5	1	20	−19	1
70	Iraq	1	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0
71	Togo	1	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0
72	Canada	1	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0
73	Indonesia^[d]	1	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0
74	Panama	1	3	0	0	3	2	11	−9	0
74	United Arab Emirates	1	3	0	0	3	2	11	−9	0
76	China	1	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0
77	Haiti	1	3	0	0	3	2	14	−12	0
78	DR Congo^[f]	1	3	0	0	3	0	14	−14	0
79	El Salvador	2	6	0	0	6	1	22	−21	0

Source:^[9]

Breakdown of successor teams

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
Czechoslovakia (1934–1990)	30	11	5	14	44	45	−1	38
Czech Republic (since 2006)	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
Germany (1934–1938)	6	3	1	2	14	13	+1	10
West Germany (1954–1990)	62	36	14	12	131	77	+54	122
Germany (since 1994)	40	28	5	7	81	33	+48	89

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
Soviet Union (1958–1990)	31	15	6	10	53	34	+19	51
Russia (since 1994)	14	4	4	6	24	20	+4	16

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
Yugoslavia (1930)	3	2	0	1	7	7	0	6
Yugoslavia (1950–1990)	30	12	7	11	48	35	+13	43
Yugoslavia (1998)	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7
Serbia and Montenegro (2006)	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	0
Serbia (since 2010)	6	2	0	4	4	7	−3	6

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Template:FIFA World Cup Comprehensive team results by tournament

Results of host nations

Year	Host Nation	Finish
1930	Uruguay	Champions
1934	Italy	Champions
1938	France	Quarter-Final
1950	Brazil	Runners-up
1954	Switzerland	Quarter-Final
1958	Sweden	Runners-up
1962	Chile	Third Place
1966	England	Champions
1970	Mexico	Quarter-Final
1974	West Germany	Champions
1978	Argentina	Champions
1982	Spain	Round 2 (top 12)
1986	Mexico	Quarter-Final
1990	Italy	Third Place
1994	United States	Round of 16
1998	France	Champions
2002	South Korea	Fourth Place
2002	Japan	Round of 16
2006	Germany	Third Place
2010	South Africa	Group Stage
2014	Brazil	Fourth Place
2018	Russia	Quarter-Final
2022	Qatar	TBD
2026	Canada	TBD
	Mexico	TBD
	United States	TBD

Results of defending champions and runners-up

The defending World Cup champions were formerly granted an automatic spot in the Cup finals field. As of the 2006 tournament, this berth is no longer guaranteed.^[10] However, no defending World Cup champion has yet failed to qualify. Automatic berths have never been given for defending World Cup runners-up. Defending runners-up are 15-for-18 in qualification efforts for the following World Cup.

Year	Defending champions	Finish	Defending runners-up	Finish
1934	Uruguay	Did not enter	Argentina	Round of 16
1938	Italy	Champions	Czechoslovakia	Quarter-Final
1950	Italy	Group Stage	Hungary	Did not enter
1954	Uruguay	Fourth Place	Brazil	Quarter-Final
1958	West Germany	Fourth Place	Hungary	Group Stage
1962	Brazil	Champions	Sweden	Did not qualify
1966	Brazil	Group Stage	Czechoslovakia	Did not qualify
1970	England	Quarter-Final	West Germany	Third Place
1974	Brazil	Fourth Place	Italy	Group Stage
1978	West Germany	Round 2 (top 8)	Netherlands	Runners-up
1982	Argentina	Round 2 (top 12)	Netherlands	Did not qualify
1986	Italy	Round of 16	West Germany	Runners-up
1990	Argentina	Runners-up	West Germany	Champions
1994	Germany	Quarter-Final	Argentina	Round of 16
1998	Brazil	Runners-up	Italy	Quarter-Final
2002	France	Group Stage	Brazil	Champions
2006	Brazil	Quarter-Final	Germany	Third Place
2010	Italy	Group Stage	France	Group Stage
2014	Spain	Group Stage	Netherlands	Third Place
2018	Germany	Group Stage	Argentina	Round of 16
2022	France	TBD	Croatia	TBD

Medal table


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Brazil	5	2	2	9
2	Germany	4	4	4	12
3	Italy	4	2	1	7
4	Argentina	2	3	0	5
5	France	2	1	2	5
6	Uruguay	2	0	0	2
7	England	1	0	0	1
7	Spain	1	0	0	1
9	Netherlands	0	3	1	4
10	Czech Republic	0	2	0	2
10	Hungary	0	2	0	2
12	Sweden	0	1	2	3
13	Croatia	0	1	1	2
14	Poland	0	0	2	2
15	Austria	0	0	1	1
	Belgium	0	0	1	1
	Chile	0	0	1	1
	Portugal	0	0	1	1
	Turkey	0	0	1	1
	United States	0	0	1	1
Totals (20 entries)		21	21	21	63

Results by confederation

AFC

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	Total
Teams	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	5	37
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0^[h]	0	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	1	6
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0^[h]	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						0
4th																						1

CAF

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	Total
Teams	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	6	5	5	44
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0^[h]	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	0	10
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0^[h]	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						0
4th																						0

CONCACAF

Mexico have participated in 16 FIFA World Cup tournaments, behind only Brazil (21), Germany (19), Italy (18) and Argentina (17).

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	Total
Teams	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	4	3	4	3	42
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0^[h]	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	1	14
Top 8	—	0	1	—	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0^[h]	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	5
Top 4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						1
4th																						0

CONMEBOL

Brazil are the most successful team in FIFA World Cup history, having won the tournament five times in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. They also finished as runners-up in the 1950 and 1998 tournaments. They are the only team that has played in every FIFA World Cup.

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	Total
Teams	7	2	1	5	2	3	5	4	3	4	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	5	6	5	85
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2^[h]	4	4	2	4	2	3	5	5	4	33
Top 8	—	0	1	—	2	1	2	2	3	2	3	2^[h]	2	1	1	2	1	2	4	3	2	35
Top 4	2	0	1	2	1	1	2	0	2	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	2	0	22
Top 2	2	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	14
1st																						9
2nd																						5
3rd																						3
4th																						5

OFC

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	Total
Teams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	4
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0^[h]	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0^[h]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						0
4th																						0

UEFA

Italy were the first UEFA team to win the FIFA World Cup, which they did at the second tournament in 1934. They would later also win in 1938, 1982 and 2006.

	1930 (13)	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	Total
Teams	4	12	12	6	12	12	10	10	9	9	10	14	14	14	13	15	15	14	13	13	14	245
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	10^[h]	10	10	10	10	9	10	6	6	10	91
Top 8	—	8	6	—	6	7	6	5	4	6	5	10^[h]	5	6	7	6	4	6	3	4	6	100
Top 4	1	4	3	2	3	3	2	4	2	3	2	4	3	3	3	3	2	4	3	2	4	60
Top 2	0	2	2	0	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	28
1st																						12
2nd																						16
3rd																						17
4th																						15

Droughts

This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation of national football teams in the FIFA World Cups. With the exception of 1942 and 1946, does not include droughts when the tournament was not held due to World War II.

Longest active World Cup appearance droughts

Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance or teams that no longer exist.

Team	Last appearance	WC Missed
Cuba	1938	17
Indonesia	1938	17
Wales	1958	15
Israel	1970	12
DR Congo	1974	11
Haiti	1974	11
El Salvador	1982	9
Kuwait	1982	9
Canada	1986	8
Hungary	1986	8
Iraq	1986	8
Northern Ireland	1986	8
United Arab Emirates	1990	7
Bolivia	1994	6
Austria	1998	5
Bulgaria	1998	5
Jamaica	1998	5
Norway	1998	5
Romania	1998	5
Scotland	1998	5
China	2002	4
Republic of Ireland	2002	4
Turkey	2002	4
Angola	2006	3
Czech Republic	2006	3
Togo	2006	3
Trinidad and Tobago	2006	3
Ukraine	2006	3
New Zealand	2010	2
North Korea	2010	2
Paraguay	2010	2
Slovakia	2010	2
Slovenia	2010	2
South Africa	2010	2
Algeria	2014	1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2014	1
Cameroon	2014	1
Chile	2014	1
Ecuador	2014	1
Ghana	2014	1
Greece	2014	1
Honduras	2014	1
Italy	2014	1
Ivory Coast	2014	1
Netherlands	2014	1
United States	2014	1

Longest World Cup appearance droughts overall

Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance and until the team ceased to exist updated to include qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Team	Prev. appearance	Next appearance	WC Missed
Cuba	1938	active	17
Indonesia^[d]	1938	active	17
Wales	1958	active	15
Israel	1970	active	12
Turkey	1954	2002	11
Norway	1938	1994	11
Egypt	1934	1990	11
DR Congo^[f]	1974	active	11
Haiti	1974	active	11
North Korea	1966	2010	10
Bolivia	1950	1994	10
United States	1950	1990	9
El Salvador	1982	active	9
Kuwait	1982	active	9
Peru	1982	2018	8
Canada	1986	active	8
Hungary	1986	active	8
Iraq	1986	active	8
Northern Ireland	1986	active	8
Australia	1974	2006	7
South Korea	1954	1986	7
United Arab Emirates	1990	active	7
Honduras	1982	2010	6
New Zealand	1982	2010	6
Switzerland	1966	1994	6
Colombia	1962	1990	6
Paraguay	1958	1986	6
Netherlands	1938	1974	6
Poland	1938	1974	6
Algeria	1986	2010	5
Romania	1938	1970	5
Romania	1998	active	5
Austria	1998	active	5
Bulgaria	1998	active	5
Jamaica	1998	active	5
Scotland	1998	active	5
Morocco	1998	2018	4
Iran	1978	1998	4
Tunisia	1978	1998	4
China	2002	active	4
Republic of Ireland	2002	active	4
East Germany^[c]	1974	dissolved	4
Senegal	2002	2018	3
Greece	1994	2010	3
Portugal	1986	2002	3
Chile	1982	1998	3
Belgium	1954	1970	3
Argentina	1934	1958	3
Angola	2006	active	3
Czech Republic	2006	active	3
Togo	2006	active	3
Trinidad and Tobago	2006	active	3
Ukraine	2006	active	3
Saudi Arabia	2006	2018	2
Sweden	2006	2018	2
	1978	1990
	1958	1970
Russia^[e]	2002	2014	2
Russia^[e]	1970	1982	2
Costa Rica	1990	2002	2
Uruguay	1990	2002	2
	1974	1986
	1930	1950
Denmark	1986	1998	2
France	1986	1998	2
France	1966	1978	2
England	1970	1982	2
Spain	1966	1978	2
Mexico	1930	1950	2
Serbia^[a]	1962	1974	2
Serbia^[a]	1930	1950	2
Mexico	1930	1950	2
Slovakia	2010	active	2
Slovenia	2010	active	2
South Africa	2010	active	2
Croatia	2006	2014	1
Ecuador	2006	2014	1
Ecuador	2014	active	1
Cameroon	2002	2010	1
	1982	1990
	2014	active
Nigeria	2002	2010	1
Italy	1954	1962	1
Italy	2014	active	1
Germany^[c]	1938	1954	1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2014	active	1
Ghana	2014	active	1
Ivory Coast	2014	active	1

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1930) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1950–1990) qualified eight times from 1930–1990 under the name Yugoslavia prior to its breakup in 1992 by the secession of many of its constituent republics. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia qualified once in 1998 under the name Yugoslavia, then changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, first qualifying under that name in 2006. All of these teams are considered the predecessors of the current Serbia team by FIFA, which first qualified under that name in 2010. The other national teams which resulted from the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia in 1992 — Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia — are considered distinct entities from the Yugoslavia team of 1930–1990. Montenegro now also competes separately after independence in 2006 and Kosovo was recognized by FIFA in 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Czechoslovakia qualified eight times prior to being divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993. FIFA considers the Czech Republic as the successor team of Czechoslovakia. The other national team which resulted from the breakup of the Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, is considered a distinct entity from the Czechoslovakia team. The Czech Republic national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time as a separate nation in 2006, with Slovakia doing the same in 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949, has been represented by the same governing body, Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), since 1904. After World War II and the division of Germany, the DFB was re-admitted to FIFA after the 1950 World Cup as West Germany. Saar competed in the 1954 World Cup qualifying before joining West Germany in 1956. East Germany fielded teams from 1958 to 1990 of their own before joining with West Germany and the DFB in the German reunification. FIFA officially attributes all international results of the DFB team since 1908 to Germany, including the results of West Germany from 1954–1990.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Indonesia competed as the Dutch East Indies in 1938.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Soviet Union qualified seven times prior to being dissolved in 1991. The 15 nations that were former Soviet Republics now compete separately. FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the USSR.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Democratic Republic of the Congo competed as Zaire in 1974.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference wc1930 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f In 1982, the second round has 12 teams of which 4 progressed to the semi-finals.

References

^ "The History of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "World Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "Formats of the FIFA World Cup final competitions 1930 – 2010" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "Quiz! Can you name all 79 countries to have appeared at a World Cup finals?". FourFourTwo. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "FIFA World Cup Teams Statistics: Teams with the most tournament participations". FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ Dawson, Alan (May 28, 2018). "The 2018 World Cup is only 2 weeks away — here's who has won every tournament since 1930". Business Insider. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "World Cup 2018: Can you name the losing finalists from previous tournaments?". BBC Sport. June 9, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "World Cup All-Time Tables (including Qualifying)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
^ "FIFA World Cup™ Teams Statistics". FIFA.
^ Bond, David (November 30, 2001). "World Cup winners will have to qualify". EveningStandard. Retrieved October 14, 2015.

External links

FIFA World Cup Teams Statistics at FIFA.com

[Yugoslavia-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1930) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1950–1990) qualified eight times from 1930–1990 under the name Yugoslavia prior to its breakup in 1992 by the secession of many of its constituent republics. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia qualified once in 1998 under the name Yugoslavia, then changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, first qualifying under that name in 2006. All of these teams are considered the predecessors of the current Serbia team by FIFA, which first qualified under that name in 2010. The other national teams which resulted from the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia in 1992 — Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia — are considered distinct entities from the Yugoslavia team of 1930–1990. Montenegro now also competes separately after independence in 2006 and Kosovo was recognized by FIFA in 2016.

[Czechoslovakia-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Czechoslovakia qualified eight times prior to being divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993. FIFA considers the Czech Republic as the successor team of Czechoslovakia. The other national team which resulted from the breakup of the Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, is considered a distinct entity from the Czechoslovakia team. The Czech Republic national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time as a separate nation in 2006, with Slovakia doing the same in 2010.

[Germany-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949, has been represented by the same governing body, Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB), since 1904. After World War II and the division of Germany, the DFB was re-admitted to FIFA after the 1950 World Cup as West Germany. Saar competed in the 1954 World Cup qualifying before joining West Germany in 1956. East Germany fielded teams from 1958 to 1990 of their own before joining with West Germany and the DFB in the German reunification. FIFA officially attributes all international results of the DFB team since 1908 to Germany, including the results of West Germany from 1954–1990.

[Indonesia-12] Indonesia competed as the Dutch East Indies in 1938.

[USSR-13] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g The Soviet Union qualified seven times prior to being dissolved in 1991. The 15 nations that were former Soviet Republics now compete separately. FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the USSR.

[Zaire-14] The Democratic Republic of the Congo competed as Zaire in 1974.

[wc1930-15] Cite error: The named reference wc1930 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[SR1982-18] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f In 1982, the second round has 12 teams of which 4 progressed to the semi-finals.

[1] "The History of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[2] "World Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[3] "Formats of the FIFA World Cup final competitions 1930 – 2010" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[allteams-4] "Quiz! Can you name all 79 countries to have appeared at a World Cup finals?". FourFourTwo. June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[participations-5] "FIFA World Cup Teams Statistics: Teams with the most tournament participations". FIFA. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[6] Dawson, Alan (May 28, 2018). "The 2018 World Cup is only 2 weeks away — here's who has won every tournament since 1930". Business Insider. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[7] "World Cup 2018: Can you name the losing finalists from previous tournaments?". BBC Sport. June 9, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[8] "World Cup All-Time Tables (including Qualifying)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved June 26, 2018.

[16] "FIFA World Cup™ Teams Statistics". FIFA.

[17] Bond, David (November 30, 2001). "World Cup winners will have to qualify". EveningStandard. Retrieved October 14, 2015.

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v t e FIFA World Cup
Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA)
Tournaments	Uruguay 1930 Italy 1934 France 1938 Brazil 1950 Switzerland 1954 Sweden 1958 Chile 1962 England 1966 Mexico 1970 West Germany 1974 Argentina 1978 Spain 1982 Mexico 1986 Italy 1990 United States 1994 France 1998 South Korea / Japan 2002 Germany 2006 South Africa 2010 Brazil 2014 Russia 2018 Qatar 2022 Canada / Mexico / United States 2026 Morocco / Portugal / Spain 2030¹ Saudi Arabia 2034
Qualification	1930² 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
Finals	1930 1934 1938 1950³ 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
Squads	1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Final draw	1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Broadcasters	1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Bids	2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034
Officials	2010 2014 2018 2022
Team appearances	AFC CAF CONCACAF CONMEBOL OFC UEFA
Overall records	Player records winners top appearances red cards Goalscorer records top finals hat-tricks own goals Manager records winners all appearances Match records opening penalty shoot-outs
Miscellaneous	Awards Balls Controversies Economics Fan Festival Films History Mascots Music Notable matches qualifying Referees Stadiums finals Trophy Video games World Champions Cup
¹ Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will host the inaugural games ² There was no qualification for the 1930 World Cup as places were given by invitation only. ³ No final held; the article is about the decisive match of the final group stage. Category Commons

v t e Countries at the FIFA World Cup
Team appearances All-time table
AFC	Australia² China Indonesia¹ Iran Iraq Japan Kuwait North Korea Qatar Saudi Arabia South Korea United Arab Emirates
CAF	Algeria Angola Cameroon DR Congo¹ Egypt Ghana Ivory Coast Morocco Nigeria Senegal South Africa Togo Tunisia
CONCACAF	Canada Costa Rica Cuba El Salvador Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Panama Trinidad and Tobago United States
CONMEBOL	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay
OFC	New Zealand
UEFA	Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic¹ Denmark East Germany³ England France Germany¹ Greece Hungary Iceland Israel² Italy Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia¹ Scotland Serbia¹ Slovakia¹ Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
¹ Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). ² Have been member of multiple confederations. ³ Team and national federation no longer exist.