While Brazil has played in all 22 tournaments, 132 of FIFA’s 211 member associations have never participated.
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BBC Sport takes a closer look at some of those set to debut at the World Cup in 2026.
Cape Verde
With a population of around 600,000, Cape Verde, an archipelago off the west coast of Africa, became the second smallest country to reach a World Cup finals, after Iceland in 2018, when it qualified in October, but it was a record that was quickly snatched by Curacao.
Cape Verde beat Eswatini to secure their place in next year’s tournament and complete a remarkable rise in football over the past 40 years.
They played their first World Cup qualifying matches in 1990 and their progress towards eventual qualification for the world tournament was aided by the search for players who had ties to Cape Verde from around the world.
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Currently on their team they have six players born in Holland and one from Ireland: Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopes.
The 33-year-old was born in Dublin but qualifies for Cape Verde through his father and was recruited to play for them through LinkedIn.
Curacao
(AFP via Getty Images)
The tiny Caribbean island of Curacao will become the smallest nation to play in a World Cup after tying with Steve McClaren’s Jamaica to secure their place in the tournament.
The record was held by Iceland, which reached the final in 2018, but its country is much larger than Curacao, which has a population of just over 150,000 (similar to Cambridge or Huddersfield) and a land area of ​​171 square miles, smaller than the Isle of Man.
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Former England coach McClaren resigned as Jamaica manager after his team, needing a win in Kingston to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998, played out a goalless draw, including an injury-time penalty ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR).
And Curacao coach Dick Advocaat, who was not at the game for personal reasons, will become the oldest coach in a World Cup, at 78 years old, surpassing Otto Rehhagel’s record when he was in charge of Greece, at 71 years old in 2010.
Curacao, 60 kilometers off the coast of Venezuela, did not become a country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands until 2010, after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
Ten years ago they were ranked 150th in the FIFA world ranking. They are now ranked 82nd.
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Jordan
It’s been a long road, but Jordan has finally qualified for a World Cup.
The Arab nation first participated in the classification 40 years ago, but until this year it had failed to advance further.
They secured their spot in next year’s tournament by finishing runners-up in AFC Qualifying Group B, behind South Korea.
In 2016, former Tottenham, Portsmouth and QPR manager Harry Redknapp managed Jordan in two World Cup qualifying matches for the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Redknapp oversaw an 8-0 win over Bangladesh, as well as a 5-1 loss to Australia.
Uzbekistan
Uzbek defender Abdukodir Khusanov joined Manchester City in January (AFP via Getty Images)
Another one that qualified for the first time in the Asian section of the classification.
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Uzbekistan have come agonizingly close to securing a place at the World Cup on a couple of occasions, namely at Germany 2006 and Brazil 2014, when they suffered defeat in the final qualifying round.
They have some talented players among their ranks, including Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov, who is the first Uzbek player to play in the Premier League.
Who else could join them?
(AFP via Getty Images)
Surinam They came incredibly close to securing a first World Cup appearance after leading their qualifying group for most of the campaign, but defeat to Guatemala in the final round of matches saw Panama, who beat El Salvador 3-0, leapfrog them to secure automatic qualification.
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But Suriname has another chance to reach the World Cup when it plays the inter-confederation playoff in March and, if it does, it would become the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the tournament – currently ranked 123rd in the world.
The small South American nation has a population of just over 600,000, roughly similar to Leeds.
Inter-confederations will also participate in the inter-confederation playoff New Caledonia.
The French territory is made up of dozens of islands in the South Pacific, with a total population of just under 300,000 inhabitants.
Their squad is made up of part-time players from the 10-team New Caledonian Super Ligue, and some who do not play beyond the fifth division of French football.
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