European nations at the FIFA World Cup
Association football is the most popular sport in nearly every European country, and UEFA is one of the six confederations of world football's governing body FIFA. UEFA contains 55 national association members, some of which partially or entirely located in Asia. A total of 33 of the current members of UEFA have competed at the men's FIFA World Cup, while the defunct East Germany qualified once.
Overview
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) |
2022 (32) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 4 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | (13) | 245 |
Top 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10[lower-alpha 1] | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 91 | |
Top 8 | — | 8 | 6 | — | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | — | 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 |
Results
Most finishes in the top four
Team | # | Top-four finishes |
---|---|---|
Germany[1] | 13 | 1934, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 |
Italy | 8 | 1934, 1938, 1970, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1994, 2006 |
France | 6 | 1958, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2018 |
Netherlands | 5 | 1974, 1978, 1998, 2010, 2014 |
Sweden | 4 | 1938, 1950, 1958, 1994 |
England | 3 | 1966, 1990, 2018 |
Serbia[2] | 2 | 1930, 1962 |
Austria | 2 | 1934, 1954 |
Czech Republic[4] | 2 | 1934, 1962 |
Hungary | 2 | 1938, 1954 |
Spain | 2 | 1950, 2010 |
Portugal | 2 | 1966, 2006 |
Poland | 2 | 1974, 1982 |
Belgium | 2 | 1986, 2018 |
Croatia | 2 | 1998, 2018 |
Russia[3] | 1 | 1966 |
Bulgaria | 1 | 1994 |
Turkey | 1 | 2002 |
Team results by tournament
- Legend
|
|
The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA.[5] The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament. In recent tournaments, FIFA has used the rankings for seedings for the final tournament draw.[6]
For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.
Team | 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) |
2022 (32) |
Total (21) |
Qual. Comp. (20) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | × | 4th | ••[7] | × | 3rd | R1 15th | × | • | • | • | R2 7th | R2 8th | • | R1 T-18th | • | R1 23rd | • | • | • | • | • | 7 | 18 | |
Belgium | R1 11th | R1 15th | R1 13th | × | R1 12th | • | • | • | R1 T-10th | • | • | R2 10th | 4th | R2 11th | R2 11th | R1 19th | R2 14th | • | • | QF 6th | 3rd | 13 | 20 | |
Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] | Part of Yugoslavia | • | • | • | • | R1 20th | • | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||||
Bulgaria | × | • | • | × | • | • | R1 15th | R1 15th | R1 13th | R1 12th | • | • | R2 15th | • | 4th | R1 29th | • | • | • | • | • | 7 | 19 | |
Croatia[2] | Part of Yugoslavia | × | 3rd | R1 23rd | R1 22nd | • | R1 19th | 2nd | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
Czech Republic[4] | × | 2nd | QF 5th | × | R1 14th | R1 9th | 2nd | • | R1 15th | • | • | R1 19th | • | QF 6th | • | • | • | R1 20th | • | • | • | 9 | 19 | |
Denmark | × | × | × | × | × | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | R2 9th | • | • | QF 8th | R2 10th | • | R1 24th | • | R2 11th | 5 | 15 | |
East Germany[1] | Part of Germany | × | × | • | • | • | • | R2 6th | • | • | • | • | Part of Germany | 1 | 9 | |||||||||
England | × | × | × | R1 8th | QF 6th | R1 11th | QF 8th | 1st | QF 8th | • | • | R2 6th | QF 8th | 4th | • | R2 9th | QF 6th | QF 7th | R2 13th | R1 26th | 4th | 15 | 18 | |
France | R1 7th | R1 T-9th | QF 6th | •• | R1 11th | 3rd | • | R1 T-13th | • | • | R1 12th | 4th | 3rd | • | • | 1st | R1 28th | 2nd | R1 29th | QF 7th | 1st | 15 | 21 | |
Germany[1] | × | 3rd | R1 10th | × | 1st | 4th | QF 7th | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | R2 6th | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | QF 5th | QF 7th | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | R1 22nd | 19 | 19 | |
Greece | × | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | R1 24th | • | • | • | R1 25th | R2 13th | • | 3 | 19 | |
Hungary | × | QF 6th | 2nd | × | 2nd | R1 10th | QF 5th | QF 6th | • | • | R1 15th | R1 14th | R1 18th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 9 | 19 | |
Iceland | • | × | • | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | R1 28th | 1 | 14 | ||||
Israel[8] | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | R1 12th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | 20 | |
member of AFC | member of OFC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Italy | × | 1st | 1st | R1 7th | R1 10th | • | R1 9th | R1 9th | 2nd | R1 10th | 4th | 1st | R2 12th | 3rd | 2nd | QF 5th | R2 15th | 1st | R1 26th | R1 22nd | • | 18 | 20 | |
Netherlands | × | R1 T-9th | R1 14th | × | × | • | • | • | • | 2nd | 2nd | • | • | R2 15th | QF 7th | 4th | • | R2 11th | 2nd | 3rd | • | 10 | 18 | |
Northern Ireland | × | × | × | • | • | QF 8th | • | • | • | • | • | R2 9th | R1 21st | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3 | 18 | |
Norway | × | × | R1 12th | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | R1 17th | R2 15th | • | • | • | • | • | 3 | 18 | |
Poland | × | • | R1 11th | × | × | • | • | • | • | 3rd | R2 5th | 3rd | R2 14th | • | • | • | R1 25th | R1 21st | • | • | R1 25th | 8 | 18 | |
Portugal | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3rd | • | • | • | • | R1 17th | • | • | • | R1 21st | 4th | R2 11th | R1 18th | R2 13th | 7 | 20 | |
Republic of Ireland[9] | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | QF 8th | R2 16th | • | R2 12th | • | • | • | • | 3 | 20 | |
Romania | R1 8th | R1 12th | R1 9th | × | • | • | • | • | R1 T-10th | • | • | • | • | R2 12th | QF 6th | R2 11th | • | • | • | • | • | 7 | 20 | |
Russia[3] | × | × | × | × | × | QF 7th | QF 6th | 4th | QF 5th | • | • | R2 7th | R2 10th | R1 17th | R1 18th | • | R1 22nd | • | • | R1 24th | QF 8th | 11 | 16 | |
Scotland | × | × | × | •• | R1 15th | R1 14th | • | • | • | R1 9th | R1 11th | R1 15th | R1 19th | R1 T-18th | • | R1 27th | • | • | • | • | • | 8 | 18 | |
Serbia[2] | 4th[10] | • | • | R1 5th | QF 7th | QF 5th | 4th | • | • | R2 7th | • | R1 16th | • | QF 5th | × | R2 10th | • | R1 32nd | R1 23rd | • | R1 23rd | 12 | 20 | |
Slovakia[4] | Part of Czechoslovakia | • | • | • | R2 16th | • | • | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||||
Slovenia[2] | Part of Yugoslavia | × | • | R1 30th | • | R1 18th | • | • | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
Spain | × | QF 5th | × | 4th | • | • | R1 12th | R1 10th | • | • | R1 10th | R2 12th | QF 7th | R2 10th | QF 8th | R1 17th | QF 5th | R2 9th | 1st | R1 23rd | R2 10th | 15 | 19 | |
Sweden | × | QF 8th | 4th | 3rd | • | 2nd | • | • | R1 9th | R2 5th | R1 13th | • | • | R1 21st | 3rd | • | R2 13th | R2 14th | • | • | QF 7th | 12 | 20 | |
Switzerland | × | QF 7th | QF 7th | R1 6th | QF 8th | • | R1 16th | R1 16th | • | • | • | • | • | • | R2 15th | • | • | R2 10th | R1 19th | R2 11th | R2 14th | 11 | 20 | |
Turkey | × | × | × | •• | R1 9th | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3rd | • | • | • | • | 2 | 17 | |
Ukraine[3] | Part of Soviet Union | × | • | • | QF 8th | • | • | • | 1 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
Wales | × | × | × | • | • | QF 6th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | 18 |
Tournament standings
Team | Champions | Finals | Semifinals | Quarterfinals | 2nd Round |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany[1] | 4 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 9 |
Italy | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
France | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
England | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 |
Spain | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
Netherlands | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Hungary | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Czech Republic[4] | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Sweden | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
Croatia[2] | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Serbia[2] | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
Belgium | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
Austria | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Portugal | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Poland | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Russia[3] | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Turkey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Denmark | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Republic of Ireland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Romania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Northern Ireland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Ukraine[3] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
East Germany[1] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Norway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Slovakia[4] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
- Quarterfinals = knockout round of 8: 1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present; second group stage, top 8: 1974–1978
- 2nd Round = second group stage, top 12: 1982; knockout round of 16: 1986–present
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.
Results through World Cup 2018
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany[1] | 109 | 67 | 20 | 22 | 226 | 125 | +101 | 222 |
Italy | 83 | 45 | 21 | 17 | 128 | 77 | +51 | 156 |
France | 66 | 34 | 13 | 19 | 120 | 77 | +43 | 115 |
England | 69 | 29 | 21 | 19 | 91 | 64 | +27 | 108 |
Spain | 63 | 30 | 15 | 18 | 99 | 72 | +27 | 105 |
Netherlands | 50 | 27 | 12 | 11 | 86 | 48 | +38 | 93 |
Sweden | 50 | 19 | 13 | 18 | 80 | 71 | +9 | 70 |
Belgium | 48 | 20 | 9 | 19 | 68 | 72 | -4 | 69 |
Russia[3] | 45 | 19 | 10 | 16 | 77 | 54 | +23 | 67 |
Serbia[2] | 46 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 66 | 63 | +3 | 62 |
Poland | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 46 | 45 | +1 | 53 |
Hungary | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 87 | 57 | +30 | 48 |
Portugal | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 48 |
Switzerland | 37 | 12 | 8 | 17 | 50 | 64 | -14 | 44 |
Czech Republic[4] | 33 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 47 | 49 | -2 | 41 |
Austria | 29 | 12 | 4 | 13 | 43 | 47 | -4 | 40 |
Croatia[2] | 22 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 34 |
Denmark | 19 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 29 | 25 | +4 | 31 |
Romania | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 30 | 32 | -2 | 29 |
Scotland | 23 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 25 | 41 | -16 | 19 |
Bulgaria | 26 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 22 | 53 | -31 | 17 |
Turkey | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 16 |
Republic of Ireland | 13 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 14 |
Northern Ireland | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 23 | -10 | 14 |
Norway | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 9 |
East Germany[1] | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
Greece | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 20 | -15 | 8 |
Ukraine[3] | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 7 |
Wales | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
Slovakia[4] | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 4 |
Slovenia[2] | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 4 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
Israel | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 2 |
Iceland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 1 |
- Breakdown of successor teams
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Czechoslovakia (1930–1994) | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 44 | 45 | -1 | 38 |
Czech Republic (since 1998) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 3 |
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany (1930–1938) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 10 |
West Germany (1950–1990) | 62 | 36 | 14 | 12 | 131 | 77 | +54 | 122 |
Germany (since 1994) | 41 | 28 | 5 | 8 | 81 | 35 | +46 | 89 |
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soviet Union (1930–1990) | 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 (1930–1938) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 |
Yugoslavia (1950–1990) | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 48 | 35 | +13 | 43 |
FR Yugoslavia (1994–2002) | 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 |
Appearances
Ranking of teams by number of appearances
Team | Appearances | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best result (* = hosts) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany[1] | 19 | 17 | 17 | 1934 | 2018 | Champions (1954, 1974*, 1990, 2014) |
Italy | 18 | 14 | 0 | 1934 | 2014 | Champions (1934*, 1938, 1982, 2006) |
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) |
Serbia[2] | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1930 | 2018 | Fourth place (1930,[10] 1962) |
Sweden | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1934 | 2018 | Runners-up (1958*) |
Switzerland | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1934 | 2018 | Quarterfinals (1934, 1938, 1954*) |
Russia[3] | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1958 | 2018 | Fourth place (1966) |
Netherlands | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1934 | 2014 | Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010) |
Hungary | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1934 | 1986 | Runners-up (1938, 1954) |
Czech Republic[4] | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1934 | 2006 | Runners-up (1934, 1962) |
Scotland | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1954 | 1998 | Round 1 |
Poland | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1938 | 2018 | Third place (1974, 1982) |
Portugal | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1966 | 2018 | Third place (1966) |
Bulgaria | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1962 | 1998 | Fourth place (1994) |
Romania | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1930 | 1998 | Quarterfinals (1994) |
Austria | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1934 | 1998 | Third place (1954) |
Croatia[2] | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1998 | 2018 | Runners-up (2018) |
Denmark | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1986 | 2018 | Quarterfinals (1998) |
Norway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1938 | 1998 | Round 2 (1998) |
Northern Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1958 | 1986 | Quarterfinals (1958) |
Republic of Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1990 | 2002 | Quarterfinals (1990) |
Greece | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1994 | 2014 | Round 2 (2014) |
Turkey | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1954 | 2002 | Third place (2002) |
Slovenia[2] | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2002 | 2010 | Round 1 |
Iceland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2018 | 2018 | Round 1 |
Wales | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1958 | 1958 | Quarterfinals (1958) |
Israel | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1970 | 1970 | Round 1 |
East Germany[1] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1974 | 1974 | Round 2 (top 8) (1974) |
Ukraine[3] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2006 | 2006 | Quarterfinals (2006) |
Slovakia[4] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2010 | 2010 | Round 2 (2010) |
Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2014 | 2014 | Round 1 |
- Breakdown of successor teams
Team | # of appearances | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Czechoslovakia (1930–1994) | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1934 | 1990 | Runners-up (1934, 1962) |
Czech Republic (since 1998) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2006 | 2006 | Round 1 |
Team | # of appearances | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soviet Union (1930–1990) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1958 | 1990 | Fourth place (1966) |
Russia (since 1994) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1994 | 2018 | Quarterfinals (2018*) |
Team | # of appearances | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best result (* = hosts) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany (1930–1938) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1934 | 1938 | Third place (1934) |
West Germany (1950–1990) | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1954 | 1990 | Champions (1954, 1974*, 1990) |
Germany (since 1994) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1994 | 2018 | Champions (2014) |
Team | # of appearances | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yugoslavia (1930–1990) | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1930 | 1990 | Fourth place (1930,[10] 1962) |
FR Yugoslavia (1994–2002) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1998 | 1998 | Third place (1998) |
Serbia and Montenegro (2006) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2006 | 2006 | Round 1 |
Serbia (since 2010) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2010 | 2018 | Round 1 |
Team debuts
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.
Year | Debutants | Total |
---|---|---|
1930 | Belgium, France, Romania, Yugoslavia[2] | 4 |
1934 | Austria, Czechoslovakia,[4] Germany,[1] Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland |
9 |
1938 | Norway, Poland | 2 |
1950 | England | 1 |
1954 | Scotland, Turkey | 2 |
1958 | Northern Ireland, Soviet Union,[3] Wales | 3 |
1962 | Bulgaria | 1 |
1966 | Portugal | 1 |
1970 | Israel# | 1 |
1974 | East Germany[1] | 1 |
1978 | 0 | |
1982 | 0 | |
1986 | Denmark | 1 |
1990 | Republic of Ireland | 1 |
1994 | Greece | 1 |
1998 | Croatia[2] | 1 |
2002 | Slovenia[2] | 1 |
2006 | Ukraine[3] | 1 |
2010 | Slovakia[4] | 1 |
2014 | Bosnia and Herzegovina[2] | 1 |
2018 | Iceland | 1 |
Total | 34 |
- *This total number of UEFA teams which have participated in the World Cups through 2018 is 34, 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).
- #Israel represented AFC in the 1970 tournament.
Never qualified
22 of the 55 active FIFA and UEFA members have never qualified for the final tournament.
- Legend
- • — Did not qualify
- × — Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
- — Not affiliated in FIFA
Country | Number of Qualifying attempts |
1930 |
1934 |
1938 |
1950 |
1954 |
1958 |
1962 |
1966 |
1970 |
1974 |
1978 |
1982 |
1986 |
1990 |
1994 |
1998 |
2002 |
2006 |
2010 |
2014 |
2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luxembourg | 20 | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
Finland | 18 | × | × | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • |
Cyprus | 15 | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
Albania | 12 | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | × | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |
Malta | 12 | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||
Estonia | 9 | × | • | • | part of USSR | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||
Lithuania | 9 | × | • | • | part of USSR | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||
Faroe Islands | 7 | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
Latvia | 7 | × | × | × | part of USSR | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||
San Marino | 7 | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
Armenia | 6 | part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
Azerbaijan | 6 | part of USSR | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||
Belarus | 6 | part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
Georgia | 6 | part of USSR | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||
Kazakhstan | 6 | part of USSR | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||
member of AFC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Liechtenstein | 6 | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||
North Macedonia | 6 | part of Yugoslavia | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||
Moldova | 6 | part of USSR | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||
Andorra | 5 | × | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||||
Montenegro | 3 | part of Yugoslavia | Serbia and Montenegro | • | • | • | ||||||||||||||||
Gibraltar | 1 | part of England[11] | • | |||||||||||||||||||
Kosovo | 1 | part of Yugoslavia | Serbia and Montenegro | Serbia[12] | • | |||||||||||||||||
Saar | 1 | part of Germany | × | • | part of West Germany and Germany | |||||||||||||||||
Footnotes
- In 1982, the second round featured 12 teams from which only 4 advanced to the semi-finals (top 4).
Notes
- Germany (since 1949 officially Federal Republic of Germany) is since 1904 represented by the same governing body (Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB)). After World War II and the division of Germany, the DFB was only re-admitted to FIFA after the 1950 WC, while Saar (until 1956) and East Germany (until 1990) fielded teams of their own before (re-)joining (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 1954-1990, when the team was often called West Germany.
- 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 by the secession of many of its constituent republics in 1992. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia qualified once in 1998 under the name Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro qualified once in 2006 after a name change in 2003. All these teams are considered the predecessor of the current Serbia team by FIFA. The other national teams which resulted from the breakup of the original Yugoslavia — Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and FYR Macedonia — are considered distinct entities from the Yugoslavia team of 1930–1990. Montenegro and Kosovo now also compete separately after independence in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2010, Serbia debuted at the FIFA World Cup with their own national team.
- 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.
- 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.
- "FIFA World Cup Statistical Overview (page 4)" (PDF). Retrieved May 17, 2006.
- Seeding of national teams (PDF). Accessed 12 September 2016.
- Austria qualified in 1938, but withdrew to play as part of Germany after being annexed.
- Israel competed as Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) in 1934 and in 1938, with a team consisting exclusively of Jewish and British footballers from the Palestine Mandate.
- Republic of Ireland competed as the Irish Free State in 1934 and then as Ireland in 1938 and 1950.
- There was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. Currently, FIFA recognizes USA as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
- The Gibraltar Football Association was affiliated to the Football Association (of England) between 1909 and 2013, when the GFA became full members of UEFA. The GFA became full members of FIFA in 2016.
- The Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 113 UN member states. Prior to the admission of Kosovo into UEFA and FIFA, Kosovo was recognised as part of Serbia by these organisations.