The draw for the 2026 World Cup, the biggest edition of the tournament yet, takes place on Friday in Washington, D.C..
Forty-eight teams will compete in next summer’s competition in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 42 of them having already qualified.
The remaining six spots will be determined by the European and inter-confederation play-offs in March, with 22 sides still battling for a place at the tournament.
Here, The Athletic has come up with an eclectic mix of facts, stats and pieces of trivia about each of the 64 teams in the draw.
Albania (European play-offs)
Albania’s all-time top scorer is Erjon Bogdani, with 18 goals. This is the lowest record goalscoring total of any European team in the draw for the 2026 World Cup.
Algeria
Algeria’s first appearance at the World Cup came in 1982 when it was eliminated in the first group stage following the ‘Disgrace of Gijon’, when West Germany and Austria contrived to produce a 1-0 win for the former in the knowledge the result would see them both through to the next round — at Algeria’s expense. As a consequence, the final matches in the World Cup group stage now always kick off at the same time.
Argentina
The only man to score a hat-trick at two World Cups is Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta, doing so in 1994 and 1998. Both were scored on June 21, both were against World Cup debutants (Greece in 1994 and Jamaica in 1998) and both were completed with a penalty.
Australia
Australia is the country with the lowest population density (a measure of how crowded a place is) to play at the World Cup — Mongolia is the only nation with a lower figure and it has never been close to qualifying. The Netherlands is the country with the highest population density to have appeared at the tournament.
Austria
Austria has played the most games at the World Cup without ever drawing 0-0.
Belgium
The earliest-born player to be in a World Cup squad is the Belgian Jean De Bie. The goalkeeper, who was born in 1892, went to the first World Cup in 1930 at the age of 38.
Bolivia (inter-confederation play-offs)
Bolivia has only played at three World Cups before, with one of them being the first tournament in 1930. Of the 13 sides that contested that inaugural edition, Bolivia is the only one that has played at fewer than five World Cups overall.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (European play-offs)
The records for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most-capped player, all-time top scorer, oldest player and longest career are all held by current captain Edin Dzeko. The 39-year-old has 146 caps, has scored 72 goals and made his debut in June 2007.
Brazil
Record five-time champion Brazil is the only team to have played at every World Cup.
Canada
Canada is hosting 13 games at next summer’s tournament, with seven of them at BC Place in Vancouver. These will be the furthest west any World Cup fixtures have been played. The furthest north the World Cup has gone is Sandviken in Sweden in 1958, the furthest east is Sapporo in Japan in 2002 and the furthest south is Mar del Plata in Argentina in 1978.
Cape Verde
The 26 individuals in Cape Verde’s most recent squad play their club football at 26 different sides in 14 different countries. The countries are: Portugal (seven players), Israel, Turkey (both three), Bulgaria, Cyprus (both two), Brazil, Finland, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and Wales (all one).
Colombia
Colombia was due to host the World Cup in 1986 but had to pull out for economic reasons. The tournament was given to Mexico instead.
Croatia
Croatia, which today has a population of under four million people, has competed in six World Cups since gaining independence from Yugoslavia and has finished in the top three in half of them.
Croatia at the World Cup
YearPerformance
1998
Third place
2002
Group stage
2006
Group stage
2014
Group stage
2018
Second place
2022
Third place
Curacao
Curacao is the smallest team by both population and physical size to ever qualify for the World Cup. Its population of around 185,000 is similar to Elk Grove — the 26th-biggest city in California. And with an area of 444km² Curacao could have fitted into the Soviet Union — the largest country to play at the World Cup — 50,455 times.
Smallest teams by population to reach World Cup
TeamWorld CupPopulation
Curacao
2026
185,000
Iceland
2018
350,000
Cape Verde
2026
525,000
Paraguay
1930
850,000
Trinidad and Tobago
2006
1.3 million
Czech Republic (European play-offs)
Playing as Czechoslovakia in 1934, the team contested the first World Cup final to go to extra time — losing to hosts Italy 2-1 in the showpiece in Rome. It was the only World Cup final before 1966 to require an additional 30 minutes.
Denmark (European play-offs)
Among men to have scored 50 international goals, the player with the best goals-per-game average is Denmark’s Poul Nielsen. He scored 52 times in 38 international appearances — an average of 1.37 per game. Nielsen played for Denmark from 1910 to 1925.
DR Congo (inter-confederation play-offs)
DR Congo (then called Zaire) lost 9-0 to Yugoslavia at the 1974 World Cup, the joint-biggest defeat in the tournament’s history.
Ecuador
Ecuador is the ninth and most recent member of the 10-team South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL) to make its debut at the World Cup, doing so in 2002. Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay all played in the inaugural edition in 1930 and Colombia first appeared in 1962. Venezuela, meanwhile, is yet to qualify.
Egypt
Egypt had to withdraw from the inaugural World Cup in 1930 after missing their boat to Uruguay as a result of a storm in the Mediterranean.
England
England has used 472 players overall since winning the World Cup in 1966. Their best performance in the competition since then is fourth, in 1990 and 2018.
France
The first World Cup goal was scored by Frenchman Lucien Laurent in 1930 against Mexico.
Germany
German Miroslav Klose holds the record for the most goals scored at the World Cup (16). He scored five in 2002 and 2006, four in 2010 and two in 2014. All 16 came from inside the penalty box.
Ghana
Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan holds the unwanted record (along with Lionel Messi) of missing the most penalties at the World Cup (excluding shootouts), with two. Gyan missed against the Czech Republic in 2006 and Uruguay in 2010. Messi failed from the spot against Iceland in 2018 and Poland in 2022.
Haiti
Haiti’s only previous World Cup appearance was in 1974. It conceded 14 goals at the tournament, which is the joint-most by any team to have played at just one World Cup — along with DR Congo (then Zaire), also in 1974.
Iran
The latest goal scored in regular time at the World Cup was by Iran’s Mehdi Taremi against England in 2022 — he netted in the 103rd minute.
Iraq (inter-confederation play-offs)
Iraq is one of five countries to play at the World Cup with just four letters in its name, along with Peru (debut in 1930) Cuba (1938), Iran (1978) and Togo (2006). The only time Iraq has played at the tournament is in 1986.
Italy (European play-offs)
Italy was the first country to retain the World Cup, winning on home soil in 1934 and then in France in 1938. Only Brazil (1958 and 1962) has replicated the feat.
Ivory Coast
Despite their football team being nicknamed ‘The Elephants’, there are 37 countries in the world with more elephants than Ivory Coast.
Jamaica (inter-confederation play-offs)
Jamaica is the smallest country by area to score a goal at the World Cup, finding the net three times at the 1998 edition. The Caribbean nation is smaller than 48 of the 50 U.S. states (bigger than just Delaware and Rhode Island).
Japan
Japan, alongside South Korea, became the first country to co-host the World Cup in 2002. The 2026 edition will be the second World Cup with more than one host nation (and the first with three).
Jordan
Debutants Jordan’s qualification for the 2026 tournament leaves India as the only country containing one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, voted for by the public and announced in 2007, never to have reached the World Cup. Mexico (Chichen Itza), Brazil (Christ the Redeemer) and Peru (Machu Picchu) all first played in 1930, Italy (Colosseum) in 1934 and China (Great Wall of China) in 2002. Jordan’s Wonder is Petra, while India’s is the Taj Mahal.
Kosovo (European play-offs)
Kosovo is the only one of the 64 teams in the 2026 World Cup draw to have never played at a major tournament before (World Cup or main continental championship).
Mexico
Mexico will become the first country to host the World Cup three times, after also doing so in 1970 and 1986.
Diego Maradona (1986, pictured) and Pele (1970) both won the World Cup in Mexico (Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
Morocco
Morocco is the only African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, doing so in 2022 following victory against Portugal in the quarter-finals.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is the team to have played in the World Cup final the most times without ever winning the competition (they reached that stage in 1974, 1978 and 2010).
New Caledonia (inter-confederation play-offs)
There are more parrots than footballers in New Caledonia.
New Zealand
Despite going out in the first round, New Zealand was the only unbeaten team at the 2010 World Cup, drawing 1-1 with both Slovakia and defending champions Italy and 0-0 with Paraguay to finish third in the group.
North Macedonia (European play-offs)
If North Macedonia qualify for the 2026 edition, it will be the eighth team with a cardinal direction in its name to play at the World Cup — after North Korea, Northern Ireland, Dutch East Indies, East Germany, South Korea, South Africa and West Germany.
Northern Ireland (European play-offs)
The youngest player to appear at the World Cup is Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside, who featured at the age of 17 years and 41 days old in 1982.
Norway
Norway is the only country that Brazil has played and never beaten. The teams have met four times: a friendly in 1988 (draw), a friendly in 1997 (Norway won), in the group stage at the 1998 World Cup (Norway won) and a friendly in 2006 (draw).
Panama
The Panama Canal opened in the same year that the United States men’s team joined FIFA (1914) and its expansion opened in the same year that the U.S. hosted Copa America, South America’s continental tournament, for the first time (2016).
Paraguay
The 2026 World Cup will be Paraguay’s first without Denis Caniza playing since 1986. The full-back appeared at the tournament in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010, the four most recent editions Paraguay has competed at (and the only ones since 1986).
Poland (European play-offs)
Three goalkeepers have saved two penalties in one World Cup (excluding shootouts), and two of them did so for Poland — Jan Tomaszewski in 1974 and Wojciech Szczesny in 2022. The other keeper to achieve the feat is USA’s Brad Friedel in 2002, with the American’s second penalty save coming against Poland.
Portugal
In the 73 years before Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut, Portugal played at just three World Cups (1966, 1986 and 2002), but during his international career (2003 onwards) it has reached the tournament six times (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026).
Qatar
Qatar, where the 2022 tournament was played, is one of three teams whose World Cup debut has come while also being the host nation — along with Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934. Unlike those two teams, however, Qatar did not win the tournament in question.
Republic of Ireland (European play-offs)
The only time in the history of the World Cup that lots have been drawn was in 1990, when the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands finished with identical records in the group stage. Irish luck pulled through and Jack Charlton’s team were awarded second place, with the Netherlands in third. Both sides still went through to the round of 16 (the Dutch as one of the best third-placed teams), where the Republic of Ireland beat Romania on penalties and the Netherlands lost to West Germany. This was before fair-play points were introduced as an extra group-stage tie-breaker.
Romania (European play-offs)
The lowest-attended World Cup game involved Romania, with their 3-1 victory against Peru in 1930 watched by an estimated 300 people at Montevideo’s now-demolished Estadio Pocitos. That match also featured the World Cup’s first red card — with Placido Galindo dismissed for the South American team.
Saudi Arabia
Eighteen men have played for Saudi Arabia 100 times or more, with no country having produced more international centurions (Mexico and Bahrain also have 18).
Scotland
Scotland is the team that has played at the World Cup the most times without ever getting past the first round, having been eliminated in the group stage in all eight of their appearances at the competition.
Senegal
Senegal is the only team to be eliminated from the World Cup as a result of fair-play points. In 2018, the west African side and Japan finished with identical records in the group stage, but Senegal had picked up more yellow cards so were knocked out.
Slovakia (European play-offs)
Slovakia is the last debutant to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup, doing so in 2010; losing to the Netherlands in the round of 16.
South Africa
South Africa became the first host nation to go out in the first round of the World Cup when eliminated in the group stage in 2010. Qatar became the second in 2022.
South Korea
South Korea has reached the past 11 World Cups (including 2026), the longest active streak of participating at the tournament of any non-European or non-South American side.
Longest active World Cup streaks (including 2026)
TeamConsecutive World CupsLast World Cup missed
Brazil
23
N/A
Germany/West Germany
19
1950
Argentina
14
1970
Spain
13
1974
South Korea
11
1982
Spain
Spain has only ever played in the World Cup semi-finals once — in 2010 when going on to win the tournament.
Suriname (inter-confederation play-offs)
There are more waterfalls than footballers in Suriname.
Sweden (European play-offs)
Sweden was the first host nation to lose in the World Cup final, being defeated by a Pele-inspired Brazil in 1958 in Solna. Brazil, which hosted the 1950 tournament, lost in the decisive game to Uruguay at that edition — but that was not a final, rather their last match of the final group stage.
Switzerland
Switzerland in 2006 is the only instance in the history of the World Cup of a team not conceding a goal. The Swiss kept three clean sheets in the group stage, but were knocked out in the round of 16 after losing a penalty shootout to Ukraine following a 0-0 draw.
Tunisia
In 1978, Tunisia became the first African side to win a game at the World Cup when beating Mexico 3-1 in their opening match.
Turkey (European play-offs)
Turkey has only played at the World Cup twice, but came third in their second appearance in 2002. Every other side to have finished in the top three at the World Cup has played at the tournament at least seven times.
Ukraine (European play-offs)
Ukraine became the first former Soviet republic (excluding Russia) to play at the World Cup when making its debut in 2006.
United States
The first hat-trick at the World Cup was scored by USA’s Bert Patenaude against Paraguay in 1930.
Uruguay
When Uruguay hosted the inaugural tournament in 1930, every game was played in Montevideo — the only time an edition of the World Cup has been held exclusively in one city.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is the first double-landlocked country to reach the World Cup. Liechtenstein is the only other double-landlocked nation in the world.
Wales (European play-offs)
Wales’ participation at the 2022 tournament was their first at the World Cup since 1958, with the 64-year gap the longest between appearances in the competition.
