Which nations will be making their debut at the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Always one of the most exciting aspects of a FIFA World Cup are those nations making their first appearance at the tournament. Uniting the whole country behind their football team as they compete on the world stage against famous footballing giants such as Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England, France and many more.
In this piece, we shine a spotlight on those teams currently guaranteed to be making their debut at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Cabo Verde
An island off the coast of West Africa with an estimated population of just over half a million, Cabo Verde made history on October 13th 2025 by officially booking their place at the World Cup for the first time in their nation’s history. They will become the smallest African country to ever feature in the competition, but this has been a long time coming for the Blue Sharks.
Their qualification was well deserved, winning Group D in the CAF World Cup qualification tournament with 23 points from ten games, seven wins, two draws and just one defeat in all. They finished above previous World Cup participants Cameroon with a 1-0 win against The Indomitable Lions in Praia critical to Cabo Verde’s success.
Curacao
Just over a month after Cabo Verde’s qualification, Curacao sealed their spot at the World Cup for the very first time, the smallest nation ever to do so. A tiny island in the Caribbean, Curacao compete in the CONCACAF region of World Cup qualifying and on November 18th 2025, their place in the main competition was confirmed as Group B winners in the third CONCACAF qualification round.
Curacao are one of a number of teams who benefitted from the World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams and with USA, Canada and Mexico all qualifying automatically as tournament hosts, the road was open for them to make history.
They topped their group with a 100% record in the second qualification round before going through the entire third round unbeaten and topping their group once again, thus claiming one of the three qualification places through that third round.
Jordan
After fighting through a pair of tough AFC qualification rounds, the summer of 2025 was a golden one for Jordan, who celebrated on June 5th after a three-goal victory in Oman confirmed their qualification for the World Cup - their maiden appearance in football’s biggest international event.
Entering the AFC qualification tournament in the second round, Jordan topped their group ahead of Saudi Arabia, winning four of their six games played. The third round saw them locked in a battle with Iraq for the second automatic World Cup qualification place in Group B behind runaway group winners Korea Republic, a battle which Jordan won.
Now Jamal Sellami’s side will head to the USA, Canada and Mexico dreaming big with the eyes of many in West Asia and across the world on Al Nashama.
Uzbekistan
Like Jordan, Uzbekistan also made through the AFC qualification tournament by finishing runners-up in their third round group, thus making history as the first Central Asian nation to reach the World Cup. The White Wolves have come close a number times before, but had never made it to the big dance, until June 5th 2025 when they finally punched their ticket to the USA, Canada and Mexico in summer 2026.
Led by Timur Kapadze, capped 119 times as a player and now serving as head coach, Uzbekistan lost just one of their 16 AFC qualification matches in total. However, they are now under the command of former Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro. The legendary defender took charge as head coach in October 2025 with Kapadze acting as his assistant for two games before leaving the team entirely.
