15 notable nations that missed out on the 2026 World Cup

We’ll start here, because there is a caveat on this one. As recently as 2018, not only was Russia making the quarterfinals, it was the host nation. Then, geopolitics got in the way. Say what you will about the football federations of the world, FIFA included, but when Russia invaded Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA banned Russia from competing. The country was not allowed to even participate in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Italy is one of the most-successful nations on the soccer front, but it is on a staggering run of poor luck when it comes to the World Cup. For the third time in a row, Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup. Yes, Italy, a four-time World Cup champion, hasn’t been in any of the last three World Cups. Making things even more baffling, Italy won the 2020 Euros.

The Super Eagles have not necessarily been one of the best African footballing nations, but they have frequently been in the World Cup, even in the days of fewer competitors. Between 1994 and 2018, Nigeria qualified for every World Cup aside from 2006, making it out of the group stage three times. It was the runner up in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and third in 2025, but Nigeria won’t be in the 2026 World Cup.

Yes, Chile finished last in qualifying down in South America. It didn’t come close to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. However, the World Cup expansion particularly benefited South America, as six of 10 nations automatically qualified and one more went into a playoff. Chile competed in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, so of the South American countries that missed out, it is the most notable.

With the World Cup expanding to 48 teams, and with the United States, Canada, and Mexico the co-hosts, it seemed like Costa Rica would waltz into the tournament. After all, the Central American nation has been in five of the last six World Cups, and it made the quarterfinals in 2014. However, in a surprise as big as Italy missing the tournament, Costa Rica didn’t even get close to making the 2026 World Cup.

There will be no last ride for Robert Lewandowski, one of the best strikers to ever do it. Though Lewandowski is now 37, he’s still a quality goal scorer. He just didn’t have enough around him with Poland, evidently. Poland made it fairly deep into UEFA qualifying, but bowed out after a loss to Sweden in the playoff. Lewandowski, of course, scored five goals in qualifying.

Ten African nations made the World Cup, nine automatic qualifiers and then the Democratic Republic of Congo through the playoff. Only Europe gets more in this new format. As such, Cameroon and Nigeria were the only African nations with any history of international football success to miss out on 2026. Fittingly, they both lost to DR Congo during the CAF playoff. Cameroon has been in three of the prior four World Cups, including 2022.

Asia, though, is the conference that may never miss out on sending a viable footballing nation again. Every Asian nation worth its salt at the sport, and even a couple that aren’t, made it. That’s with Australia also being roped into the AFC, by the way. China has only been to one World Cup but, well, it’s China. It’s the second-most-populous nation in the world, and one that cares about sports. We wanted to include an Asian country here, and this was the best option.

Roy Keane isn’t walking through that door. Hell, Robbie Keane isn’t walking through that door. Ireland got close to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, but though it is close to England (and Scotland, who also qualified) geographically, it does not have the same football history. In fact, Ireland has not qualified for a World Cup since 2002 at this point.

The Reggae Boyz were wearing gorgeous, Bob Marley-inspired kits for World Cup qualifying. Oh, to have seen them at the World Cup. Alas, Jamaica fell just short of its second-ever World Cup. It qualified for the inter-confederation playoff and bested New Caledonia in the semis. However, a DR Congo goal in the 100th minute gave it a 1-0 win, eliminating Jamaica.

The other inter-confederation final loser? That would be Bolivia. Now, Bolivia wasn’t close to automatic qualification, as the six South American nations that qualified did so with ease. It was a real haves-and-have-nots kind of deal. Bolivia, though, qualified for the inter-confederation battle, beat Suriname, and then got to face Iraq for the last spot. Iraq won 2-1, leaving South America to six competing teams.

Russia being banned from the 2026 World Cup has real “worst kind of throwback” vibes to when FR Yugoslavia, the predecessor to Serbia and Montenegro (the predecessor to Serbia) was banned from the 1994 World Cup. Serbia rebounded from that, and it made the prior two World Cups. However, for 2026 Serbia fell two points shy of besting Albania for a playoff spot, so it won’t be three World Cups in a row.

Denmark, who played in the last two World Cups and won Euros in 1992, came achingly close to qualifying for the World Cup. Truly, it doesn’t get much closer than what the Danes did. Denmark made one of the four four-team playoffs for the last UEFA spots. After making short work of North Macedonia it went head-to-head with the Czech Republic (also known as Czechia). The Czechs won in penalties, and Denmark missed out.

Ryan Giggs handed the torch to Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, and Wales made the World Cup in 2022 for the first time since 1958. However, all three of those Welsh icons are now retired. Without a top star, Wales did reasonably well in qualifying, but fell short.

We end with one last European nation because, well, we’ve been out of nations from other federations for a while. The Czechs, as we noted, were one of the last teams in. The neighboring Slovaks, though, couldn’t match them. When Czechoslovakia was an ongoing concern, it was a formidable footballing nation. Prior to 2026, both nations had been to a single World Cup since separating into two nations. Now, with Slovakia falling short in 2026, the Czech Republic is one ahead in that battle.