Largest Countries Never to Qualify for a FIFA World Cup

What are the most populous countries never to qualify for a men's FIFA World Cup?

Predecessor teams to current nations count as qualified

Population as of 29 August 2025. More info here.

The first answer technically did qualify in a very silly way. Read comments.

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Last updated: August 29, 2025

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First submitted	December 19, 2024
Times taken	26,990
Average score	65.0%
Rating	4.81

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Population	Country
1465 m	India
256 m	Pakistan
176 m	Bangladesh
136 m	Ethiopia
117 m	Philippines
102 m	Vietnam
71.6 m	Thailand
70.9 m	Tanzania
57.7 m	Kenya
54.9 m	Myanmar
51.9 m	Sudan
51.6 m	Uganda
44.0 m	Afghanistan
42.0 m	Yemen
36.0 m	Malaysia
35.8 m	Mozambique
32.9 m	Madagascar
29.6 m	Nepal
28.5 m	Venezuela
28.0 m	Niger

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40 Comments

+43

Level ∞

Aug 29, 2025

So India "qualified" in 1950 when all the other members in their group withdrew.

But then India withdrew as well and never played.

Therefore, we are leaving them on this quiz. Being the last to withdraw isn't really the same as "qualifying" in my estimation.

+10

Level 95

Feb 3, 2025

Nice little quiz, makes you think outside the box a bit

Level 70

Feb 3, 2025

Thanks, I thought so too

Level 55

Feb 3, 2025

The Indian national football team never played in the FIFA World Cup, although they qualified for the 1950 World Cup.

Level 61

Feb 3, 2025

If I recall, we had a really good streak in the 50s, no longer the case :(

Level 32

Aug 5, 2025

I know this is older, but Uzbekistan finally made a world cup since they qualified for 2026! So unless they withdraw, which I don't see happen, they might not be on this quiz much longer.

Level 70

Aug 5, 2025

Excellent, I'll get this updated soon. Thanks for the update

Level 70

Aug 28, 2025

India qualified for the 1950 world cup, but didn't play. They should be at least a given answer

Level 60

Oct 7, 2025

I feel like the 1465 m should be a dead giveaway though, even if you count India's 1950 "qualification".

Level 75

Aug 29, 2025

Didn’t know that China made the World Cup, interesting

Level 90

Aug 29, 2025

Yep. Once, in 2002: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_team_appearances_in_the_FIFA_World_Cup

Level 86

Aug 29, 2025

Under "miracle maker" Bora Milutinović

Level 92

Aug 29, 2025

It's hard to believe any continental Latin American country never having qualified.

Level 90

Aug 29, 2025

In addition to Venezuela on this quiz, Guatemala and Nicaragua also fall into this category.

Level 80

Aug 29, 2025

Venezuela are the only county who play in South American qualifying to never have qualified. Guyana and Suriname haven't qualified either but both play in with the teams in the Caribbean and North and Central America

Level 58

Oct 20, 2025

those also aren't latin american

+11

Level 86

Sep 1, 2025

So, there's a longstanding myth on why India withdrew from the 1950 World Cup that goes like this: "They were not allowed to play barefoot, and thus, withdrew".

I think many football fans have heard this stuff at least once... and it's a complete lie.

They withdrew because they had also qualified for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Although the official explanation was that they didn't have enough money to cover the travel expenses to Brazil and Finland, in reality they just didn't see the World Cup prestigious enough to justify taking part, while the Olympics were... well, the Olympics!

They went to Helsinki and were routed 10-1 by eventual silver medallists Yugoslavia.

Hindsight is 20/20, but oh man! That must be among the top 10 of administrative blunders in the history of football!

Level 81

Sep 2, 2025

Most populous does not mean the same thing as largest.

+10

Level 70

Sep 2, 2025

Correct, "largest" could refer to a number of things which is why greatest population is specified in the quiz instructions

Level 81

Sep 2, 2025

I'll say again, largest does not mean the same thing as most populous. The title is inaccurate or misleading, depending on how you want to look at it and should be changed. Large is an adjective that can refer to size or extent. The title would need to say 'Countries with the Largest Populations' and add the context of population because large does not on its own imply population.

+12

Level 69

Sep 4, 2025

It seems pedantic to insist on this distinction, especially considering there is a limit on characters for quiz titles. The instructions and hints are clear about what we are talking about, and it's perfectly reasonable to use the word "large" to refer to population without having to specify further, given all the context clues. Just let it be

Level 76

Sep 16, 2025

I have to admit, it wasn't until this comment that I realized it was supposed to be about population not about largest countries

Edit: yes I should have read the caveats, most of the time I do, but this one seemed straightforward.

Level 69

Sep 4, 2025

I'm highly impressed that South Sudan already qualified for a spot on the world cup given how new the country is and and all internal problems they have to deal with. Go South Sudan!

Level 69

Sep 4, 2025

Ok, I just read the caveat "Predecessor teams to current nations count as qualified", so nevermind

+10

Level 75

Sep 25, 2025

The population is only 12.7 million

Level 76

Oct 7, 2025

South and Southeast Asia: "We don't care about football!"

East Africa: "I get that"

Level 71

Oct 7, 2025

They actually care a lot about football. They just aren't good at it.

Bangladesh has been attracting some talent recently, most notably Hamza Chowdhury from Leicester City. I have my fingers crossed but I don't think it's quite good enough for a FIFA qualification yet.

Level 76

Oct 7, 2025

From this quiz I learned that Uzbekistan qualified for 2026 World Cup because I was surprised to see them missing from the list.

Level 70

Oct 7, 2025

Yes, they very recently had to be removed from this quiz!

Level 70

Oct 7, 2025

Full marks for The Robbster.

Level 69

Oct 7, 2025

Venezuela had a really good chance to qualify this time

Level 26

Oct 7, 2025

et l'Indonesie?

Level 70

Oct 7, 2025

For the purposes of this quiz predecessor teams count as qualified, and the Dutch East Indies took part in the 1938 World Cup.

Level 48

Oct 8, 2025

An even more interesting way of doing this is to say most populous countries at the time never to qualify...

Level 58

Oct 9, 2025

Indian subcontinent is allergic to catching dubs when it comes to football I guess.

Level 61

Oct 28, 2025

First try, pure guessing 100%

Level 41

Nov 22, 2025

Venezuela :D

Imagine being a South American country and never qualifying for a FIFA World Cup!

Level 49

Jan 7, 2026

Genuinely shocking that Kenya or Tanzania has never qualified for the World Cup.

Level 57

Feb 18, 2026

Not really, neither of them have reached the quarter finals of an AFCON before

Level 73

Feb 26, 2026

I think 'Largest' and 'most populous' are kind of contradictory. I was originally guessing big countries, until I saw the caveats