10 smallest nations to qualify for the 2026 World Cup including greatest minnows ever

Curacao have made history by qualifying for the World Cup next summer, but a small population hasn’t always served as a barrier for some nations, who have been able to make finals in the past

Curacao, an island in the Caribbean, have made history by becoming the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup after drawing with Jamaica, with the stalemate enough to book their ticket to North America.

The nation has less people than Milton Keynes and are clearly punching well above their weight, but they aren’t the first country to far exceed their resources. Curacao will rub shoulders with the likes of England, Brazil and Argentina and few will fancy them to claim a scalp.

But a number of countries in the past have shown that a small population and a small playing pool is no barrier to being immensely competitive on the world stage. In other sports, teams with lesser people to pick from have still been global leaders.

Curacao will head to the World Cup with few, if any, players that fans will recognise. Go back to 2018 and little old Iceland managed to hold Argentina to a draw – they too have a tiny population but still showed they could be competitive.

Here are the smallest nations to have qualified for the World Cup next summer – some of whom could well be part of the latter stages.

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10. Paraguay – 7 million

The South Americans return after a 16-year absence. They were England’s opening game in 2006, losing narrowly, but have shown that their current crop of players are more than able to mix it. They tied on points with Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil. Ecuador in second were only one point ahead in qualifying. They narrowly lost to eventual champions Spain in the quarter-finals back in 2010.

9. Norway – 5.6 million

Fear not, arguably the world’s most prolific striker will be at the World Cup with Erling Haaland’s goals firing his nation to the World Cup. Since he burst onto the scene he’s been absent at major tournaments but there will be no repeat after a stunning qualifying campaign. Haaland topped the goalscoring charts in Europe, scoring 16 times in his country’s eight qualifiers, helping the Norwegians make only their fourth appearance at the World Cup. Their best previous result was the round of 16 in 1998.

8. Scotland – 5.5 million

It was a night to remember for Scotland in Glasgow, who needed to see off Denmark to make the tournament for the first time in 28 years, and did so thanks to two goals in stoppage time. They’ve made successive Euros but had been waiting to make the World Cup but will have the likes of Scott McTominay steering their hopes when they head to North America. They will hope to make history by getting out of the group stage.

7. New Zealand – 5.2 million

Their population has never stopped the All Blacks from ruling the rugby world. However there has been less success in football – they’ve only qualified twice. Once in 1982 and again 2010, where they would remain unbeaten with three draws. Chris Wood led their charge in qualifying, scoring nine goals in the process and topping the goalscoring charts.

6. Panama – 4.5 million

They qualified for the first time in 2018, where they were hammered by England in the group stages, and now Panama are back for another go after topping Group their qualifying group. Their two top goalscorers were José Fajardo and Jose Luis Rodriguez both scored three times.

5. Croatia – 3.8 million

One of the biggest overachievers in world football – they made the semi-finals in 1998 and 2022 as well as the final only eight years ago, losing to France. More recently they had Luka Modric controlling their midfield. His exploits in 2018 landed him the Ballon d’Or and the veteran could play in a fifth World Cup next summer. Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric top scored for them in qualifying.

4. Uruguay – 3.3 million

A population like that and yet they’ve won the World Cup twice – albeit that was in 1930 and 1950. Ever since then though they’ve still produced some stellar showings. In 2010 they made the last four and have had the likes of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani to call upon. Now they are led by ex-Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa, who will hope to have the South Americans primed for next summer.

3. Qatar – 3.1 million

Whilst they were at the last tournament, this time they have qualified on merit. In 2022 they were present by virtue of being the hosts, but made little impact on the pitch. They will hope for a better showing this time having negotiated a lengthy process, which ended with them topping a group featuring the UAE and Oman.

2. Cape Verde – 528,000

If it wasn’t for Curacao they may well have been the headline story. Cape Verde managed to shock Cameroon to top their qualifying group and will make their debut in North America. Based off land size, the island country off the west coast of Africa is the smallest to ever play at the finals and the second-smallest in terms of population.

1. Curacao – 185,000

They landed the draw they needed against Jamaica to ensure they would be at the World Cup. They are ranked 82nd in the goal and their goalless draw led to crazy celebrations. They picked up 12 points from six games in a group that also included Trinidad and Tobago, who were at the 2006 tournament. Curacao kept four clean sheets in their six games.

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