The Qatar 2022 FIFAWorld Cup will be the 22nd edition of the international men’s football tournament held every four years, which will be contested by national teams from FIFA’s member organizations. From November 20to December 18, 2022, it will be held in Qatar. This will be the first World Cup to be hosted in the Arab world, and the second World Cup to be held fully in Asia, following the 2002 event in South Korea and Japan.
The tournament will also be the last to include 32 teams, with the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada expected to have 48 teams. Because of the extreme heat in Qatar during the summer, the World Cup will be held from late November to December, which means that it will be the first edition not hosted in the summer.France are the reigning champions having won the 2018 edition in Russia.
TheWorld Cup is, without a doubt, the world’s most important and thrilling athletic event. It is regarded as the peak of international football by many players from all around the world. Many nations from all around the world qualified for this soccer extravaganza. Others, however, have not been so fortunate. Take a look at the top 5 countriesthat have never qualified for the World Cup.
5 countries to have never qualified for theWorld Cup
India
India is the most populous country to have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, having managed to fail in eight attempts. With 1.382 billion people, India is by far the most populous country yet to earn a spot attheworld’s most prestigious soccer event. India qualified for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, three years after becoming an independent nation,primarily as a result of the withdrawal of all other Asian nations.
However, as luck would have it, theywereforced to withdraw due to a lack of funds to cover the costs of flying to Brazil. The cricket-crazed country has only won 11 of 51 qualifying matches since 1986. Their best qualification performance was in 2002, when they won three out of six games, possibly due to the smaller pool of teams due to the joint hosting ofSouth Korea and Japan.
Finland
Finland havehad a total of 19 chances to qualify for the tournament. Theirqualification troubles seemed to have been solved in the 2000s by hiring Roy Hodgson as manager. The Englishmanwas the driving force behind the Nordic team’s unprecedented 30th place finish.They have never been able to match this rating. They may have a serious chance of qualifying if they are able to go for another elite manager.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg have competed in an incredible20 European World Cup Qualifiers, from 1934 to 2018, but havenever managed to secure a place at theWorld Cup. Their first attempt took place in 1934, following the inaugural World Cup, while the most recent effort took place in 2018.One of the reasons they have consistently failed to qualify is a lack of experienced and great players who can rally the team when it is most needed. In addition, the strikers have failed to produce. They only managed to score eight goals in their most recent qualification effort, in 2018.
Venezuela
They are the only South American team that hasnever advanced to the World Cup, in spite of giving it a try 13 times so far. Venezuela used to complete full qualifying tournaments without winning, but it hasn’t happened since 1998. The national team has only lately discovered incentives to boost player development and fan support, thanks to the growing popularity of the World Cup in countries where football is not the predominant sport. Venezuela is rated 25th on the FIFA World Ranking as of December 2019, the highest-ranking of any side that has yet to qualify for the World Cup.
Syria
With 14 qualifying tries, Syria area pleasant surprise who are yet to show up at the World Cup.Despite the country’s political volatility, the most recent chance came in 2018. Even more shocking is that the only time they have ever come close to qualifying for the finals was for the previous World Cup in Russia. After being barred from playing home games within the country, the war threatened to ruin their qualifying bid. They would have been disqualified if Malaysia hadn’t offered them a place to stay.
Complete list of teams to have never qualified for theWorld Cup
| FIFA Confederation | FIFA Nations |
| UEFA | Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino |
| CONCACAF | Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Republic of Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname |
| CONMEBOL | Venezuela |
| CAF | Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Djibouti, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| AFC | Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Bhutan, Cambodia, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Palestine, Singapore, Syria, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Tajikistan, East Timor, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen |
| OFC | Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, American Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu |
