The 10 smallest nations to have qualified for the 2026 World Cup as Curacao make history

The Caribbean island of Curacao has made history by becoming the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup after drawing with Steve McClaren’s Jamaica.

The island, which has a population of 180,000 and is similar to the population of Ipswich or Sunderland, finished top of Group B, but they are not the only relatively small nation to qualify for next summer’s tournaments.

Here are the 10 smallest nations as per population size that will be at the World Cup next year.

10. Paraguay – 7 million

After a 16-year absence, Paraguay will return to the World Cup next summer after taking the final spot in the CONMEBOL qualifiers.

Amazingly, they tied on points with Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil with Ecuador only one point ahead in second.

The country’s best-ever run was the quarter-finals in 2010 and they have already booked their appearance at the 2030 tournament as one of the centenary co-hosts.

9. Norway – 5.6 million

It would have been a shame to have one of the world’s best players miss out, but Erling Haaland ensured Norway would be at the finals for the first time since 1998.

As he usually does, Haaland topped the goalscoring charts in Europe, scoring 16 times in his country’s eight qualifiers, and it is only Norway’s fourth appearance at the World Cup. Their best previous result was the round of 16 in 1998, where they lost to Italy.

8. Scotland – 5.5 million

Hero of Naples Scott McTominay continued to be the man for the big moment as his overhead kick set Scotland on their way to a 4-2 victory over Denmark and ensured they topped Group C.

That win means Scotland will be at the World Cup for the first time since 1998 but the home nation has never progressed out of the group stage.

7. New Zealand – 5.2 million

After reaching the World Cup for the first time in 1982, New Zealand fans were left waiting another 28 years for the next time their country would play at the finals. Thankfully, they have not had to wait so long this time round.

Having previously qualified in 2010, New Zealand will be back for the 2026 tournament after beating New Caledonia in the OFC qualification final.

Chris Wood led the charge, scoring nine goals in the process and topping the goalscoring charts.

6. Panama – 4.5 million

Having qualified for the first time in 2018, Panama are back for another go after topping Group A of the CONCACAF qualifiers.

Their two top goalscorers were José Fajardo and Jose Luis Rodriguez who scored three times each during the qualifying process.

5. Croatia – 3.8 million

One of the biggest overachievers in world football continues to impress as they reached the 2026 tournament.

Croatia have a strong recent history having come third in 2022 and second in 2018 and they dominated Group L of their qualifiers.

Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramarić was their main man, scoring six goals, and don’t forget about the forever-young Luka Modrić.

Should he play next summer, it will be the fifth World Cup for the former Tottenham and Real Madrid man.

Can you name every nation to have qualified for the 2026 World Cup?

4. Uruguay – 3.3 million

Speaking of overachievers, next on the list is Uruguay with the South American country still the smallest to have ever won the tournament.

After missing out in three of the four tournaments from 1994 to 2006, Uruguay have since become a consistent name on World Cup wall charts and have been at the last four editions.

In 2010, Luis Suarez’s famous handball to crush the dreams of Ghana came as Uruguay finished in fourth but their performances have been getting worse as the years have gone on.

In 2026, they will be hoping to recover from a disappointing group-stage exit last time out in Qatar.

3. Qatar – 3.1 million

Plenty of books and news stories have been written about Qatar and the World Cup but while those are all focused on what happened away from the pitch, the 2026 tournament is the first time the team has qualified through playing football.

Qualifying in the AFC is very different from elsewhere, with teams competing in up to three group stages to see who will make it to the tournament.

In the first group stage, Qatar topped it but struggled more in the second, finishing fourth and being forced to go to the next stage, while Iran and Uzbekistan qualified directly.

In that third group stage, Qatar topped a group featuring the UAE and Oman to secure their spot at next summer’s tournament.

2. Cape Verde – 528,000

One of the most remarkable stories of the World Cup qualifiers came in Group D of the CAF where Cape Verde beat Cameroon to top and in doing so, secured a spot at their first tournament.

By land size, the island country off the west coast of Africa is the smallest to ever play at the finals and is the second-smallest in terms of population.

The Dutch-born Dailon Livramento was the star of their qualifiers, scoring four goals to tie Bryan Mbeumo, Vincent Aboubakar and Ezo El Maremi for top scorer, and next summer, they will become the 81st country to play in a World Cup.

1. Curacao – 185,000

A country that has fewer people than Milton Keynes will be at the World Cup for the first time next year after Curaçao shocked Steve McClaren’s Jamaica to top their qualifier group.

Jamaica needed to simply win at home against Curacao, but the 82nd-ranked team in the world held firm for a goalless draw and a result that prompted McClaren to immediately resign.

For Curacao, they become the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup and are led by former Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat.

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