Suriname & Curaçao also coming?
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Many people know the small islands of Cape Verde off the west coast of Africa primarily as a holiday destination, as tourism on the archipelago has boomed in recent years. But the country rarely makes headlines because of its sporting successes – until now. Cape Verde is now the second smallest nation ever to take part in a World Cup after beating Eswatini 3-0 in the final qualifying game. With this win, the Blue Sharks secured first place in their group ahead of continental heavyweights Cameroon and thus a ticket to the 2026 finals.
Cape Verde gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and attempted to qualify for a World Cup for the first time in 2002. But it was only now that the big coup was achieved, which triggered scenes of celebration in the 15,000-seat national stadium. With only 525,000 inhabitants There has only been one smaller country in the history of the World Cup. Transfermarkt looks at the ten smallest nations that have taken part in a World Cup since 1950, based on the countries’ population at the time. Each nation was only considered once with the lowest score.
Iceland is at the top of these statistics. The island state in the far northwest of Europe took part in a World Cup for the first and only time in its history in 2018. At this point the country had 352,000 inhabitants. Although the Icelanders were eliminated after the group stage, they were able to score a point against Argentina captained by Lionel Messi.
Behind the new runner-up Cape Verde is the Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago, which took part in the summer fairy tale in Germany in 2006. The population at that time: 1.3 million. But for the Soca Warriors it was already over again after the group phase. Northern Ireland have been able to celebrate a World Cup ticket three times so far, and in 1958 they even made it to the quarter-finals – which was what they were back then 1.4 million inhabitants should have pleased.
The other places below the limit of 2 million inhabitants are Paraguay (1.5 million1950), Kuwait (1.7 million1982) and the United Arab Emirates (1.9 million1990). Above this mark are Slovenia (2 million2002), Uruguay (2.2 million1950) and Jamaica (2.6 million1998). Particularly noteworthy here is Uruguay, which was crowned world champion for the second time in its history in 1950.
So far, 28 of 48 tickets for the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the USA have been allocated. In addition to Cape Verde, there could be other big surprises that could also cause changes in this ranking. This is how Suriname was recently (634,000 inhabitants) and Curaçao (156,000 inhabitants) were well in the race in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, but stumbled recently. Suriname only managed a 1-1 draw in Panama, the same result in Curaçao against Trinidad and Tobago. Jamaica overtook coach Dick Advocaat’s team, while Suriname remains tied for first place with Panama. Only the top teams in the table qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup; the two best runners-up in the three groups have to go to the play-offs.