National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of FIFA. The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 when it was not held due to the Second World War. The competition originally featured 16 teams, and later 24, before settling on its current format of 32 teams starting with the 1998 tournament. Teams initially compete in a group stage, with the final 16 progressing to knockout stages to decide the winner.
As of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 79 national teams have competed at the final tournaments. Brazil are the only team to have appeared in all 21 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 19, Italy in 18, Argentina in 17 and Mexico in 16. To date, eight nations have won the tournament. The inaugural winners in 1930 were Uruguay; the current champions are France. The most successful nation in the competition are currently Brazil, who have won the cup on five occasions. Five teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning, while eleven more have appeared in semi-finals.

Debut of teams

Each successive World Cup has had at least one team appearing for the first time. This table shows the national associations in alphabetical order per year. Teams in parentheses are considered successor teams by FIFA.

* The total number of teams which have participated in the World Cup through 2018 is 79, using FIFA's view on successor teams.

Number of appearances

; Breakdown of successor teams

Team		Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result
	1	1	0	2006	2006
	8	3	0	1934	1990

Team		Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result
	7	7	7	1994	2018
	10	10	0	1954	1990
	1	1	0	1974	1974
	2	2	0	1934	1938

Team		Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result
	4	2	2	1994	2018
	7	4	0	1958	1990

Team		Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best result
	2	1	1	2010	2018
	1	1	0	2006	2006
	1	1	0	1998	1998
	7	4	0	1950	1990
Yugoslavia	1	1	0	1930	1930

Overall team records

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.
Accurate as of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Rank	Team	Part	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1		21	109	73	18	18	229	105	+124	237
2		19	109	67	20	22	226	125	+101	221
3		18	83	45	21	17	128	77	+51	156
4		17	81	43	15	23	137	93	+44	144
5		15	66	34	13	19	120	77	+43	115
6		15	69	29	21	19	91	64	+27	108
7		15	63	30	15	18	99	72	+27	105
8		10	50	27	12	11	86	48	+38	93
9		13	56	24	12	20	87	74	+13	84
10		12	51	19	13	19	80	73	+7	70
11		13	48	20	9	19	68	72	−4	69
12		11	45	19	10	16	77	54	+23	67
13		12	46	18	8	20	66	63	+3	62
14		16	57	16	14	27	60	98	−38	62
15		8	34	16	5	13	46	45	+1	53
16		9	32	15	3	14	87	57	+30	48
17		7	30	14	6	10	49	35	+14	48
18		11	37	12	8	17	50	64	−14	44
19		9	33	12	5	16	47	49	−2	41
20		7	29	12	4	13	43	47	−4	40
21		9	33	11	7	15	40	49	−9	40
22		5	23	11	4	8	35	26	+9	37
23		5	20	9	5	6	30	26	+4	32
24		8	27	7	10	10	30	38	−8	31
25		6	22	9	3	10	32	30	+2	30
26		10	33	8	6	19	37	62	−25	30
27		7	21	8	5	8	30	32	−2	29
28		10	34	6	9	19	34	70	−36	27
29		6	21	6	3	12	23	30	−7	21
30		6	21	5	5	11	20	29	−9	20
31		5	18	5	5	8	19	28	−9	20
32		8	23	4	7	12	25	41	−16	19
33		7	23	4	7	12	18	43	−25	19
34		5	18	5	3	10	21	33	−12	18
35		7	26	3	8	15	22	53	−31	17
36		2	10	5	1	4	20	17	+3	16
37		3	12	4	3	5	13	16	−3	15
38		3	13	2	8	3	10	10	0	14
39		3	13	3	5	5	13	23	−10	14
40		3	10	4	1	5	10	11	−1	13
41		2	8	3	3	2	11	10	+1	12
42		4	13	3	3	7	13	19	−6	12
43		5	16	2	5	9	14	22	−8	11
44		5	16	3	2	11	11	39	−28	11
45		3	9	3	1	5	13	14	−1	10
46		3	9	2	4	3	11	16	−5	10
47		5	15	2	4	9	13	25	−12	10
48		5	15	2	4	9	9	24	−15	10
49		5	16	2	4	10	13	31	−18	10
50		3	8	2	3	3	7	8	−1	9
51		1	6	2	2	2	5	5	0	8
52		3	10	2	2	6	5	20	−15	8
53		1	5	2	1	2	5	7	−2	7
54		1	5	1	3	1	4	4	0	6
55		1	4	1	1	2	5	7	−2	4
56		2	6	1	1	4	5	10	−5	4
57		1	3	1	1	1	5	12	−7	4
58		2	7	1	1	5	6	21	−15	4
59		1	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
60		1	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3
61		2	6	0	3	3	4	14	−10	3
62		3	9	0	3	6	3	14	−11	3
63		1	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
64		1	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	2
65		3	7	0	2	5	5	12	−7	2
66		1	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1
67		1	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4	1
68		1	3	0	1	2	0	4	−4	1
69		3	6	0	1	5	1	20	−19	1
70		1	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0
71		1	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0
72		1	3	0	0	3	0	5	−5	0
73		1	1	0	0	1	0	6	−6	0
74		1	3	0	0	3	2	11	−9	0
74		1	3	0	0	3	2	11	−9	0
76		1	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0
77		1	3	0	0	3	2	14	−12	0
78		1	3	0	0	3	0	14	−14	0
79		2	6	0	0	6	1	22	−21	0

Source:
; Breakdown of successor teams

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
	30	11	5	14	44	45	−1	38
	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
	6	3	1	2	14	13	+1	10
	62	36	14	12	131	77	+54	122
	40	28	5	7	81	33	+48	89

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
	31	15	6	10	53	34	+19	51
	14	4	4	6	24	20	+4	16

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
	3	2	0	1	7	7	0	6
	30	12	7	11	48	35	+13	43
	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7
	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	0
	6	2	0	4	4	7	−3	6

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Results of host nations

Results of defending champions and runners-up

The defending World Cup champions were formerly granted an automatic spot in the Cup finals field. As of the 2006 tournament, this berth is no longer guaranteed. However, no defending World Cup champion has yet failed to qualify.
Automatic berths have never been given for defending World Cup runners-up. Defending runners-up are 15-for-18 in qualification efforts for the following World Cup.

Year	Defending champions	Finish	Defending runners-up	Finish
1934		Did not enter		Round of 16
1938		Champions		Quarter-Final
1950		Group Stage		Did not enter
1954		Fourth Place		Quarter-Final
1958		Fourth Place		Group Stage
1962		Champions		Did not qualify
1966		Group Stage		Did not qualify
1970		Quarter-Final		Third Place
1974		Fourth Place		Group Stage
1978		Round 2		Runners-up
1982		Round 2		Did not qualify
1986		Round of 16		Runners-up
1990		Runners-up		Champions
1994		Quarter-Final		Round of 16
1998		Runners-up		Quarter-Final
2002		Group Stage		Champions
2006		Quarter-Final		Third Place
2010		Group Stage		Group Stage
2014		Group Stage		Third Place
2018		Group Stage		Round of 16
2022		TBD		TBD

Medal table

Results by confederation

AFC

	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Teams	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	5	37
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	1	6
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						0
4th																						1

CAF

	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Teams	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	6	5	5	44
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	0	10
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						0
4th																						0

CONCACAF

	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Teams	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	4	3	4	3	42
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	1	14
Top 8	—	0	1	—	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	5
Top 4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						1
4th																						0

CONMEBOL

	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Teams	7	2	1	5	2	3	5	4	3	4	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	5	6	5	85
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	4	4	2	4	2	3	5	5	4	33
Top 8	—	0	1	—	2	1	2	2	3	2	3	2	2	1	1	2	1	2	4	3	2	35
Top 4	2	0	1	2	1	1	2	0	2	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	2	0	22
Top 2	2	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	14
1st																						9
2nd																						5
3rd																						3
4th																						5

OFC

	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Teams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	4
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Top 8	—	0	0	—	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Top 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1st																						0
2nd																						0
3rd																						0
4th																						0

UEFA

	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	Total
Teams	4	12	12	6	12	12	10	10	9	9	10	14	14	14	13	15	15	14	13	13	14	245
Top 16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	6	6	10	91
Top 8	—	8	6	—	6	7	6	5	4	6	5	10	5	6	7	6	4	6	3	4	6	100
Top 4	1	4	3	2	3	3	2	4	2	3	2	4	3	3	3	3	2	4	3	2	4	60
Top 2	0	2	2	0	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	2	28
1st																						12
2nd																						16
3rd																						17
4th																						15

Droughts

This section is a list of droughts associated with the participation of national football teams in the FIFA World Cups. With the exception of 1942 and 1946, does not include droughts when the tournament was not held due to World War II.

Longest active World Cup appearance droughts

Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance or teams that no longer exist.

Team	Last appearance	WC Missed
	1938	17
	1938	17
	1958	15
	1970	12
	1974	11
	1974	11
	1982	9
	1982	9
	1986	8
	1986	8
	1986	8
	1986	8
	1990	7
	1994	6
	1998	5
	1998	5
	1998	5
	1998	5
	1998	5
	1998	5
	2002	4
	2002	4
	2002	4
	2006	3
	2006	3
	2006	3
	2006	3
	2006	3
	2010	2
	2010	2
	2010	2
	2010	2
	2010	2
	2010	2
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1
	2014	1

Longest World Cup appearance droughts overall

Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance and until the team ceased to exist updated to include qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Team	Prev. appearance	Next appearance	WC Missed
	1938	active	17
	1938	active	17
	1958	active	15
	1970	active	12
	1954	2002	11
	1938	1994	11
	1934	1990	11
	1974	active	11
	1974	active	11
	1966	2010	10
	1950	1994	10
	1950	1990	9
	1982	active	9
	1982	active	9
	1982	2018	8
	1986	active	8
	1986	active	8
	1986	active	8
	1986	active	8
	1974	2006	7
	1954	1986	7
	1990	active	7
	1982	2010	6
	1982	2010	6
	1966	1994	6
	1962	1990	6
	1958	1986	6
	1938	1974	6
	1938	1974	6
	1986	2010	5
	1938	1970	5
	1998	active	5
	1998	active	5
	1998	active	5
	1998	active	5
	1998	active	5
	1998	2018	4
	1978	1998	4
	1978	1998	4
	2002	active	4
	2002	active	4
	1974	dissolved	4
	2002	2018	3
	1994	2010	3
	1986	2002	3
	1982	1998	3
	1954	1970	3
	1934	1958	3
	2006	active	3
	2006	active	3
	2006	active	3
	2006	active	3
	2006	active	3
	2006	2018	2
	2006	2018	2
	1978	1990	2
	1958	1970	2
	2002	2014	2
	1970	1982	2
	1990	2002	2
	1990	2002	2
	1974	1986	2
	1930	1950	2
	1986	1998	2
	1986	1998	2
	1966	1978	2
	1970	1982	2
	1966	1978	2
	1930	1950	2
	1962	1974	2
	1930	1950	2
	1930	1950	2
	2010	active	2
	2010	active	2
	2010	active	2
	2006	2014	1
	2006	2014	1
	2014	active	1
	2002	2010	1
	1982	1990	1
	2014	active	1
	2002	2010	1
	1954	1962	1
	2014	active	1
	1938	1954	1
	2014	active	1
	2014	active	1
	2014	active	1

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