Emeka Nweze
The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of all football competitions and the most watch sport competition in the world, every country and player in the world dream of making at least one appearance.
Unfortunately getting a ticket is not easy, national teams have to go through rounds of qualifying matches to be part of the 32 teams. Some countries like Brazil, Italy, Argentina and France are known for not just their multiple appearances, but their victories, but not every country has had such luck.
Several countries, despite their continuous attempts have failed to qualify for the major competition and below are the most notorious ones.
1. Luxembourg
20 Attempts
The Luxembourg national football team is the national football team of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is the nation with the most qualifying campaigns in both of these competitions without ever making it to the finals. The team has participated in every FIFA World Cup qualifiers since 1934.
2. Finland
19 Attempts
The Finland national football team represents Finland in men’s international football competitions and it is controlled by the Football Association of Finland. The team has been a member of FIFA since 1904 and UEFA member since 1957 but has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals. Their first major tournament qualification came in 2020, for the 2020 European Championship which has since been been postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Curaçao/Netherlands Antilles national team
16 Attempts
The Netherlands Antilles national football team was the national team of the former Netherlands Antilles and was controlled by the Nederlands Antilliaanse Voetbal Unie. The Netherlands Antilles team never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. The country managed to come third in the CONCACAF championships of 1963 and 1969.
4. Guatemala
15 Attempts
The Guatemala national football team represents Guatemala in men’s international football. It was founded in 1919 and has been a member of FIFA since 1946. The team has made three Olympic tournament appearances, won the 1967 CONCACAF Championship and the 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup but have never qualified for the finals tournament of the World Cup.
5. Cyprus
15 Attempts
The Cyprus national football team represents Cyprus in international football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association, the governing body for football in Cyprus. Cyprus’ home ground is the GSP Stadium in Nicosia and the current coach is Johan Walem. The nation has never qualified for a FIFA World Cup in 15 attempts.
6. Syria
14 Attempts
The Syria national football team represents Syria in association football and is controlled by the Syrian Arab Federation for Football, the governing body for football in Syria. Syria has never qualified for the World Cup finals but did reach the fourth qualification round in 2018.
7. Suriname
14 Attempts
The Suriname national football team represent Suriname in international football. Their forst attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup came in 1962 and since then they’ve made 14 attempts, falling short everytime.
8. Zambia
13 Attempts
The Zambia national football team, nicknamed Chipolopolo, the “Copper Bullets” has three Africa Cup of Nations final appearances to its credit, winning the 2012 tournament with victory over Ivory Coast in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations final. The team has however never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals in 13 attempts.
9. Venezuela
13 Attempts
The Venezuela national football team represents Venezuela in men’s international football. The team is nicknamed La Vinotinto because of the traditional burgundy color of their shirts. As of 2018, they are the only CONMEBOL side to have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, having tried 13 times.
