The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.
The World Cup is about to get even bigger and more diverse. Four first-time participants are joining the World Cup party this summer: Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan. Thanks to the expanded field, 16 more spots were up for grabs during qualifying and these nations grabbed them.
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But the first-time participant party might not stop there. New Caledonia, Suriname, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia are still out to crash the party via the World Cup qualification playoffs later this month.
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Looking back, 80 nations have been involved in World Cups since the very first one in 1930. The highest number of post-World War II debutants at the tournament was six at the 2006 event in Germany. That summer saw Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago and Ukraine play for the first time.
Some countries have been practically permanent fixtures. Brazil has the all-time record having never missed any of the 23 World Cups. Germany is second with 21 appearances followed by Argentina with 19, and Italy and Mexico with 18 each. The United States has featured in seven World Cups, soon to be eight.
World Cup history is full of regulars, debutants and hopefuls. This year, the story gets even bigger.