Qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia has reached its half way stage and a lot of surprises are already in store. The fate of giants like the Netherlands and Argentina are still in the balance, whereas minnows like Montenegro, DR Congo and Burkina Faso are in a good position to qualify.
Only Brazil have joined hosts Russia in booking a place in the Finals and the qualification picture will get clearer in the coming months. With FIFA also announcing that the 2026 World Cup will see a 48 nation tournament, it is highly likely that more footballing minnows will get their chance at the World Cup.
So, who are the least likely nations to have played in the World Cup – A South East Asian country ranked outside the top 150 in the FIFA rankings? A Caribbean island nation nicknamed the notorious Reggae Boyz?
Take a look.
#1 Indonesia – 1938
Currently ranked a lowly 175th in the FIFA national team ratings, Indonesia’s fairy tale moment arrived 79 years ago when they became the first Asian side to qualify for a World Cup.
The 1938 World Cup qualification campaign had turned into a farce when most of the South American nations – including defending champions Uruguay and runners-up Argentina – refused to participate as FIFA had reneged on a promise to alternate the World Cup hosting between Europe and South America.
The Second World War was right around the corner when the qualifications came about and the already qualified nation of Austria seized to exist when Nazi Germany annexed it.
Many other nations withdrew from qualification including the likes of Japan and China who were at war with each other as well as Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.This meant that Indonesia – known as the Dutch East Indies then – were the only side left in the Asian qualification draw and when the United States – who were offered a match with the Indies with the winner qualifying for the finals – declined the offer, the Indonesians went through unopposed.
The Asians reached France in a boat, a journey that took several weeks.
Coached by Johan Mastenbroek and having unknown players like Frans Meeng, Mo Heng Tan and Tan Hong Djien, the Dutch East Indies predictably crashed out in the first round of what was then a purely knockout competition. Eventual finalists Hungary would do the honours and the match ended 6-0.
From the team, Mo Heng Tan would be the only player to represent the Dutch East Indies and the independent Indonesia, Tan Hong Djien was so highly rated that he had offers from the likes of Barcelona and Santos to play for them whereas Frans Meeng would be killed in 1944 when Jun’yo Maru, a Japanese Cargo ship was attacked and sunk by a British submarine.
#2 Cuba – 1938
The tiny island nation of Cuba took advantage of the withdrawal of the rest of the Cental/North American nations from the 1938 World Cup in France to qualify unopposed. The Cubans were drawn against a strong Romanian side in the first round.
The plucky Caribbean nation took the lead twice before settling for a 3-3 draw against the Carpathians after extra time. Hector Soccoro (2) and Jose Magrina would be the scorers for Cuba. With no penalty shootouts in practice then, the match was replayed at the Stade Chapou in Toulouse.
Stefan Dobay would give the Romanians a 1-0 advantage at half time, but Soccoro would even things up five minutes after the break.
In the 57th minute, Cuba would score the second past the Romanians and the match would finish in favour of the Americans. The scorer of the second goal is still unknown with many official records contradicting the name of the player as Tomas Fernandez and Carlos Oliveira.
Cuba would face Sweden for a place in the semi-finals, but their luck ran out at the Stade du Fort Carre. Gustav Wetterstrom would score a hattrick in 12 minutes and Harry Andersson would bag a hat-trick of his own as the Swedes brushed aside Soccoro and co. 8-0 to book a semi-final date with Hungary.
#3 El Salvador – 1970 & 1982
With a FIFA ranking of 112, it seems impossible to believe that the Central American nation of El Salvador have qualified for not one, but two FIFA World Cups.
The first was in 1970 and Round 1 of the CONCACAF qualifying saw El Salvador teamed with Dutch Guyana – now Suriname – and the Netherlands Antilles - which ceased to exist in 2010. Los Cuscatlecos would book their place in the second round by winning their first three matches before suffering a humiliating 4-1 defeat at the hands of Dutch Guyana.
The next round would see them sneak past Honduras and the fan unrest during the matches would be the catalyst for the ‘Hundred Days War’ that erupted between the two nations a month later. The final qualifying match against Haiti would also lead to a replay which would see the Salvadoreans book their ticket to Mexico’ 70 with a 1-0 win.
The World Cup would see El Salvador drawn in a group alongside Mexico, Belgium and the Soviet Union. They would lose all their matches, concede nine goals and exit the World Cup in the first round – even though blatant refereeing bias saw the Mexicans score a goal from an El Salvador free kick during their match.
The Salvadoreans would have their revenge in the qualification for the 1982 World Cup, though. The 1981 CONCACAF Championships doubled up as the qualifiers for the ‘82 World Cup in Spain and despite losing to Canada and drawing with Cuba and old foes Honduras, as well as scoring just two goals, El Salvador qualified for the World Cup mostly due to their 1-0 upset victory over Mexico.
Honduras would win the Championship whereas El Salvador would gain the second qualifying spot.
El Salvador would score their first goal of the World Cup in their opening match against the Hungarians courtesy of Luiz Zapata, but the eventual score would be a still-standing World Cup record of 10-1 in favour of the Magyars.
El Salvador would put a more spirited display in their remaining matches (a 1-0 loss to Belgium and a 2-0 loss to Argentina), but would once again exit the World Cup with zero points.
#4 Israel – 1970
Israel Football Team are by no means footballing minnows. They have regularly threatened in European qualifying campaigns, but have never reached the World Cup since 1970. They were represented by the British mandate of Palestine in a World Cup qualifying match against Egypt for the 1934 World Cup which they lost.
From 1954 to 1974, Israel competed in the Asian Football Confederation and came close to qualification in 1958 when the Arab-Israeli conflict saw multiple Muslim countries forfeit their matches with Israel. Israel won the Asia-Africa qualifying stage without playing a single game but lost out on the chance to reach the World Cup after losing a playoff against Wales.
Israel were in the Asia-Oceania qualifier for the 1970 World Cup and reached the playoff against Australia when the 1966 World Cup quarter-finalists North Korea refused to play in Tel-Aviv. Israel would beat Australia 1-0 in Tel-Aviv and draw the return leg 1-1 to book their ticket to the 1970 World Cup.
Israel would give a good account of themselves at the World Cup despite losing their opening match to Uruguay. Mordechai Spiegler scored their only goal in World Cup history in a 1-1 draw with Sweden in the next match.
More history would be made at the Estadio Luis Dosal when the Blue and Whites held eventual finalists Italy to a 0-0 draw before returning home.
#5 DR Congo – 1974
The Democratic Republic of Congo are on course to revisiting their glory days with the Leopards currently heading their African World Cup qualifying group. They were ranked as high as #37 in the FIFA rankings in February and have quite the pedigree, having won the Africa Cup of Nations twice and having qualified for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.
That qualification campaign saw the then Zaire eliminate Togo, Cameroon and Ghana in two-legged matches before routing Morocco and Zambia in the final qualifying round. DR Congo would beat both Morocco and Zambia home and away, achieving a 100% result and scoring six more points than their rivals.
Placed in a tough group involving defending champions Brazil and Yugoslavia, DR Congo did not have a happy World Cup. Beaten 2-0 by Scotland in their opener, the Africans were humiliated 9-0 by the Yugoslavians before losing 3-0 to Brazil in their final match despite a spirited performance.
Despite conceding 14 goals without reply in three games, DR Congo happily hold the record of becoming the first sub-Saharan nation to qualify for the World Cup Finals.
#6 Haiti – 1974
The 1973 CONCACAF Championships doubled up as the 1974 World Cup Qualifiers for the North and Central American regions and the hosts Haiti were considered to be top contenders to go through. The 1970s were the golden age of Haitian football and the team had narrowly missed out on qualification for the 1970 World Cup.
Haiti already had players like Henri Francillon (1860 Munich) and Emmanuel Sanon (Beershot) playing in European leagues and the team was considered to be the strongest in the region after Mexico and arguably, Costa Rica. But the latter did not get through the qualifying stages for the CONCACAF Championships whereas Haiti thrashed Puerto Rico 12-0 on aggregate to reach the main qualifying round.
Mexico’s indifferent form came back to haunt them and when Sanon’s double led to a victory over Guatemala in what would be their fourth straight win in the tournament, Haiti were guaranteed a spot in the World Cup in West Germany.
A 1-0 reverse at the hands of Mexico in the inconsequential final game would not dampen Haitian spirits as they celebrated the CONCACAF Cup victory and a maiden World Cup qualification.
At the World Cups, Haiti were handed a tough group alongside Italy, Argentina and Poland. Sanon would score two goals in the World Cup, but he could not prevent a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of eventual group winners Poland and a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Argentines.
But the greatest moment of Sanon’s career had already come in the opening game against Italy. After a goalless first half, Sanon would beat Dino Zoff to give Haiti a 1-0 advantage. That goal would end Zoff’s record 1142 minute no-goal streak in international matches. Italy would rally to win 3-1, but Haiti had already made their history.
#7 Canada – 1986
Englishman Tony Waiters held the reins as Canadian football reached its peak in the 1980s. Olympic football champions in 1904, Canada had fallen behind the likes of Mexico and Honduras in the CONCACAF region and had never qualified for a World Cup till then.
Waiters oversaw a quiet revolution for the Canucks and they almost qualified for the 1982 World Cup but were denied by a 2-2 draw against Cuba in their final group game. But the Canadians made up for it four years later. Once again the CONCACAF Championships would act as World Cup qualifiers and Canada went past Jamaica, Haiti and a tricky Guatemala to reach the final qualification round featuring Honduras and Costa Rica.
Two draws against Costa Rica meant that if Canada could get a point in their final match against Honduras, they would win the CONCACAF Cup and qualify for the World Cup. At the King George V Park in Newfoundland, the hosts struck first through George Pakos, even though Honduras equalised shortly after the break. A mere two minutes later, Igor Vrabilic scored the winner for the Canucks, sending them to the World Cup in Mexico.
At the World Cup, the Canadians would produce a spirited performance against France in their opener, only to lose to a late Jean-Pierre Papin goal. Further defeats to Hungary and USSR meant that they finished bottom of their group.
#8 Iraq – 1986
Iraq qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico despite being forced to play all their home matches at neutral venues owing to the Iran-Iraq war. The first round of the Asian qualifiers would see Iraq secure their progress after beating Qatar 2-1 in a tense final match at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium.
The second round would see Iraq beating UAE 3-2 at the Al-Rashid stadium in Dubai to gain the advantage and three away goals, but they found themselves seconds away from elimination after falling 2-0 behind in the return leg at the King Fahd Stadium.
Karim Saddam would score the vital goal for Iraq in the last minute of normal time, enabling the Iraqis to scrape through to the playoff against Syria on away goals.
King Fahd Stadium would remain Iraq’s ‘Home’ stadium and the Mesopotamian Lions would seal their berth at the World Cup with a 3-1 win after a 0-0 draw at Damascus.
Iraq would play their hearts out at the World Cup and Ahmed Radhi would score their only goal in a 1-2 reverse at the hands of Belgium. They would lose by single goal margins to Mexico and Paraguay but would return to Baghdad with their heads held high.
#9 The United Arab Emirates – 1990
Brazilian Mario Lobo Zagallo used his World Cup pedigree (2x winner as a player, 1x winner as a manager) to take the United Arab Emirates to Italia 90. UAE were handed a tough group alongside Kuwait in the AFC World Cup qualification stage 1, with Pakistan being the whipping boys.
UAE and Kuwait traded single goal victories, which meant that their performances against Pakistan would determine which team went through.
Pakistan would produce a spirited display in Islamabad, losing to Kuwait by a single goal and only by two goals in Kuwait City. The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, proceeded to thrash Pakistan 9-1 over two legs to proceed to the next round on goal difference.
The 6-nation final round would also involve the likes of South Korea, Saudi Arabia and China and wasn’t expected to be easy for UAE. By the time the final fixtures came about, South Korea had already qualified with UAE a point ahead of China who were, in turn, a point ahead of North Korea and Qatar, with all teams having a chance of progression.
Qatar would crush China’s dreams with two goals in the last three minutes and with North Korea beaten by already eliminated Saudi Arabia, UAE were able to qualify with a plucky 1-1 draw with South Korea.
At the World Cup, UAE would lose all their games and finish bottom of their group – but would score two goals. No matter as it was reported that the UAE Royal family presented the entire team with Rolls Royces for qualifying for the World Cup.
#10 Jamaica – 1998
The Reggae Boyz sure did it the hard way while qualifying for the 1998 World Cup Finals held in France. Needing to traverse two knockout rounds before reaching the CONCACAF qualifying round one, Jamaica never looked convincing against minnows Suriname and Barbados in the home and away legged eliminators.
In the next round, Jamaica were drawn alongside powerhouses Mexico and Honduras but managed a final day victory over already-qualified Mexico to edge past Honduras to reach the final stage.
The fact that Mexico had taken their foot off the pedal during their loss to Jamaica was never more apparent than in the final qualification phase when they thrashed the Boyz 6-0 at the Estadio Azteca. Suddenly the Jamaicans found themselves out of their element, with just two points in four games. Enter England-born striker Deon Burton.
Burton would score the deciding goals in the victories over Costa Rica and Canada as well as the equaliser against the United States and El Salvador. When the final round match against Mexico came about, Jamaica once again found themselves in the familiar position of needing a point against Mexico to ensure qualification at the expense of El Salvador.
Jamaica held on to a 0-0 draw and the United States made matters easier by beating El Salvador in the final game for the Boyz to go through.
The World Cup saw Jamaica being placed in a group along with two other debutants Japan and Croatia as well as favourites Argentina. Robbie Earle would score Jamaica’s first goal at the World Cup in a 1-3 reverse at the hands of Croatia in the opener. A Gabriel Batistuta hat-trick ensured that the Jamaicans were beaten 5-0 by Argentina in their next game.
But a consolation prize awaited the Boyz. Theodore Whitmore scored two goals as the Jamaicans produced the most famous victory in their history as Japan were beaten 2-1 in the final group game.
