The FIFA World Cup is arguably the most prestigious sporting event in the world. Watched by billions of viewers across multiple continents, the tournament is a bonafide footballing celebration. FIFA has 211 member nations spread across six confederations in various regions across the world.
The World Cup features unique qualification processes in each of its confederations, with each continent hosting an elaborate round of qualifiers before the final 32 teams for the competition are set in stone. While FIFA has reached out to most countries in the world to set up footballing institutions and frameworks, there still remain a few exceptions.
Among the nations that come under FIFA’s umbrella, only the cream of the crop makes it to the World Cup. In addition to its member nations, FIFA also has a few dependent territories as a part of its plans. There are a few countries in the world that cannot join the FIFA World Cup despite being members of the organization.
Countries That Cannot Join FIFA World Cup
There are 19 dependent territories with FIFA-eligible national football teams:
North America & the Caribbean
Anguilla (UK) Aruba (Netherlands) Bermuda (UK) British Virgin Islands (UK) Cayman Islands (UK) Curaçao (Netherlands) Montserrat (UK) Puerto Rico (US) Turks & Caicos Islands (UK) U.S. Virgin Islands (US)
Asia
Hong Kong (China) Guam (US) Macau (China)
Europe
Faroe Islands (Denmark) Gibraltar (UK)
Oceania
American Samoa (US) Cook Islands (New Zealand) New Caledonia (France) Tahiti (France)
There are also a few independent countries that are not FIFA members. These are:
Europe
Monaco United Kingdom (UK) Vatican City
Oceania
Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru Palau Tuvalu
There are ten non-FIFA teams belonging to unrecognized but independently-governed countries. These are:
Abkhazia Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Donetsk People's Republic Kosovo Luhansk People's Republic Northern Cyprus Somaliland South Ossetia Transnistria Western Sahara
Even though they are not members of any significant confederation, a number of other dependent territories and distant islands also have their own national teams. In addition, although not being admitted to FIFA, ten dependent territories and nation subdivisions hold full or associate membership in the continental confederations that are affiliated with FIFA. These are:
Africa
Réunion (France) Zanzibar (Tanzania)
North America and the Caribbean
Bonaire (Netherlands) French Guiana (France) Guadeloupe (France) Martinique (France) Saint-Martin (France) Sint Maarten (Netherlands)
Asia
Northern Mariana Islands (US)
Oceania
Niue (New Zealand)
