Football’s world governing body, FIFA, has framed the 2026 World Cup’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams as a watershed moment for inclusivity, opening the door for nations that have never qualified before.
Indeed, four teams will be playing at their first World Cup in North America this summer: Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.
Here is Al Jazeera’s short guide to the debutants at this year’s competition.
With a population of about 525,000, the small archipelago off the coast of Senegal will become the third-least populous country to participate in a World Cup after Curacao and Iceland.
Ryan Mendes is not even a household name in Turkiye, where he plays for second-tier Igdir, but Cape Verde’s 35-year-old captain was at the heart of their 3-0 win over Eswatini in October, which booked their place at the World Cup.
This was no freak occurrence as Cape Verde topped their group at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which included Ghana, reaching the quarterfinals where they lost on penalties to South Africa.
Although they failed to reach AFCON 2025, they again topped their group in 2026 World Cup qualifying – this time finishing ahead of the once-mighty Cameroon.
“We have taken part in four African Cup of Nations tournaments, and we were also very close to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup,” Mendes told the AFP news agency.
“A lot has been achieved over the years. And today, we can say that this is the logical outcome.”
Cape Verde rely heavily on their Portuguese colonial past for a supply of diaspora talent, and also have several Dutch-born players, as well as one from Ireland – the Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopes. The Dublin-born 33-year-old has a Cape Verdean father and Irish mother and was reportedly recruited for Cape Verde via LinkedIn.
The team’s best-known player, however, is probably 35-year-old winger Garry Rodrigues; now at Cypriot club Apollon Limassol, he has had stints at the likes of Galatasaray and Olympiacos.
But even without mega-star names, Mendes is certain that the Blue Sharks can make a mark at the tournament.
“One thing’s for sure: we’re not going there just to play three games and come home,” he said.
“Small island, big dreams” reads a poster for the football team of the Caribbean island of Curacao – the smallest country ever, by population, to qualify for football’s World Cup.
Since Curacao clinched qualification with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Steven McClaren’s Jamaica in November, the 160,000 inhabitants of the Dutch island famed for its eponymous sapphire liqueur are riding the crest of the Blue Wave, as the national side is dubbed.
The most famous person around the squad is Curacao’s boss Dick Advocaat, the 78-year-old former Netherlands, PSV and Rangers manager who guided the Curacaoans to qualification. He is set to become the oldest manager ever at a World Cup.
Meanwhile, as a self-governing entity within the Netherlands, the island owes its World Cup squad entirely to its Dutch-based diaspora, the president of Curacao’s football federation, Gilbert Martina, admitted.
“All the players on the national team play in foreign leagues,” he told AFP.
Perhaps the best-known player is former Dutch youth international Tahith Chong, now at Championship side Sheffield United. The only team member born on Curacao, Chong moved to the Netherlands at the age of 13.
The 26-year-old winger or attacking midfielder is known for his pace, dribbling and a wicked left foot.
The most famous Curacaoan is probably former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was born to a Surinamese father and a mother from Curacao.
“It’s fantastic that the island is in the World Cup,” Kluivert, who coached the Curacaoan side between 2015 and 2016, told AFP.
“In my day, [football] was not that big on the island, but the players have given Curacao visibility. It’s important for the future, for the next generation.”
Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami has called on his players to emulate Morocco’s shock run to the last four of the World Cup in 2022 as they prepare for their first appearance at the tournament.
“In big competitions, many teams can surprise. My country, Morocco, reached the semifinals in the last World Cup,” Reuters quoted him as saying during a training camp in Antalya, Turkiye in late March. “That gives us belief.”
Despite their underdog status, the players say they are not going to the World Cup just to make up the numbers.
“For us, we are not going just for participation,” midfielder Noor Al-Rawabdeh added. “We are aiming to go as far as we can in the tournament.
“To be honest, sometimes we don’t sleep when we think about it,” he added. “It’s a dream come true for us.”
The Rennes winger Musa Al-Taamari is probably the team’s standout player – he was the key creative force as Jordan secured an automatic berth at the World Cup after finishing second behind South Korea in their Asian qualifying group.
Sellami said the camp in Antalya, which involved games against Costa Rica and Nigeria, was a key stage in building experience before facing elite opposition.
“We are preparing step by step. We’ve played against different football cultures,” he said.
“We are collecting experience and, Inshallah [God willing], we will surprise many people.”
Uzbekistan FA Vice President Ravshan Irmatov is no stranger to the World Cup, having refereed at three finals, but believes the Central Asian country’s long-awaited qualification is merely the latest step in its football development.
“Qualifying for the World Cup has been a dream for 38 million people for 34 years,” Irmatov said. “You can understand how important it was for the Uzbek nation, we waited so long.”
Uzbekistan’s first qualification comes after seven attempts to secure a finals spot since the country was granted FIFA membership in 1994 following the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec guided a team built primarily on home-based talent to the cusp of the finals before health issues forced him to stand down, leaving Olympic team coach Timur Kapadze to secure the ticket for the 2026 tournament.
Captain Eldor Shomurodov, on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir from Roma, is the country’s top scorer with 44 goals in 90 games and scored 21 Turkish Super League goals this season.
But the team’s best-known player is probably Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov. The 22-year-old centre back has become a key part of the defence this season, well-regarded for his positional play, pace, strength and quiet leadership.
Uzbekistan confirmed their place at the finals with a 0-0 draw against the United Arab Emirates in June, and since then, former Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro has taken over as coach.
“I’ll tell you what I always repeat to my players: for the first time you will play in a World Cup, you have nothing to lose,” Cannavaro was quoted as saying by The Mirror newspaper in March.
“Approach every match with maximum calm, enjoy yourselves as much as possible, and if you feel anxiety, let it be positive anxiety.”
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