When the World Cup opted to expand from 32 teams to 48 prior to the 2026 edition, it allowed countries who don’t regularly feature in the world’s most prestigious competition to qualify more frequently. Several of the 48 teams who will descend upon North America this summer are breaking long droughts, and four haven’t appeared at all.

It’s unlikely that any of these debutants will make much noise during the tournament, given that only two teams have ever advanced past the quarterfinals in their first appearance, but if any of the four makes a run, they’ll be widely celebrated, especially in their home countries.

Below, I’ll break down each of the four national teams who will take the global stage for the first time, sorted in descending order of their odds of winning the tournament (if tied, by the FIFA World Rankings), and assess their chances of making a deep run. At the end, I’ll predict which debutant will have the best performance at the tournament.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has long been the most successful footballing nation in Central Asia. The White Wolves have reached the semifinals of the Asian Cup, doing so in 2011, and they won the Asian Games in 1994. They nearly qualified for the 2014 World Cup, reaching the fifth round of AFC qualification before falling short in the final stage, and they have a positive goal differential in every World Cup qualification campaign in which they’ve participated. Uzbekistan also won the 2025 CAFA Nations Cup, beating a fellow World Cup nation in Iran in the final.

This generation of White Wolves hasn’t quite reached the No. 45 overall ranking that the nation did in 2006, but it’s arguably the most talented. In 2025, center-back Abdukodir Khusanov became the first Uzbek player ever to appear in the Premier League, and plenty of players play their domestic football in European leagues, including captain Eldor Shomurudov, who has four goals in his past three games for Başakşehir. The White Wolves have a reputation as one of the best defensive teams in Asia, and goalie Abduvohid Nematov is the most valuable player at Nasaf Qarshi in the Uzbekistan Super League, per Transfermarkt.

Lifting the trophy would be unrealistic — Uzbekistan has just +100000 odds — but advancing out of Group K, which also features Portugal, Colombia, and DR Congo, is plausible. The White Wolves have +225 odds of advancing out of the group and -160 odds to finish bottom.

Cape Verde

The only debutant from Africa, Cape Verde didn’t even attempt to qualify for the World Cup until the 2006 tournament despite first joining CAF in 1983. The Blue Sharks have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations four times in their history, reaching the quarterfinals twice, but they’ve seen less success in continental World Cup qualifying, finishing with a losing record in qualifying in each of their attempts prior to 2022. In 2026, though, they finally got over the hump, comfortably topping a group that featured continental giants Cameroon.

European diaspora have been critical in crafting Cape Verde’s current golden generation. Several of the Blue Sharks’ most impactful players during their qualification campaign were born in Europe, including leading scorer Dailon Livramento, though goalkeeper Vozinha was raised in the archipelago. Like Uzbekistan, Cape Verde has plenty of players who play for big European clubs, including Sidny Lopes Cabral, who appeared in both legs of Benfica’s Champions League knockout playoff game against Real Madrid. Cabral played a key role in a defensive line that kept seven clean sheets in 10 World Cup qualifying matches.

The Blue Sharks also have +100000 odds to ultimately win the World Cup, and their chances of qualifying out of Group H are lower (+250), since Group H also features the reigning Euro winner in Spain and a two-time World Cup winner in Uruguay. They are -220 to finish bottom.

Jordan

Jordan is also a relatively recent riser. The Chivalrous Ones never finished with a winning record in any Asian World Cup qualifying campaign until 2006, but after that, they began to put together some better performances. They reached the inter-continental playoffs for the first time in 2014, losing 5-0 on aggregate to Uruguay, and after narrowly missing out on advancement to the third round of qualification in both 2018 and 2022, they finally achieved it in 2026, topping a group featuring Saudi Arabia in the second round and coming second behind Korea Republic in the third round to pip Iraq by a point.

During the Asian qualification campaign, Jordan was led by a trio of stellar goal-scorers, with Ali Olwan, Yazan Al-Naimat, and Musa Al-Taamari each contributing at least seven. However, the Chivalrous Ones suffered a major blow in December, when Al-Naimat suffered a torn ACL that will likely keep him out through the tournament. As a result, Al-Taamari could be particularly important to his country’s chances, as he and Olwan will now be charged with carrying the load up front. Jordan’s defense is solid: it allowed no more than two goals in any qualification match.

The Chivalrous Ones are tied for the second-longest odds of winning the tournament at +200000 and +350 to qualify out of Group J. The group is fairly top-heavy, with 2022 World Cup winners Argentina leading the way, along with Austria and Algeria. Jordan is -370 to finish bottom.

Curaçao

The only North American team among the debutants is Curaçao. The constituent country within the Netherlands didn’t even become a FIFA member until 2011 and never qualified for the CONCACAF Gold Cup until 2017. Still, given its population and size (it surpassed Cape Verde to become the smallest nation ever to qualify), it’s traditionally punched above its weight. The Blue Wave had a strong qualifying campaign in 2022, topping their first round qualifying group with ease and only narrowly losing to Panama in the second round. They then topped a group featuring Jamaica in the second qualifying round in 2026 behind a strong defensive identity.

Curaçao has a fairly strong diaspora network within the Netherlands, and all four of the players who scored at least three goals in CONCACAF qualifying — Gervane Kastaneer, Juninho Bacuna, Kenji Gorré, and Rangelo Janga — were born in the Netherlands, with Bacuna playing for an Eredivisie team and Tahith Chong (born on the island) playing in the English second tier. The Blue Wave also have several talented defenders playing across Europe, with Armando Obispo starting for Eindhoven and Sherel Floranis for Zwolle. Goalkeeper Eloy Room has had a long, successful career in both the Eredivisie and Major League Soccer.

Curaçao has +200000 odds of winning the World Cup and +1200 odds of qualifying out of Group E, with -1800 odds to finish at the bottom of the group. Like the Blue Wave, the other teams in the group have strong defensive identities, with Germany, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador all allowing among the fewest goals in their respective continental qualifying tournaments.

Which debutant will have the best performance at the World Cup?

On paper, the clear favorite is Uzbekistan. Not only do the White Wolves have the shortest odds of advancement among the debutants, Khusanov alone is worth more on the transfer market than Curaçao’s and Jordan’s entire squads. To be fair, Uzbekistan has put up plenty of solid results against quality teams as of late, losing just 2-1 to Uruguay in a friendly, beating Egypt and Iran, and drawing with Venezuela.

The White Wolves also have a pretty doable group that also features a relatively inexperienced side in DR Congo, which hasn’t made the World Cup since 1974. Taking all three points against the Leopards and stealing a draw against either Colombia or Portugal would surely be enough to go through. That’ll be easier said than done, of course — Uzbekistan will be an underdog in all three of its matches — but Colombia has some questions in the attack beyond Luis Díaz, and it’s not hard to see Shomurudov getting one past Camilo Vargas to pull out a 1-1 draw. Portugal seems like it’d be a tougher task, but it wouldn’t be the first time that the Seleçao das Quinas have underwhelmed at the World Cup.

For a value play, though, I’ll back Curaçao at +1200 to advance. Though the Blue Wave don’t have any players as talented on paper as Khusanov or even Al-Taamari, they have a relatively cohesive back line with high-level experience, including several players who grew up training in European academies.

Curaçao also has a pretty doable group. At World No. 10, Germany is the weakest of the non-host Pot 1 teams, and while Die Nationalelf have three of the most promising young attacking midfielders in Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz, and Lennart Karl, they lack a true superstar No. 9. Plus, Ecuador was downright anemic offensively during South American qualification, scoring just one goal in its last five matches, and after an utterly dominant performance in African qualification, Ivory Coast flamed out in the AFCON quarterfinals, in part because of the Elephants’ lack of a pure striker. The Blue Wave could easily see out a trio of low-scoring draws or edge out a win past Ecuador or Ivory Coast.