Uzbekistan's Italian head coach Fabio Cannavaro (L) and forward #14 Eldor Shomurodov (R) at a press conference ahead of the game against Colombia. | Photo Credit: AFP

Uzbekistan made his FIFA World Cup debut as it took on Colombia in a Group K clash in Mexico City on Thursday.

With its maiden appearance, Uzbekistan will become the ninth landlocked country to play in the tournament.

Interestingly, Uzbekistan is the first doubly landlocked country to feature in the FIFA World Cup.  A doubly landlocked country has no access to the sea and is also surrounded by landlocked countries or those with no access to the sea themselves.

It is to be noted that Uzbekistan is one of only two countries to be doubly landlocked, with the other being Liechtenstein.

Here is the full list of landlocked countries to feature in FIFA World Cup:

Austria

Location: Central Europe

First World Cup appearance: 1934

Number of World Cup appearances: 8

Most successful World Cup campaign: Third place (1954)

Bolivia

Location: Central South America

First World Cup appearance: 1930

Number of World Cup appearances: 3

Most successful World Cup campaign: Group stage (1930, 1950, 1994)

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Czechia

Location: Central Europe

First World Cup appearance: 2006

Number of World Cup appearances: 2

Most successful World Cup campaign: Group stage (2006)

Hungary

Location: Central Europe

First World Cup appearance: 1934

Number of World Cup appearances: 9

Most successful World Cup campaign: Runners-up (1938, 1954)

Paraguay

Location: Central South America

First World Cup appearance: 1930

Number of World Cup appearances: 9

Most successful World Cup campaign: Quarter-finals (2010)

Serbia

Location: Central Europe

First World Cup appearance: 2010

Number of World Cup appearances: 3

Most successful World Cup campaign: As Serbia: Group stage (2010, 2018, 2022)

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Slovakia

Location: Central Europe

First World Cup appearance: 2010

Number of World Cup appearances: 1

Most successful World Cup campaign: Round of 16 (2010)

Switzerland

Location: Central Europe

First World Cup appearance: 1934

Number of World Cup appearances: 13

Most successful World Cup campaign: Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)

Uzbekistan

Location: Central Asia

First World Cup appearance: 2026

Number of World Cup appearances: 1

Most successful World Cup campaign: Debut campaign

Note: stats only take into account the countries as an individual entity. Hence, they do not count World Cups appeared in as larger entities like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro.

Published on Jun 18, 2026