3 weeks ago
19
By population
©IMAGO
To many Westerners, the small islands of Cape Verde off of the West coast of Africa are best known as a holiday destination, such is the boom in tourism on the archipelago in recent years. But the nation rarely hits the headlines for its sporting achievements... until now. Cape Verde have become the second-smallest nation to ever reach the World Cup after the islanders beat Eswatini 3-0 at home in their latest qualifier. Victory meant the Blue Sharks secured top spot in their qualifying group and a place at the 2026 finals ahead of continental heavyweights Cameroon - a truly remarkable achievement.
The country gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and first attempted to reach the 2002 World Cup three decades ago, but this week's full-time whistle sparked incredible scenes of celebration at the 15,000-capacity National Stadium. With a population of just 525,000, Cape Verde have become the second smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup after sealing their trip to North America next summer. But which other nations feature int he top 10? Transfermarkt has calculated the 10 smallest nations to qualify for a World Cup since the Second World War based on the countries' population at the time. Each nation has also only been included once.
The smallest nations to qualify for the World Cup
Leading the way is none other than Iceland. The European Island, located near the Arctic circle, qualified for a World Cup for the first time in their history for the 2018 tournament. At the time, the country had a population of just 352,000. They crashed out in the group stages, but did manage to take a point off of Lionel Messi's Argentina. Cape Verde now rank second with their 525,000 population. In third place is the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, who qualified for the 2006 World Cup with a population of just 1.3 million. They were also eliminated in the group. Fourth goes to Northern Ireland who made it to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup with a population of just 1.4m.
In fifth are the South America nation of Paraguay who had a population of just 1.5m when they made it to the 1950 World Cup 75 years ago. Located at the head of the Persian Gulf, the Asian nation of Kuwait take sixth having qualified for the 1982 World Cup with a 1.7m population. Their Persian neighbours, The United Arab Emirates are seventh with a 1.9m population during the 1990 World Cup. The small European nation of Slovenia take eighth position, having made it to the 2002 World Cup with a population of just 2m. Uruguay are ninth with a 2.2m population at the 1950 World Cup - a tournament they remarkably went on to actually win. Completing the top 10 is Jamaica - the Caribbean island had a population of 2.6m during the 1998 World Cup.
