Our team have scoured the history of the World Cup and all the best 2026 qualifying data to bring you one interesting stat about each of the 48 nations heading to the USA, Canada and Mexico this summer.
Find out which team will become the smallest nation by population to compete at a World Cup this summer, which African nation didn’t concede a single goal in qualifying and which country has the best win ratio at World Cups without ever lifting the trophy below:
Algeria were the first African nation to ever win two matches at a single World Cup, beating West Germany and Chile in 1982.
Argentina hold the record for the most penalty shootout victories in World Cup history with six.
Australia have now qualified for six consecutive World Cups from 2006 to 2026 having only reached the tournament once before 2006.
Austria were involved in the highest-scoring match in World Cup history when they beat Switzerland 7-5 in the 1954 quarter-final.
Belgium entered the opposition box more times than any other team in UEFA qualifying with 490 touches in the penalty area – and they also topped the rankings for build up attacks, direct attacks and non-penalty xG.
Bosnia-Herzegovina completed more take-ons and won more duels than any other team in UEFA qualifying for World Cup 2026 with 97 and 544 respectively.
Brazil are the only team to have taken part in every single World Cup since its original edition in 1930.
Canada are one of only two teams to have played in at least six World Cup games and lost every game, the other being El Salvador.
Cape Verde are the smallest country by land area to ever qualify for the men’s World Cup.
Colombia scored the only Olympic goal in World Cup history when Marcos Coll scored directly from a corner in a 4-4 draw with the Soviet Union in 1962.
Croatia have not won a World Cup knock-out stage game in normal time since the 1998 Quarter Final vs Germany – despite reaching the final in 2018 and the semi-final in 2022.
Curacao will become the smallest ever nation by population to compete in a World Cup this summer with a rough population of 158,000.
Czech Republic won more tackles (160), made more interceptions (88) and won more aerial duels (238) than any other team in UEFA qualifying for World Cup 2026.
DR Congo have had the joint-second longest wait between qualifying for the World Cup for the first time and second time with their only previous appearance coming in 1974 when they were known as Zaire. Wales are the only nation to have waited longer for a second appearance at the tournament.
Ecuador kept more clean sheets than any other team in qualifying for World Cup 2026, keeping 13 clean sheets in just 18 matches.
Egypt are one of only three teams to participate in three World Cup tournaments without ever winning a game. The other two teams are Honduras and Bolivia, neither of whom have qualified for this tournament.
England have drawn more games than any other team in World Cup history with 22.
France have scored 30 goals across the last two World Cups – that’s five more than any other team and the first time a team has scored 30 or more goals across two consecutive tournaments since Brazil in 1970 and 1974.
Germany have played in more World Cup finals than any other nation. They have played in eight finals including six as West Germany, winning four and losing four.
Ghana are the only African nation to have scored in 11 different World Cup matches, scoring in all three games in 2006, 2014 and 2022 despite being knocked out in the group stages in all three of those tournaments.
Haiti have the worst goals conceded per game record in World Cup history of any team to play at least three matches with 4.67 – they conceded 14 goals in 3 games in their one previous appearance at the tournament.
Iran averaged more interceptions than any other team at the 2022 World Cup with 14 per match.
Iraq played more games than any other team in order to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, with their interconfederation playoff match vs Bolivia being the 21st in their campaign.
Ivory Coast scored more goals than any other team in the CAF qualifying section with 25 goals scored in their 10 fixtures.
Japan scored more goals than any other team in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a total of 51
Jordan will become the first nation to make their World Cup debut after previously losing an intercontinental play-off by a margin of five goals or more, having lost 5-0 on aggregate to Uruguay in the 2014 play-off.
Mexico have suffered more defeats in World Cup matches than any other nation having lost 28 of their 60 games.
Morocco’s fourth place in 2022 marked the highest finish by any African nation in the tournament’s history.
Netherlands have the best win percentage in World Cup matches of any team not to win the tournament. Their 54.5% win ratio is only topped by Brazil and Germany.
New Zealand are the only team in World Cup history to be eliminated from the tournament without losing a match as they were knocked out in the group stages in 2010 after drawing all three games.
Norway scored more goals than any other team in the UEFA qualifying section with 37 – of which Erling Haaland scored 16.
Panama conceded more goals than any other team in their only previous World Cup appearance at the 2018 tournament with 11, despite only playing three games.
Paraguay reached the 2010 quarter finals despite scoring just three goals – the lowest ever total for a team that reached the quarter final stage.
Portugal are the only team since 1954 to have overturned a three goal deficit to win a World Cup game. They beat North Korea 5-3 in the 1966 quarter final despite going three goals down after 25 minutes.
Qatar became the first host nation to lose their opening World Cup match when they were beaten by Ecuador in the opening game of the 2022 tournament.
Saudi Arabia gave away more fouls per 90 minutes than any other team at the 2022 World Cup with an average of 18.7 per game.
Scotland have reached eight World Cups without ever making it past the first round or group stages – more than any other team.
Senegal are the only team to have beaten the reigning champions in their first ever World Cup game. They beat 1998 champions France in the opening match of the 2002 tournament.
South Africa became the first host nation to not qualify from the group stages when they finished third in Group A in 2010.
South Korea have competed in the World Cup more often than any other Asian nation. This will be their 12th appearance.
Spain‘s World Cup triumph in 2010 is also the only time they have reached the semi finals of the tournament in their last 14 participations.
Sweden are the only host nation to have ever finished a World Cup as runners-up. They were beaten by Brazil in the 1958 final.
Switzerland are the only team to ever be knocked out of the World Cup without conceding a goal. They were knocked out on penalties in the Round of 16 in 2006 after a 0-0 draw with Ukraine.
Tunisia didn’t concede a single goal in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, winning nine and drawing one of their ten matches.
Turkey have become the first UEFA nation to lose a qualifier by six goals and still qualify for the World Cup. They lost 6-0 to Spain in qualifying for this tournament.
USA have played more knock-out games than any team in World Cup history without ever playing in a penalty shootout (6).
Uruguay are the smallest country by population to have ever won the World Cup having lifted the trophy in 1930 and 1950.
Uzbekistan are the first ever Central Asian nation to qualify for the World Cup.
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