🏆 Cape Verde and more: top 5 least populous World Cup nations 🌍 | OneFootball

After the unexpected qualification of Cape Verde for the World Cup, it's interesting to see which are the least populous countries that have ever participated in the tournament.

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The new entry of the African nation (here are the details of the achievement) immediately ranks 2nd on this list.

Iceland: 383,000 people

After having a great European Championship in 2016, where they were stopped only by France in the quarter-finals, also eliminating England, Iceland qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2018.

With about 383,000 people on the island, Iceland is the least populous country to have ever played in a World Cup. The tournament ended quickly for them: elimination in the group stage with one point, obtained against Argentina.

Cape Verde: 491,000 people

The fairy tale of Cape Verde, which has a deep colonial connection with Portugal and thus with Portuguese football (as told in the Kura Tawila newsletter), qualified yesterday for the USA 2026 World Cup.

Part of the credit goes to Rocha Livramento, a former Verona striker who scored 4 goals in the qualifiers. A satisfaction also considering the opponent they left behind, namely Cameroon, with whom they lost in the first leg (the only defeat in the group) and won 1-0 in the return match.

Trinidad & Tobago: 1,328,000 people

In the early 2000s, the Trinidad & Tobago National Team even reached the 25th position in the FIFA Ranking, qualifying for the 2006 World Cup thanks to a playoff against Bahrain.

That team - eliminated in the group stage with 1 point - had some respectable players: like goalkeeper Hislop (Newcastle, West Ham, Portsmouth); defender Cox (Bournemouth, Burnley, Bolton); forwards Kenwyne Jones and Stern John (a career between Championship and Premier).

Then there was the star Dwight Yorke: former top scorer for Man United and Aston Villa, who was at the end of his career in 2006, as he was playing for Sydney FC. Not to forget coach Leo Beenhakker who had managed Ajax, the Netherlands, and Real Madrid in the late '80s and early '90s.

Northern Ireland: 1,900,000 people

The team in this list with the most participations is clearly Northern Ireland: 3 World Cup appearances starting from 1958, when they defeated Italy and Portugal, losing only in the quarter-finals against France.

Northern Ireland also played in the 1982 edition (out in the second round) and 1986, where they were eliminated in the first round. It's curious that the best player in the country's history: George Best, never participated in a World Cup having ended his national team career in 1978.

Slovenia: 2,100,000 people

The Slovenian national team has participated in the World Cup on two occasions, after the establishment of their own team in 1992, following the breakup from Yugoslavia.

The debut came in 2002, with a difficult journey marked by three defeats against Spain, South Africa, and Paraguay. Eight years later, in South Africa, Slovenia experienced a very different adventure: they achieved their first World Cup victory against Algeria and drew 2-2 with the United States, nearly reaching a historic qualification for the round of 16, which slipped away in the decisive match against England.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 Clive Brunskill - 2018 Getty Images