Association football is the most popular sport in nearly every European country, and UEFA is one of the six confederations of world football's governing body FIFA. UEFA contains 55 national association members, some of which are partially or entirely located in Asia. A total of 33 of the current members of UEFA have competed at the men's FIFA World Cup, while the defunct East Germany qualified once.
European nations have won the FIFA World Cup a record 12 times.
Overview
A red outline indicates a UEFA member nation(s) hosted that year's Cup. Numbers in parentheses indicate the total number of teams playing in that year's tournament.
The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA.[6][7][8] The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.
For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.
Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8)
R2
Round 2 (1974–1978, second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16)
R1
Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage)
Q
Qualified for upcoming tournament
TBD
To be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)
••
Qualified but withdrew
•
Did not qualify
•×
Withdrew or disqualified during qualification (after playing matches)
×
Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFA
Hosts
Did not enter
—
Not a FIFA member
Overall team records
As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.
*This total number of UEFA teams which have participated in the World Cups through 2018 is 34, using FIFA's view on successor teams (e.g., Russia is a successor of USSR and not a separate team, whereas Ukraine is a newer separate entity).
Not qualified
22 of the 55 active FIFA and UEFA members have never qualified for the final tournament.
To be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)
•
Did not qualify
×
Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFA
Did not enter
—
Not a FIFA member
Footnotes
^In 1982, the second round featured 12 teams from which only 4 advanced to the semi-finals.
^Entered WC qualifying as FYR Macedonia from 1998–2018
Notes
^ abcdefghijklGermany (since 1949 officially the Federal Republic of Germany) is since 1904 represented by the same governing body (Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB)). After World War II and the division of Germany, the DFB was only re-admitted to FIFA after the 1950 WC, while Saar (until 1956) and East Germany (until 1990) fielded teams of their own before (re-)joining (West) Germany and the DFB in the German reunification. FIFA officially attributes all international results of the DFB team since 1908 to Germany, including the results of 1954-1990, when the team was often called West Germany.
^ abcdefghijklmThe Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1930) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1950–1990) qualified eight times from 1930–1990 under the name Yugoslavia prior to its breakup by the secession of many of its constituent republics in 1992. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia qualified once in 1998 under the name Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro qualified once in 2006 after a name change in 2003. All these teams are considered the predecessor of the current Serbia team by FIFA. The other national teams which resulted from the breakup of the original Yugoslavia – Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and FYR Macedonia – are considered distinct entities from the Yugoslavia team of 1930–1990. Montenegro and Kosovo now also compete separately after independence in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2010, Serbia debuted at the FIFA World Cup with their own national team.
^ abcdefghiCzechoslovakia qualified eight times prior to being divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993. FIFA considers the Czech Republic only as the successor team of Czechoslovakia. As an independent nation, the Czech Republic national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time as a separate nation in 2006, with Slovakia doing the same in 2010.
^ Israel qualified in 1970 as a member of AFC. They were expelled from AFC in 1974 and joined UEFA in 1994.
^Republic of Ireland competed as the Irish Free State in 1934 and then as Ireland in 1938 and 1950.
^ abcThere was no official World Cup Third Place match in 1930; The USA and Yugoslavia lost in the semi-finals. Currently, FIFA recognizes USA as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team, using the overall records of the teams in the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
^The Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 98 UN member states. Prior to the admission of Kosovo into UEFA and FIFA, Kosovo was recognised as part of Serbia by these organisations.
1 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). 2 Have been member of multiple confederations. 3 Team and national federation no longer exist.
