Uruguay won the first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1930. Since then, the international football tournament has been held every four years (apart from 1942 and 1946 due to World War II). Brazil is the only nation to appear in each of the 21 World Cups to date and leads all nations with five championships. Germany, France, Italy, Uruguay, and Argentina are the only other nations to win the World Cup multiple times.
National teams can advance to the World Cup through regional qualifiers. Seventy-nine nations have participated in the quadrennial tournament since its inception, and 17 of those countries have played in at least 10 World Cups. The following is a look at five of the 20 countries that have made only one World Cup appearance.
Seeking to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Haiti suffered an unfortunate loss to Canada in the second round of the 2022 CONCACAF FIFA World Cup qualifiers this past June. After losing a tight 1-0 contest in the first leg, Haiti lost 3-0 in the second leg and narrowly missed out on advancing to the final round of qualification. Canada’s first goal in the second leg was a Haitian own goal as goalkeeper Josue Duverger whiffed on a back pass from teammate Kevin LaFrance.
Haiti’s only World Cup appearance came in 1974, and it was far from memorable. The national team was outscored 14-2 in the group stage and suffered a lopsided 7-0 loss to Poland.
Haiti had been represented at the World Cup previously, however. Joe Gaetjens, born in 1924 in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, scored the game-winning goal for the United States in a shocking victory over England in the 1950 World Cup. The victory was so surprising that there is no footage of Gaetjens’ goal because the cameras were directed toward the other end of the pitch.
China, despite being the world’s most populous country (with a population of 1.45 billion as of September 2021), has also appeared in just one World Cup. Beyond that, the Asian nation had one of the worst showings in World Cup history as it lost its three group stage games in 2002 by a combined score of 9-0.
Football is the most popular sport in China, and the country even has a 16-team national league that employs many notable international players. Considering its success in individual sports such as gymnastics and table tennis at the Olympic Games, it’s odd that China has participated in only one World Cup. However, the disparity in Olympic success and football success is in part due to a concerted effort by the government to allocate resources toward developing young athletes for the Olympics.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is hoping to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and mark its second appearance in the quadrennial tournament. The country won six of its eight games in the second stage of qualifiers and can advance to the World Cup if it finishes among the top four in its six-team group, which also includes Iran, South Korea, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Qualification concludes on March 29, 2022.
In its only World Cup appearance in 1990, the UAE was outscored 11-2 against West Germany, Yugoslavia, and Colombia. It was the only of the four teams not to advance to the knockout stage.
Ukraine is arguably the most successful one-and-done team in World Cup history. The Eastern European country was recognized as a member nation by FIFA in 1992, before which its players represented the Soviet Union. It has failed to qualify for five of a possible six World Cups since then, but it reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Ukraine finished second in its group that year and outscored its opponents 5-4 in the group stage. It rebounded from a 4-0 loss to Spain to record a 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia and a 1-0 win over Tunisia. Ukraine defeated Switzerland in penalty kicks in the Round of 16 before losing to Italy in the quarterfinals. Andriy Shevchenko was the team’s top scorer with two goals.
Canada qualified for the World Cup for the first and only time in its history in 1986. Only 24 teams participated that year. The tournament was later expanded to 32 teams and, as of 2026, will feature 48. Coincidentally, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico. FIFA has yet to determine whether any of the three countries will receive an automatic entry in the tournament.
Canada finished fourth in its group at the 1986 World Cup and was outscored 5-0 through three matches against Hungary, France, and the Soviet Union. The national team is still hoping to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as its victory over Haiti propelled Canada to its first appearance in the last round of CONCACAF qualifiers since 1998.