Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan: the other debutants of the 48-team World Cup
The expansion to 48 nations opened the door to four debutants. Alongside Cape Verde, the 2026 World Cup saw the historic first appearances of Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, three teams that fulfilled the dream of playing a World Cup for the first time.
The 2026 World Cup, the first with 48 nations, delivered on one of its great promises: making room for countries that had spent their entire history trying to qualify. Four teams made their World Cup debut, and while Cape Verde's case was the most talked-about, they were not alone.
Curaçao, a Caribbean island of just a few hundred thousand inhabitants, produced one of the tournament's most incredible stories simply by being there, measuring themselves against world football's great powers. Their qualification is an example of what expansion can mean for modest football.
Jordan took a team from their football to the biggest stage for the first time, a milestone for a whole country and region. And Uzbekistan, an emerging power of Asian football, finally made the leap they had been chasing for years, debuting on the grand stage.
Beyond the results, the value of these debuts is historic: the World Cup became a little more global, and for millions of fans in Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, 2026 will always be the year of their first World Cup. Check the data and the tournament bracket on our site.