Welp, in the end neither made it but Bosnia's qualification does allow me to give you this little factoid: Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia, starting at the 1998 World Cup, there have always been exactly two former Yugoslav nations at each World Cup. 1998: Croatia and FR Yugoslavia (later became Serbia and Montenegro) 2002: Croatia and Slovenia 2006: Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro 2010: Serbia and Slovenia 2014: Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia 2018: Croatia and Serbia 2022: Croatia and Serbia 2026: Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia
As you indicated, the second-lowest-ranked team in UEFA playoffs has made it to 2026 WC: BIH(FIFA rank #71) eliminated both WAL(32) and ITA(12). Life is a BIH.
South American teams don’t lose many intercontinental playoffs but when they do Graham Arnold is on the coaching staff of the team that beats them.
Only the second time CONMEBOL has lost to an AFC team. First time in Qualifying, the other was in the finals ('18 Col-Jap.).
Sigh.... by mixing WC qualification results with actual WC matches, then BOL counts as the 4th Conmebol team to have lost vs AFC. 2 WC losses (1st in 2018, 3rd in 2022) and 2 WC qualification losses(2nd in 2018, 4th in 2026). Their 2022 loss was very much documented, thanks to KSA's desperate need of validation:
You are right, it was in 2022 qualification instead. @almango included it in Graham Arnold's tally: PER loss to AUS via PKs.
Mine was a comment about unnecessary bundling WC stats with WC qualification stats: a desperate need of validation from ROW fans, in my opinion. They are really different levels of competition/importance, even FIFA counts WC qualifiers as 50% less important than WC matches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Men's_World_Ranking#Calculation_method
Sigh. It was the first time a CONMEBOL team lost to an AFC team in a one off Qualifier on a neutral site. Sigh.
You just answered your question by agreeing with @almango on his tally of Graham Arnold's victories vs Conmebol.
It has been a prolonged learning process for Graham Arnold vs Conmebol: - playoff losses vs ARG as a player in '93 - playoff losses/wins vs URU as assistant coach - recent playoff wins vs PER/BOL as head coach His winning managerial trend is underscored by facing ever worsening Conmebol teams: URU in '01+'05 >> PER in '22 >> BOL in '26 Conmebol losses in intercontinental playoffs: 1961: MEX 1-0 PAR 1977: HUN 6-0 BOL + BOL 2-3 HUN 2001: AUS 1-0 URU + URU 3-0 AUS; G.Arnold as AUS assistant coach 2005: URU 1- 0 AUS + AUS 1-0 URU (4-2 in PKs); G.Arnold as AUS assistant coach 2022: AUS 0-0 PER (5-4 in PKs); G.Arnold as AUS head coach 2026: IRQ 2-1 BOL; G.Arnold as IRQ head coach
Didn’t mean to start a debate. By losing an IC playoff I mean the team that didn’t progress. Doesn’t matter if it’s aggregate, extra time or penalties. I just found it interesting that for the three most recent losses GA was on the coaching staff of the winner.
Only six Italians born in the 1990s have been at a World Cup so far: Mario Balotelli, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne, Mattia Perin, Mattia De Sciglio & Marco Verratti. All of them except for Perin have played in a World Cup. Only Balotelli and De Sciglio have played a full 90 minute game in a World Cup. Provided that Italy qualify for 2030 World Cup, chances are that there will be at least a few players born in the 90s in that squad. However, the youngest of them (born in late 1990s) will still be 30 years old, so you can't overlook the possibility that the new generation outcompetes them.
According to FIFA, no. On a separate note: now it's official, Haiti are the only Caribbean side to qualify for multiple World Cup finals. Better luck next time @Athlone
Matthias Ginter of Germany was in the squad at WCs 2014, 2018 and 2022. It took him 13 occassions to make his debut on the field when he was subbed in in the last group match of Germany vs. Costa Rica, when they felt short qualifying for the 2nd round. So despite the option, he wasn't featuring in 7 matches in Brazil, 3 matches in Russia and 2 matches in Qatar. I cannot imagine, that any other footballer even is in double digits in that feat - wating for the on field debut at a world cup.
There's Luisão, who was part of Brazil's 2006 & 2010 World Cup squads, with zero playing time. So that's 10 games in total. It is an interesting stat regarding Ginter, one that will be hard to beat unless you are a goalkeeper. Edit: Martin Keown also got 0 playing time at WC 1998 & 2002 for England.
Brazil has the most officiating crews/refs going to the World Cup in 2026. It is also the most referee official delegation in history from one nation in a tournament. (9 in total.) USA and Argentina are second. (8).
You have to go back to the year 1986 to have a world cup won by a non-seeded team (Argentina was pot 2, drawn together with title holder italy). And moreover, since then only Croatia was able to reach a World cup final as a non-seeded team in 2018.