These nations could debut at the 2026 World Cup

Agreed; I expect all three pot one teams to qualify automatically.

 

most people expect african and south american teams to qualify, but I wouldn't be so sure
of course, new caledonia will serve as cannon fodder, but everyone else will have their own chance

 

absolutely will depend on who the teams are. Venezuela stands a much better chance at qualifying than Bolivia (who are useless away from home). Africa is just so unknown right now. If its a Cameroon or Senegal type? heavy favorite. If it is Mozambique level, up in the air.

Unless Saudi Arabia head to the playoff, I don't expect Asia to be a favorite either.

Now the other interesting one will be the home field advantage of CONCACAF. If we really do get Curacao or Jamaica in the playoff, not a big deal. But any of the Central America teams? massive.

 

Speaking of E Natio

According to De Telegraaf, Suriname is preparing for another quality boost with potential internationals like Danilho Doekhi, Daishawn Redan, Milan van Ewijk, and Kenzo Goudmijn.
⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ed8rqMAZnx

— NatioFootballScouts (@NatioFscouts) June 13, 2025

 

Guatamala or El Salvador at the World Cup in the US would bring so Many fans to the stadiums. But as mentioned, it looks difficult to qualify, although not impossible.

 

Dark horse: Curaçao

 

I know they've been playing badly after the Euro qualifiers, but Luxembourg has a shot if they get back in form. In said qualifiers, they managed to concede only one goal in their two games vs. Slovakia. 0-0 draw and 0-1 loss.

Their Nations League results are concerning. However, they only lost 2-0 against Northern Ireland, and then got a 2-2 draw. So these two Group A opponents are not impossible to beat for Lux with a bit of luck. Their first two games in September will be at home, so if they're off to a good start, they'll face Slovakia away with a good amount of confidence (unless the Germans obliterate them before that).

Also can see Namibia qualify, seeing how they are in a good position behind Tunisia at the moment. Their players are nothing special, but a lot of them are based in one of Africa's best top division, so why not?

 

Among all the possible debutants Indonesia could be the most "interesting" in terms of regional/cultural representation at an event that is as much a celebration of cultures like the Olympics as it is about football itself. Fourth biggest population in the world and is representative of Southeast Asia which practically never has sent a team to the WC, or at least not in many decades (not sure if Dutch Indonesia counted in the 30s).

They're in tough but it's not impossible or even wildly improbably depending on the draw. Saudi Arabia IMO is probably the toughest test remaining just based on experience but Indonesia drew and beat them. They can definitely beat any of the other teams in the fourth round, so it's wide open for them.

If they at least make it to the intercontinental playoff, which I think is at least a 50-50 shot given the other teams in the AFC fourth round, it will be much, much tougher and require a mini miracle like how Jordan needed one against Uruguay to qualify for 2014 (and got pummelled 5-0).

Basically I wouldn't be sleeping on their dismal 118th FIFA rank. They're playing above that tier of teams and probably closer to where the likes of Jordan or Saudi Arabia sit right now. Their best hope is to win their group of 3.

 

It helps that they basically filled out half their squad with Europeans in the last year or two

 

Dunno if "half their squad" is correct. Not sure but I thought the majority werenot Indonesia born. I suppose with Europeans yoy mean those born in Europe.

 

I meant foreign-born players playing for the most part in Europe. And I was wrong in my assesment. From their latest call-up, only 6 players were born and formed in Indonesia. The rest are from abroad and there were 4 more players from abroad who withdrew or were injured. No wonder they have a chance of making the WC after decades of being a punching bag.

 

Actually almost all non-Indonesian born are Dutch, not good enough for the Orange Squad.
The same goes for Surinam and Curacao.
If these three manage to qulify for a WC, and the Orange Squad too, you actually have 4 Dutch teams in that WC.

Well, that's why I question the fairnes towards other nations//representativenes of the team of that nation.

 

I'm aware of that.

Doesn't bother that much, TBH. I'd rather see a Suriname with the extra talent to be, you know, actually somewhat competitive, Dutch-B or not, than, for example, a Trinidad & Tobago that may be full of locals, but it will be total ass in a WC (specially now that it's been expanded. I don't like canon fodder.

 

Suriname as well and if their GC form carries, maybe Guatemala (though I'm not sure the team itself is all that talented.

 

Blame imperialism.

You can't fault them for using the resources that were left with them decades ago.

 

Sure, my only problem with Indonesia is that their coach is Patrick Kluivert, and to be completely honest, he's not exactly a very good coach. I would've preferred they stuck with the Korean coach, but I guess the federation were hell bent on being all-in with the Dutch/Moluccan diaspora influx, so a hiring a Dutch coach was logically the next step.

Same for Korsou who hired Dick Advocaat to lead their campaign.

Suriname on the other hand have local Stanley Menzo. I think he's better as a recruiter than an actual tactics guy. Which would explain some of the names still floating around that could potentially join the set-up by September.

Ultimately I don't think any of them will make it, but it'll be cool to see Indonesia qualify strictly for their rabid fan base.

 

Terrible Gold Cup campaign. Luckily for them they were one-upped by fellow group foes, Reggae Bwoyz and Soca Warriors as far as terrible Gold Cup campaigns were concerned... Their group is wide open, which also includes little ole Bermuda.

 

Indonesia could totally win whatever group of 3 they end up in. Qatar managed only 3 points against the top 3 teams in their group total. Indonesia got 4 points on Saudi Arabia in their group matches.

I feel UAE is much weaker than Iraq so if Indonesia draw them, they stand a great chance of at least making it to the next round. Also these are 1 off matchups, anything can happen. Indonesia will have a first match against Qatar/Saudi Arabia.

 

Im going to predict that none of the former Dutch colonies will qualify.

Curacao and Suriname still aren't quite there yet. In fact Curacao was actually a better team almost a decade ago.

I'm going with Panama, Jamaica and Costa Rica. If any of those 2 make the playoffs (which is even a bit unlikely) they will certainly be knocked out in the Intercontinental playoffs.

Indonesia I'm also doubtful but I feel their chances are slightly better.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar will likely lock up those spots and again the Intercontinental playoff (if they even make it) will be unlikely.

I do think if these teams continue with their development and dual recruiting into 2030 we could see some of them qualify.

 

Who do you think will win the ICP? Obviously New Caledonia is the longest of shots. Venezuela should be a favorite if they make it but not an overwhelming one. If Bolivia makes it, they will not be seeded and they are truly awful away from home. They would not be favored IMO.

We are so far away from knowing anything about who will make it from Africa to post any judgement there.

In Asia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar if they head to the playoff would likely be tough teams but wouldn't be favorites. No one else would be the favorite.

CONCACAF had the added bonus of having 'home field advantage' Especially the loser of Costa Rica vs Honduras who will almost definitely be in the playoff and Costa Rica would be seeded if its them.

 

Obviously we need to know who they teams will be, but I'm gonna go out on a limb right now and say the reps from Conmebol and CAF will go through.

I dont think Bolivia will be the rep and Venezuela or whoever will likely beat their unneeded opponent.

I think the CAF team will be a highly ranked team that should have gotten through from the first round.

It isn't a far off possibility that a team like Senegal could be in the playoffs if they fail to beat DR Congo in a tricky away match comming up.

Costa Rica could be a highly ranked side should they fail to qualify directly, so that could also twist things up a bit.

 

Indonesia's track record in the middle east just doesn't justify any sort of confidence and it doesn't help that Kluivert has been kind of mediocre as a coach so far.

I'm all for Indonesia Qualifying, but they'll really have to show me before I believe.

 

Groups set for round 4 of AFC. Qatar, UAE, and Oman. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Indonesia.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are hosting the matches so they will have the advantage but they are just 1 offs so anything can happen.

 

Looking forward to see *Qatari fans* cheering for the home team on the upcoming AFC playoffs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/sports/soccer/world-cup-fans-qatar-ultras.html

 

Yeah, having been there in 2022, it seemed like just about everything at that World Cup was fake. The thousands of South Asian Messi fans (not really Argentina fans) at the matches were hilarious. They only cheered when Messi did something, not always when Argentina did something that did not involve Messi. It seemed like an exhibition rather than a tournament, other than the Morocco matches, which had a legitimate atmosphere, thanks to their authentic passionate support. And Qatar tried to keep many of them from entering the country because they were too disruptive!