A place at the World Cup is the high point of an international career but the Nasir Adderley Jersey dream remains unfulfilled for hundreds of national teams ahead of this year's men's competition in Qatar.Continental qualification requires national sides to battle past their neighbours to secure a World Cup spot with FIFA coming in for regular criticism based on their structures for the men's competition.Despite the expansion to 32 teams - and the impending increase to 48 in 2026 - some nations find themselves in a near impo sible situation to try and qualify.A World Cup provides a chance to watch the best footballers on the planet push for a major title, but the list of nations yet to reach the competition, far outweighs those who have done so.MORE: UEFA and CONEMBOL have traditionally dominated World Cup qualification with Tre McKitty Jersey the former granted 13 qualifying spots for the 2022 competition.Despite the changes in routes to the World Cup, the established order has not changed significantly in recent years, with only four tournament debuts since 2006.In total there are 134 countries who have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup.Non World Cup Qualifiers RecordConfederationNationQualifying SinceUEFALuxembourg1934UEFAFinland1938CONCAFCuraao/Netherlands Antilles1958CONCAFGuatemala1962UEFACyprus1962AFCSyria1966CONCAFSuriname1966AFCZambia1970CONEMBOLVenezuela1970AFCHong Kong1974AFCMalaysia1974AFCThailand1974CAFGuinea1974CAFKenya1974CAFSudan1974UEFAAlbania1974UEFAMalta1974AFCChinese Taipei1978AFCSingapore1978CAFEthiopia1978AFCBahrain1982CAFLibya1982CAFMalawi1982CAFSierra Leone1982CAFZimbabwe1982CONCAFAntigua and Barbuda1982CONCAFGuyana1982AFCBangladesh1986AFCJordan1986AFCMacau1986AFCYemen/North Yemen1986CAFCongo1986CAFLiberia1986CAFMadagascar1986CAFTanzania1986CAFUganda1986CONCAFPuerto Rico1986OFCFiji1986UEFAEstonia1986UEFALithuania1986AFCIndia1990AFCOman1990AFCPakistan1990AFCVietnam/South Vietnam1990CAFBenin1990CAFBurkina Faso1990CAFGabon1990CAFGambia1990CAFMozambique1990CONCAFBarbados1990CONCAFDominican Republic1990UEFALatvia1990AFCLebanon1994AFCNepal1994AFCSri Lanka1994CAFLesotho1994CAFMauritius1994CAFNamibia1994CAFNiger1994CAFSwaziland1994CONCAFBermuda1994CONCAFGrenada1994CONCAFNicaragua1994CAONCAFSaint Lucia1994CONCAFSaint Vincent and the Grenadines1994OFCSolomon Islands1994OFCTahiti1994OFCVanuatu1994UEFAFaroe Islands1994UEFASan Marino1994AFCKyrgyzstan1998AFCMaldives1998AFCTajikistan1998AFCTurkmenistan1998AFCUzbekistan1998CAFBotswana1998CAFBurundi1998CAFGuinea-Bi sau1998CAFMauritania1998CAFRwanda1998CAFSomalia1998CONCAFAruba1998COCAFBelize1998CONCAFCayman Islands1998CONCAFDominica1998CONCAFSaint Kitts and Nevis1998OFCCook Islands1998OFCSamoa1998OFCTonga1998UEFAArmenia1998UEFAAzerbaijan1998UEFABelarus1998UEFAGeorgia1998UEFAKazakhstan1998UEFALiechtenstein1998UEFAMacedonia1998UEFAMoldova1998AFCCambodia2002AFCMongolia2002AFCPalestine2002CAFCape Verde2002CAFChad2002CAFEquatorial Guinea2002CAFMali2002CAFSeychelles2002CONCAFAnguilla2002CONCAFBahamas2002CONCAFBritish Virgin Islands2002CONCAFMontserrat2002CONCAFTurks and Caicos Islands2002CONCAFU.S. Virgin Islands2002OFCAmerican Samoa2002UEFAAndorra2002AFCAfghanistan2006AFCLaos2006AFCPhilippines2006CAFDjibouti2006CAFEritrea2006CAFSo Tom and Prncipe2006OFCNew Caledonia2006OFCPapua New Guinea2006AFCBrunei2010AFCMyanmar2010AFCTimor-Leste2010CAFCentral African Republic2010CAFComoros2010UEFAMontenegro2010AFCGuam2014AFCBhutan2018CAFSouth Sudan2018UEFAGibraltar2018UEFAKosovo2018N/ASaar (defunct)N/AN/ASouth Yemen (defunct)N/A Population size is not a guarantee of World Cup qualification with 2022 hosts Qatar setting a new record as the smallest nation to stage the competition with a population of an Justin Jackson Jersey estimated 2.8 million.Some of the most populated countries on Earth have never reached a World Cup with qualification often concentrated within certain global areas.China's appearance at the 2002 World Cup was their sole qualification, proving that weight of numbers doesn't always translate into sporting succe s.The below countries are all still waiting to grace the World Cup stage:CountryCurrent population (approx.2020)2022 World Cup qualification recordIndia1.396billionThird in AFC Group E(Second Round)Pakistan227millionFirst Round ExitBangladesh167millionFifth in AFC Group E(Second Round)Ethiopia117millionFirst Round ExitPhilippines112millionThird in AFC Group A (Second Kyle Van Noy Jersey Round)Vietnam96.6millionSixthin AFC Group E (Third Round)Thailand71.5millionFourth in AFC Group G (Second Round)Tanzania61.7 millionThird in CAF Group J (Second Round)Myanmar53.4millionFifth in AFC Group F(Second Round)Kenya52millionThird in CAF Group E (Second Round) On the flip side to billions of fans never seeing their national teams at a World Cup, lucky thousands of some of the smallest nations have enjoyed a World Cup dream, particularly since 2000.Iceland's iconic trip to the 2018 World Cup in Ru sia broke new ground as they set new record as the smallest ever World Justin Herbert T Shirts Cup nation.Smallest FIFA World Cup nationsNationPopulation (at qualification)Year QualifiedIceland334,0002018Paraguay925,0001930Trinidad Tobago1.3 million2006Northern Ireland1.4 million1958Kuwait1.5 million1982Slovenia1.9 million2002Jamaica2.6 million1998Qatar2.9 million2022Wales3.1 million2022Panama4.1 million2018