World Cup 2026: The heats, favourites, handicaps and kick-off times for biggest tournament

Four nations are set to make their World Cup debuts this summer.

The small Caribbean island of Curacao will become the smallest nation to take part in a World Cup when they take on Germany, Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Group E.

Curacao, 37 miles off the coast of Venezuela, has a population of just over 150,000 (similar to Cambridge or Huddersfield) and a land area of ​​171 square miles, smaller than the Isle of Man.

They only became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010.

Cape Verde, Meanwhile, they are the third smallest nation after Curaçao and Iceland to reach the World Cup. The Blue Sharks secured top spot in their qualifying group ahead of African heavyweights Cameroon.

Cape Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands in the Atlantic Ocean with a population of less than 525,000, gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and first attempted to reach the World Cup when it was held in Japan and South Korea in 2002. They faced Spain, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H

There are two debutants from Asia Uzbekistan and Jordan.

The Uzbeks, who were Asian Cup semi-finalists in 2011, ended their long wait for qualification under 2006 World Cup-winning Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro.

The White Wolves boast the likes of Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov and former Roma striker Eldor Shomurodov and will be hoping to make an impact in a group with Portugal, Colombia and DR Congo.

Meanwhile, Jordan finished behind South Korea with four wins and four draws from 10 matches in the third round of the qualifiers in Asia.

Ranked 64th in the world, their progress has been steady and reached the final of the 2023 Asian Cup, when they were beaten by hosts Qatar. Argentina, Algeria and Austria await in Group J.