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needs to do to have their best world cup in history only lifting the trophy again would match argentina s best world cup performance anne christine poujoulat afp via getty images by michael cox june 14 2026 updated june 15 2026 6 58 am edt share article 11 scotland s victory over haiti gives them a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stage of the 2026 world cup a long awaited first progression past the group stage for a nation who have previously participated at eight tournaments but implying that would automatically be scotland s best world cup performance would also be a little misleading and disrespectful to previous generations this is the first 48 team world cup scotland had previously competed at a 16 team tournament technically only progression to the round of 16 would match their previous best achievement advertisement there are many similar stories across the other 47 sides here therefore is a guide to every side s previous best performance winners brazil germany argentina france uruguay england and spain these seven sides and italy who did not qualify this time have previously won the world cup but there s still an opportunity to break new ground england have never won the tournament away from home and uruguay and france haven t won it outside their own continent argentina have won it three times but will be aiming to retain the competition for the first time something only italy and brazil have done previously runners up croatia czech republic netherlands sweden these sides have finished runners up the czech republic in their days as czechoslovakia and the dutch on three separate occasions third place austria belgium portugal turkey the third placed play off has minimal importance in the world cup but these sides have all ended their tournament on a high after a semi final defeat third or joint third united states make your own mind up the united states began their 2026 tournament with a 4 1 win over paraguay dean mouhtaropoulos getty images fourth place south korea morocco fourth place in 2002 and 2022 respectively represents the best finish for sides from asia and africa although it probably sounds better if they just call themselves semi finalists and ignore the third place play off entirely quarter finals colombia ghana mexico paraguay senegal switzerland mexico have twice reached the last eight in the two previous editions of the tournament they ve hosted 1970 and 1986 the other four sides best achievements all came this century up until this point everything is quite simple every tournament with the sole exception of 1950 which ended with a group stage has featured quarter finals semi finals and a final from here things are more complex last 16 algeria australia dr congo ecuador egypt haiti iran japan norway saudi arabia scotland tunisia there s a variety of stories here advertisement famously conned out of a place in the round of 16 at the 1982 world cup thanks to austria and west germany agreeing a mutually convenient draw algeria did squeeze through in the 2014 world cup losing to eventual winners germany to match that achievement they ll have to get through the group and the first knockout round australia have twice progressed beyond the group stage of a 32 team tournament and then lost in the first knockout round catch up on the story folarin balogun and the best world cup players who could have represented other countries musiala haaland and hakimi are among the potential stars of this tournament who could have been appearing for different nations but the majority of these sides have previously qualified for a 16 team tournament so while they re looking to progress to the knockout stage for the first time that wouldn t actually match their previous best achievement some of these achievements though are somewhat flimsy egypt qualified for the 1934 world cup a 16 team tournament although they only needed to overcome one side in qualification to get there and were promptly eliminated by hungary in their only game back when the world cup was contested as a straight knockout competition scotland are a good example of the confusion caused by the expansion they ve now qualified for tournaments with 16 24 32 and 48 teams in the 16 team world cup in 1974 for example they were in a group alongside brazil and yugoslavia and were unlucky to be eliminated on goal difference after all three sides finished on four points the other side in their group incidentally was zaire now known as the democratic republic of congo and making their second appearance at a world cup this year haiti were also at that 1974 tournament losing all three games to italy poland and argentina a first victory at the world cup would be a huge achievement but ultimately these days they ll be up against gentler opposition tunisia have been at the world cup six times before they re trying to qualify for the knockout stage for the first time but five of their previous world cups have been at a 32 team tournament and back at the 1978 world cup they qualified for a 16 team tournament this was particularly impressive given africa was only awarded one place advertisement last 24 new zealand canada and iraq two niche cases here as new zealand qualified for the 1982 world cup when it was a 24 team tournament they finished above australia in their initial qualification group largely thanks to a 2 0 win away in sydney then beat saudi arabia in a play off in singapore there s no such thing as a last 24 these days of course so new zealand will technically have to reach the last 16 to better their previous best performance although at the same time they re simply looking for their first win at a world cup something similar applies for canada they had lost all six world cup games at their previous two appearances in 1986 and 2022 therefore their opening draw against bosnia and herzegovina was a big achievement but being the only concacaf qualifiers for a 24 team tournament in 1986 is for now technically a bigger achievement than qualifying automatically as hosts and then collecting a draw in a 48 team tournament iraq also qualified in 1986 losing their three group games by a one goal margin cyle larin equalised for canada against bosnia and herzegovina but the co hosts are still searching for a first men s world cup win maja hitij fifa via getty images last 32 bosnia and herzegovina ivory coast panama qatar south africa five sides who have made appearances at 32 team tournaments and therefore are looking to reach the knockout stage for the first time but that will only match their previous bests the surprise name here is ivory coast who were probably good enough for a quarter final appearance with their golden generation but kept being thwarted by tough draws when they qualified in 2006 2010 and 2014 that s not an issue this time around with the expansion of the tournament meaning they are facing curacao in the group qatar s only previous appearance came as hosts in 2022 this is the first time they ve qualified and their 1 1 draw against switzerland brought their first world cup point debutants for 2026 cape verde curacao jordan and uzbekistan given the major expansion that has benefited those from traditionally less successful confederations it s a little surprising that there are only four debutants at this tournament but even this doesn t necessarily mean they ve progressed further than ever before for example this is uzbekistan s world cup debut but in qualification for the 2018 world cup they finished fourth in one of the two six team groups that constituted the third round of the process in other words they finished in the top eight in asia and therefore had the tournament been expanded to 48 sides for 2018 they would have debuted in russia they re therefore a good example of a side who aren t actually better than ever the tournament has simply admitted more nations jun 15 2026 connections sports edition spot the pattern connect the terms find the hidden link between sports terms pla...