Felix Sanchez's Qatar and debutant teams at the World Cup

Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and make its tournament debut, becoming the 10th Asian nation to appear on football’s biggest stage. The first Asian side to take part was the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) at the 1938 edition.

By 2018, 79 teams had played at the World Cup; Qatar will be the 80th. The 1934 tournament featured the most debutant teams, with ten new entrants, while six teams made their first appearances in 2006.

Only two nations have won the World Cup on their maiden visits: Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934. Argentina and Czechoslovakia were the runners-up in those same early editions, and other debutants have produced a wide range of results.

Some newcomers have gone deep — the USA and Yugoslavia reached the semifinals in 1930, Croatia reached the semifinals in 1998 and North Korea reached the quarterfinals in 1966. Many debutants, meanwhile, exited at the group stage, including Brazil and France in 1930 and recent first-timers Iceland and Panama in 2018.

Qatar

qatar, 2022 world, debutants, asian nation, indonesia, 1934, 1930, uruguay, italy, iceland