Which teams is World Cup history calling?

Many new names have officially appeared. It is not impossible that the 2026 World Cup will have nearly ten new players - the most in the history of this tournament. Which teams are they?

The new heroes of Asian football?

The fourth stage of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia will begin on October 8, with six teams competing for two spots in the finals, in a round-robin format. These are Qatar, UAE, Oman in Group A (playing in Qatar) and Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Indonesia in Group B (playing in Saudi Arabia). There are only three matches, taking place on October 8, 11 and 14. The top two teams will go straight to the finals, the two second-placed teams will then meet to compete for the right to enter the final play-off round (this round has six teams, including two CONCACAF teams and one team from each region: Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America, competing for the two final play-off tickets).

Cape Verde are writing a fairy tale in the African qualifiers as they inch closer to a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Not counting the period when it was a Dutch colony, this is a historic opportunity for the Indonesian team to win a ticket to the World Cup finals for the first time, meaning the first appearance of a Southeast Asian team in the World Cup arena. Previously, Indonesia appeared at the 1938 World Cup under the name of Dutch East Indies. Besides Indonesia, Oman is also facing a similar opportunity. As long as they do not fall to the bottom of the table, the hope of participating in the 2026 World Cup is not yet closed for these two teams.

After 3 stages of this qualifying round, Asia has finished distributing the first 6 tickets to attend the 2026 World Cup, with a notable detail being the appearance of 2 teams appearing for the first time in the World Cup arena: Uzbekistan and Jordan.

New wind everywhere

Not only Asia, the new wind is blowing everywhere in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Please do not think that this is entirely the result of the expansion of the World Cup arena from 32 to 48 teams. However, that is only part of the reason. Throughout history, the World Cup arena has never not introduced new players every time this global football festival opens, but the number of new teams is usually very small. Only 5 new teams appeared in the last 4 World Cups. This year, Jordan and Uzbekistan have officially booked their tickets, as mentioned above. And it is worth mentioning that they have stood above traditional powers in the region, such as Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE.

In Africa, there is a very "strange" team that is flying high, holding a 90% chance of getting a ticket straight to the 2026 World Cup finals. That is Cape Verde - the team leading Group D, 4 points ahead of Cameroon with only 2 matches left in the race. Besides Cape Verde, there are 2 other teams hoping to make history in this qualifying round, with different levels. Those are Benin and Gabon. Benin is temporarily ranked above South Africa, while Gabon is only 1 point behind Ivory Coast. All have 2 matches left, any strong team that stumbles will hardly have a chance to recover.

In CONCACAF, pay special attention to Suriname - home to countless Dutch legends, such as Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids. The South American (but CONCACAF) country is leading its qualifying group, with hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Guatemala, Curacao and Bermuda are other teams quietly waiting for their chance to make history in the region.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-su-world-cup-dang-moi-goi-nhung-doi-nao-185251006213622961.htm