There have been a total of seventeen countries that have been banned by FIFA for violating their official regulations since the year 1950. Among these countries are three that have had their football associations suspended due to “serious circumstances” right before the 2026 World Cup.
As of February 2025, the men’s world rankings of FIFA include 211 different countries, while the women’s international football rankings include 194 countries.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country is currently placed on the list of nations that are prohibited from participating in matches sanctioned by FIFA.
Last year, FIFA and UEFA came to the conclusion that Russia should continue to be barred from participating in international competitions until the 2026 World Cup.
In addition, as we reported the previous week, FIFA has suspended the football federations of two other countries, namely Congo and Pakistan, with immediate effect due to serious circumstances. This effectively disqualifies these countries from participating in the World Cup, which will be held in the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico.
There are a total of seventeen nations that have been declared ineligible by FIFA since the year 2006. While some of them have been readmitted since then, others have not been reinstated from their suspension.
According to the majority of these instances, countries are expelled from FIFA because of interference from a third party, which is typically the government, in the affairs of football.
The World Cup of 1950 featured Germany and Japan.
As a result of their actions during World War II, Germany and Japan were both disqualified from participating in the World Cup in 1950, which was the first tournament to be held since 1938.
In addition, the Japan Football Association was suspended in 1945 for failing to pay dues, whereas its German counterpart was completely disbanded in 1945 and did not re-organize until after the tournament. Both of these events occurred in 1945.
The countries of South Africa won the World Cup from 1970 to 1990.
The South African Football Association (FA) was suspended by FIFA in 1961 due to the nation’s stringent apartheid policies. However, Sir Stanley Rous, the FA chief who was appointed as FIFA president between 1961 and 1974, resisted calls to expel South Africa from FIFA.
In 1976, Joao Havelange succeeded Rous as the leader of the nation, which ultimately led to its expulsion.
The prohibition was not lifted until 1991, which was also the year that a new football federation was established and apartheid was beginning to come to an end.
The year 1970 marked the official beginning of a ban on playing tournaments; however, technically speaking, the ban continued until the World Cup of 1966 because South Africa was simply not let into the FIFA membership.
Mexico won the World Cup in 1990.
Following the fact that Mexico fielded four players who were underage during a qualifying round for a world junior tournament, the country was banned from participating in FIFA tournaments for a period of two years.
They were unable to participate in the World Cup in 1990, which was ultimately won by West Germany.
Chile, World Cup winner in 1994
As a result of the discovery that Chile’s goalkeeper Roberto Rojas had cut himself with a hidden blade that was concealed within his glove during a match against Brazil, Chile was disqualified from competing in the World Cup the following year.
In the past, he asserted that he had sustained injuries as a result of a flare that was thrown by a fan. After that, Rojas was put on a permanent suspension from playing football.
Myanmar for the World Cup in 2006
Myanmar was not allowed to participate in any of the qualifying stages for the World Cup that was held in Germany in 2006. This is because Myanmar has never received a qualification for a World Cup.
Furthermore, they were penalized with a fine of $23,500 for their decision to withdraw from a qualifying match for the World Cup in 2002 that was scheduled to take place in Iran.
Russia (2022 World Cup, Euro 2024), Iraq (2008 and 2009), Nigeria (2014), Kuwait (2015), Indonesia (2015), Guatemala (2016), Pakistan (2017, 2021, 2025), Chad (2021), Zimbabwe (2022), Kenya (2022), and Congo (2025) are some of the other countries that FIFA has banned from participating in global competitions.
