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It takes the total number of nations to have participated in the World Cup up to 84 and, among them, there have been some excellent debutants. Technically, Uruguay and Italy are the best performing newcomers in the competition's history, both winning the trophy on debut in 1930 and 1934, respectively. The next best performances would then come from Argentina (1930) and Czechoslovakia (1934), who each finished as runners-up.
However, given the first World Cup came in 1930, these achievements came at a time when most teams were debutants. So, who has done well in the years since?
Since 1934, the best tournament for first-timers collectively was 1958 as all three - Northern Ireland, the Soviet Union and Wales - reached the quarter-finals. There was also a 100 per cent record for debutants making it beyond the first stage in 1966, as both North Korea and Portugal met in the quarter-finals. The latter would prevail and then run England close in the semis, before losing 2-1 to the eventual champions.
Excluding the first two World Cup tournaments, making the semi-finals remains the best performance for debutants, with one other team joining Portugal over the years in getting that far in that first tournament. Others have come close, too, with three nations making the quarter-finals on debut since 1994.
This summer, though, simply making the knockout stages will be a good tournament for the newcomers, with it 16 years since one did so. That was Slovakia, who beat Italy in 2010 to send the holders crashing out in the group stages. Could Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan or Uzbekistan follow in their path?
GOAL details the debuts of all 84 nations to have played at the World Cup...
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