6 Worst International Teams in World Football (2024)

When we think of international football, we think of the great Brazil teams of yesteryear, Lionel Messi’s dramatic first World Cup victory in 2022 and England’s only major trophy in 1966. This article will not look at tales of fortune, though, and instead will look at the worst national football teams in each continent, according to the FIFA Men’s Rankings.

FIFA rank 210 national teams using a points system, accumulated through success in continent qualifiers, major tournaments and even in friendlies. The 210 nations are split into six different confederations outlined below:

• AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
• CAF (Confederation of African Football)
• CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football)
• CONMEBOL (The South American Football Confederation)
• OFC (Oceania Football Confederation)
• UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)

UEFA – San Marino

European nations have dominated the World Cup in the 21st century, with four of the last five winners coming from the UEFA Confederation. However, European football has the worst national team in the world, as San Marino are ranked 210th in the FIFA rankings.

San Marino have only won once since their first international match in 1986. This was a 1-0 win against Liechtenstein on April 28, 2004. However, this was a friendly, and they are still yet to win a single match in the European Championship and World Cup qualifiers. Since the win against Liechtenstein, La Serenissima have played over 100 matches and have led for only 16 minutes against Malta and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Recent performances and results have been an improvement for the European minnows, however. San Marino recently only lost 2-1 to Denmark and Finland, who rank 21st and 60th, respectively. They did suffer a setback when they lost 3-1 at home to Saint Kitts and Nevis on March 20, but were able to draw against the same opponents four days later. Saint Kitts and Nevis rank 147th in the rankings, though, and not beating them in two games might be seen as a missed opportunity to register their first win in just under 20 years.

Pundits and fans alike have been captivated by San Marino’s search for an elusive victory, which has been helped by the popular account on X.com (formerly Twitter), @SanMarino_FA, which has 137,000 followers. The account regularly tweets updates about the team and is definitely worth keeping an eye on when the international break comes round.

CONCACAF – Anguilla

Next in the world rankings is Anguilla, who currently sit 209th, only a place above San Marino. The Caribbean nation have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or CONCACAF Gold Cup. In the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in the CONCACAF region, Anguilla played El Salvador in a two-legged match. However, Anguilla were quickly out of the tie, losing the first leg 12-0 in San Salvador. The second leg was played in front of 22,670 fans, and they were able to limit the damage, only losing the game 4-0, meaning the two-leg aggregate score was 16-0. The country’s biggest defeat, however, came on November 10, 2019, when they lost 15-0 to Trinidad and Tobago in an international friendly.

Since their first international match in 1985, Anguilla have won nine matches, including wins against British Virgin Islands, Saint Martin and Montserrat. The biggest victory in Anguilla’s victory came on February 8, 2001, when they beat Montserrat 4-1. Goals from Terrence Rogers, Girdon Connor and Ian Edwards secured a famous win for the nation.

AFC – Guam

Guam have struggled for wins in recent years, but they once reached 146th in the FIFA rankings in 2015, following impressive victories against Turkmenistan and India. Jason Cunliffe is a legend for the Asian country, scoring the most goals in their history and is also the most capped player. Cunliffe has 66 caps for Guam, which is 24 more than the next highest capped player, Ian Mariano.

The 40-year-old plays as an attacking midfielder now and has played for the nation since 2006. Guam have lost their last 12 matches, including two 7–0 defeats to China. Their last win came back in 2019 when they beat Bhutan 5-0 in the second leg of a World Cup qualifier.

CAF – Seychelles

Seychelles are currently 201st in the FIFA World Rankings. This is not their lowest ranking ever, as they were once 202nd in February 2020. However, recent results for the Pirates have been below par. In their last five matches, Seychelles have conceded 23 goals and only scored two. They lost all five of these matches, including a 9-0 defeat to Africa Cup of Nations winners, Ivory Coast.

In 2006, Seychelles reached 129th in the rankings, which is their highest since they first started playing international football in 1974. From June 28 to July 22, 2006, Seychelles won three consecutive games against Mauritius, Tanzania and Namibia. Most notably, Seychelles hosted and won the 2011 Indian Ocean Island Games after beating Mauritius in the final on penalties. Since this tournament victory, success has been hard to come by as they have only won seven games in a 13-year period.

OFC – Tonga

On April 9, 2009, Tonga’s national football team made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. They suffered a 22-0 defeat to Australia, which at the time was the record international win. However, only two days later, Australia demolished that record as they beat American Samoa 31-0, which remains the biggest win in international football history. In July 2023, Tonga became unranked by FIFA, as they hadn’t played an international match for four years. They finally played again on November 18, 2023, as they lost 7-0 to New Caledonia and recently beat American Samoa 6-2 in the Pacific Games, scoring five second half goals.

CONMEBOL – Bolivia

Lastly, we have Bolivia, who are the highest ranked team on this list, as they are the 84th best team in the world, according to FIFA rankings. The qualifying stage in South America for the World Cup is notoriously difficult with only 10 teams fighting it out for six automatic spots. Having said this, La Verde have qualified for the World Cup on three occasions, in 1930, 1950 and 1994. In their three World Cup campaigns, they have been eliminated at the first stage of the competition and are yet to win a game. It is worth noting, though, that in the 1994 World Cup, they drew 0-0 with South Korea and narrowly lost to Germany and Spain.

Bolivia have not started their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign well, losing five out of their first six matches. They are already four points behind Brazil, who occupy the last automatic spot in the tournament. On September 9, 2023, Bolivia lost 5-1 to the Selecao, thanks to goals from Rodrygo, Raphinha and Neymar. Bolivia are also taking part in the 2024 Copa América, which is a co-organised event between nations in CONMEBOL AND CONCACAF. The United States are hosting the tournament, which started on the 20th June. Bolivia look like they will be exiting the competiton at the group stage, following 2-0 and 5-0 defeats to the USA and Uruguay, respectively.

All data has been accumulated from FIFA, TransferMarkt & Flashscore.