Nigeria is among eight of the world's 10 most populous countries absent from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, highlighting the gap between population size and football success as millions of fans from those nations rally behind other teams at the tournament in North America.
According to a BBC World Service report, only the United States and Brazil from the world's 10 most populous countries qualified for the current World Cup. Nigeria and Russia, despite their previous appearances on football's biggest stage, are among the notable absentees.
China and Indonesia have each qualified only once in their history, while India the world's most populous nation along with Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Pakistan, are yet to make a World Cup appearance. India famously qualified for the 1950 tournament in Brazil but withdrew shortly before the competition began.
The absence of these football-loving nations has produced striking scenes across South Asia, where supporters have adopted other national teams as their own. In countries such as Bangladesh, India and Indonesia, Argentina have emerged as one of the most popular adopted teams, with thousands of fans passionately backing the South American giants during the tournament.
Bangladeshi actor and football enthusiast Audite Karim said it remained difficult to understand why countries with such enormous fan bases continue to struggle to reach football's biggest stage.
However, British economist and academic Stefan Szymanski believes population alone is not enough to guarantee success in international football.
The co-author of the bestselling Soccernomics argued that factors such as economic strength, investment in infrastructure, coaching systems and football culture are equally important.
Szymanski noted that countries generally require an average annual income per capita of around $15,000 to consistently compete for major honours. He pointed out, however, that Brazil and Argentina have defied that trend, winning a combined eight World Cup titles despite lower average incomes—a success he attributes to their rich football traditions, sustained investment in talent development and decades of elite international experience.
