The surprise success stories to follow at the World Cup

The draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup will be held in Washington DC next week (5 December), and while supporters of teams that qualified will be anxious to know who they will play, most of the world's population will not be represented.

China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan - five of the planet's six most populous countries - have all missed out on the tournament co-hosted by the Canada, Mexico and the United States next June and July.

Indeed, of the 209 countries that started out on the journey, only 64 still have a chance of reaching the finals. And that number will be whittled down to 48 after play-offs in March determine the final line-up for football's global showpiece.

So if your country isn't at the World Cup, who should you support?

Well, everyone loves an underdog, so why not pick one of these plucky outsiders as your team for the tournament?

With only 155,000 inhabitants and 444 sq km of territory, Curacao is the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup, in terms of both population and size.

Most of the inhabitants of the Caribbean island, located just 60km off the Venezuelan coast, could fit in the venue for the final, the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (capacity 82,500).

Curacao boss Dick Advocaat, 78, will become the oldest coach to lead a side at a World Cup. The former Rangers and PSV boss has also been the national manager of eight different countries, but called qualifying with Curacao "the craziest thing I've ever achieved as a coach".

For a brief period until Curacao qualified, Cape Verde was the country with the second-smallest population to qualify. The small Atlantic archipelago off the coast of West Africa booked their place after beating Eswatini 3-0 last month.

Victory meant the Blue Sharks secured top spot in their group and a place at the 2026 tournament ahead of continental heavyweights Cameroon.

The national team has relied heavily on members of the diaspora to improve its footballing fortunes over recent years. Centre-back Roberto "Pico" Lopes – who was born and plays in Ireland – got his first call-up via an approach on business networking website LinkedIn.

"We're all over the world. It's great what we can achieve when we're together," he told the BBC's Destination New Jersey podcast.

Uzbekistan put itself on the footballing map in 2008 when club side Bunyodkor announced the signing of top Brazilian forward Rivaldo, with fellow countryman and superstar Zico as manager.

Both stayed only briefly but football's development there has been longer lasting. Uzbekistan have put in consistent performances in the Asian Cup, reaching the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarter-finals in 2023.

Having narrowly missed out before, the White Wolves will make their debut next year under the guidance of former Italy centre-back and 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro.

Jordan fans have known they will be going to the finals since June, when they clinched qualification with a 3-0 away win in Oman.

The team's Moroccan coach, Jamal Sellami, dedicated the achievement to "all the people who believed in us" and praised the years of hard work from players and the Jordan Football Association.

Their recent progress has been notable, reaching the final of the 2023 Asian Cup after taking out Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea in the semi-final before losing to hosts Qatar.

Haiti's coach, 52-year-old Frenchman Sebastien Migne, has never even visited the country.

He has been unable to set foot there since being appointed 18 months ago because of the continuing conflict afflicting the Caribbean nation. Nearly 1.3 million people have been internally displaced by the gang-related violence, which kills thousands each year.

But that has not stopped Migne from guiding Haiti to the finals for the first time since 1974.

They will be hoping to improve on that performance, which saw them fail to win any of their three group games, in which they conceded 14 goals including a 7-0 defeat to Poland.

"My players will be wonderful ambassadors for a country that sorely needs them," Migne told the AFP news agency. "Haiti is not an easy place, with a people who are suffering and don't have many opportunities to celebrate."

Another country suffering devastating internal conflict could also reach the finals – the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The mineral-rich east of the country has been dogged by conflict for more than 30 years and the death toll is thought to number in the millions.

It is a nation in need of a good news story and the Leopards hope to offer just that.

The Central Africans upset Cameroon and Nigeria in continental play-offs this month to put themselves one win away from returning to the finals for the first time since 1974, when they competed as Zaire.

They will face either Jamaica or New Caledonia in a winner-takes-all encounter in March's intercontinental play-offs.

"It's a good draw, because on paper we are the stronger side," former captain Gabriel Zakuani told BBC Sport Africa.

Iraq is another team hoping to qualify via those play-offs - and another country with a recent history of conflict and sectarian strife.

A contentious 2-1 win at home against the United Arab Emirates, decided by a dramatic penalty in the 17th minute of added time, sparked jubilation on the pitch and in the stands of Basra International Stadium.

Iraq's only previous appearance at a World Cup was a group-stage exit in Mexico 39 years ago.

New Caledonia, with a population of just over 250,000, has also made it through to the intercontinental play-offs for the first time. They will need to beat both Jamaica and DR Congo.

Earlier in qualifying, they knocked out fellow Pacific islanders Tahiti. Separated by more than 4,600km of ocean, this "local rivalry" is one of the most distant in sport.

Finally, Suriname are the lowest-ranked team still in with a chance. Currently 123rd in Fifa's world rankings, they must get past Bolivia and the aforementioned Iraq.

Suriname's players didn't even celebrate the last-minute goal that took the smallest country in South America through to the play-offs, as it initially seemed other results would put them out.

The 2026 World Cup is going to look very different to its 22 predecessors, with its largest line-up yet.

Critics say it could lead to mismatches and less competition, while others point to the glorious upsets and nerve-wracking drama that a growing tournament has generated since the original competition in 1930, which featured only 13 teams.

It seems likely Fifa will continue to expand its scale and ambition, with the event's organisers already discussing a proposal for 64 teams to compete in the 2030 finals.