In soccer, a team’s prestige depends on its success, trophies, brand, and style of play, among other things. Winning matches and tournaments attract more fans, fame, and riches.
At the international level, some countries, like Brazil, have a reputation for regularly winning and playing beautiful soccer. They are one of the countries that are said to be good at soccer.
While the best countries always get the attention, there are some countries that are relatively unknown due to their lack of success.
Some of these low-performing nations are limited to such mediocrity by factors like size, low population, financial woes, lack of governmental support, or disinterest in soccer entirely.
In this article, TOP SOCCER BLOG brings you the top 10 worst soccer nations.
1. San Marino
San Marino’s national team is widely regarded as one of the weakest in the history of soccer, having achieved victory only once and conceding an average of 4.2 goals per match.
Their affiliation with UEFA presents additional challenges as they compete against stronger nations compared to many other low-ranked teams in other continents.
In their inaugural official match, San Marino suffered a 4-0 defeat to Switzerland in a European Championship qualifier on November 14, 1990. Subsequently, they faced eight more qualifiers, losing all of them.
The team encountered particular difficulty in away matches, suffering defeats by at least four goals in all instances.
Since their competitive debut, San Marino has participated in the qualifiers for every European Championship and World Cup, yet they have never secured a victory in either competition.
Their sole triumph occurred in a friendly match against Liechtenstein, astonishingly after 70 attempts, with a 1-0 win on April 28, 2004.
During their first World Cup qualifying campaign, San Marino was grouped with England, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Turkey.
The opening match resulted in a 10-0 loss to Norway, and they concluded the campaign with one point, conceding 46 goals in 10 matches.
Even by Sammarinese standards, their qualification for the 1998 World Cup was disappointing, as they suffered defeats by three or more goals in every match and failed to score a single goal.
Until November 2014, San Marino were tied in last place in the FIFA World Rankings, a run that lasted since the rankings were given a new calculation methodology.
Presently, San Marino are the lowest among the 207 countries in the FIFA World Rankings.
2. Turks and Caicos Islands
Having formed a football association in 1996 and joined FIFA in 1998, Turks and Caicos Islands made its first appearance at an official FIFA competition when they entered the 2002 World Cup qualification.
In March 2000, the team was knocked out in the first qualification round by St. Kitts and Nevis 14-0 on aggregate.
At the 2006 World Cup qualifying competition, the side suffered a 7-0 aggregate loss against Haiti in February 2004.
On the 6th of February, 2008, the team achieved its first World Cup qualification win, a 2-1 against Saint Lucia in the CONCACAF first round at home, but in the second leg, they were eliminated after they fell short, having lost the away leg 0-2 in Saint Lucia for a 2-3 aggregate score.
The team went without a victory in an official game until the 3rd of June, 2014, when they beat the British Virgin Islands during the 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification.
Turks and Caicos Islands are currently ranked 201st in the FIFA World Rankings.
3. Bhutan
Bhutan has consistently held a place among the weakest national teams globally, as reflected in both the official FIFA rankings and the Elo rating system. Their goal difference stands at approximately −300. Admittedly, it is one of the countries where soccer is not popular.
The team has never succeeded in qualifying for the finals of a major tournament, with their official competition participation limited to the regional South Asian Games and the South Asian Football Federation Cup, aside from friendlies and qualifying matches.
In their debut at the South Asian Games in 1984, Bhutan suffered losses in all three games, conceding 2-0 to Bangladesh, 5-0 to hosts Nepal (eventual winners), and 1-0 to the Maldives, resulting in a last-place finish among the four competing teams.
Bhutan’s initial venture into international football at a continental level occurred during the qualification rounds for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup.
However, this tournament marked a nadir in their history, as they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Nepal in the opening match and an astounding 20-0 loss to Kuwait.
Seven of the ten Kuwaiti outfield players contributed to the scoresheet, with Bashar Abdullah netting eight goals and Jassem Al-Houwaidi scoring five.
Subsequent heavy defeats included an 8-0 loss to Turkmenistan and an 11-2 defeat to Yemen. Finally, their first-ever international victory came in a 4-0 win over Montserrat in 2002, marking their maiden positive result and the first time they had secured a clean sheet.
As of now, Bhutan holds the 182nd position in the 207-team FIFA World Rankings.
4. Anguilla
The Anguilla national football team is the national team of Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, and is governed by the Anguilla Football Association.
It is affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF. The team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
In their 10 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches to date, Anguilla has scored only two goals, conceded 41, had no wins, one draw, and nine losses!
Along with Bahamas, Tonga, Bhutan, Eritrea, San Marino, and Somalia, Anguilla are consistently one of the lowest-ranked teams in the world in the FIFA rankings.
As of the 22nd of October 2023, they rank 206th in the FIFA rankings, placing in the last two lowest-ranked teams.
5. British Virgin Islands
In the qualifying rounds for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the British Virgin Islands were drawn against St Lucia and got eliminated 10-0 on aggregate.
In the qualifying rounds for the 2010 World Cup, they were paired with Bahamas. They lost on the away goals rule after a 3-3 draw over both legs.
In the qualifying rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, they were in the unusual position of being favorites to win their two-legged tie against neighbors US Virgin Islands.
However, after shockingly losing the first leg 2-0 and the return leg 2-1, the British Virgin Islands once again failed to advance to the next round.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds saw the British Virgin Islands take on Dominica with both legs taking place in Dominica, with the first leg acting as BVI’s ‘home ground’ due to the away goal ruling.
Despite taking the lead twice, the Islanders fell to a 3-2 defeat at ‘home’ and drew 0-0 away, meaning that once again first round qualification remained elusive.
British Virgin Islands is currently ranked 204th in the world by FIFA.
Did you know? The former Tottenham, Chelsea, and Porto manager, Portuguese André Villas-Boas, had his first job as Technical Director of the national team British Virgin Islands in 2000 and 2001.
6. Aruba
Aruba made its debut in the 1989 Caribbean Cup qualifiers, where it experienced its most significant defeat against Trinidad and Tobago, who triumphed with a resounding 11-0 victory.
The team’s first World Cup qualifying match took place during the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign against the Dominican Republic.
Despite participating in all subsequent World Cup qualifying tournaments, Aruba has been unable to progress beyond the initial qualifying round.
Aruba has also yet to qualify for the Caribbean Cup. However, they showed some progress in the preliminary round of the 2014 Caribbean Cup by getting two wins against Turks and Caicos (1-0) and British Virgin Islands (7-0), the latter being the biggest victory in its history.
These results allowed them to reach 120th place in the FIFA World Ranking for the month of June 2014, their best ranking to date.
Following these victories, Aruba lost 2-0 against French Guiana and were eliminated.
Aruba began their 2018 World Cup qualification in the second round against Barbados, losing 2-0 at home and 1-0 away; however, FIFA ruled that Barbados had fielded an ineligible player, giving Aruba a 3-0 second leg victory and advancing them to the third round.
Despite that, in the next round, they were defeated again, this time by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who won 3-2 on aggregate.
Aruba failed to progress in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, finishing 4th in the first round.
7. American Samoa
In their initial qualifying campaign for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in April 2001, American Samoa was involved in a match that established the largest margin of victory in international football as they suffered a 31-0 defeat to Australia. It is still one of the highest-scoring soccer games of all time.
This result sparked discussions about the structure of qualification tournaments, prompting Australian manager Frank Farina and striker Archie Thompson, who scored 13 goals in the match, to advocate for the introduction of preliminary rounds to prevent such lopsided matches.
FIFA, the international football governing body, also supported this viewpoint. Subsequently, a preliminary round was implemented in the Oceanian zone qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Since joining FIFA, American Samoa has been regarded as one of the world’s weakest teams and were, until November 2011, the joint-lowest ranked national team in the FIFA World ranking.
On the 23rd of November, 2011, American Samoa recorded their second and first FIFA-recognized win when they defeated Tonga 2-1 in the first round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It was also the team’s first victory after 38 consecutive defeats!!!
8. Montserrat
On the 26th of March 1995, Montserrat played their first-ever home international match. They defeated Anguilla 3-2, thus achieving their first win.
The team beat Anguilla again in the next fixture to ensure progress to the Second Qualifying Round of the 1995 Caribbean Cup. The 1-0 win in the second leg was their only clean sheet in international football and their most recent victory for the next seventeen years.
The country exited the competition in the next stage, losing 20-0 against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines!
On the 30th of June 2002 (the day of the FIFA World Cup final), Montserrat played Bhutan in a game known as “The Other Final.” The friendly match between the two lowest-ranked teams in the world ended with a 4-0 win for Bhutan in front of 15,000 fans.
Montserrat entered the World Cup qualifiers once more for the 2006 competition but again lost in the first qualifying round, this time losing 20-0 against Bermuda.
Montserrat then competed in the 2005 Caribbean Cup but once more failed to advance past the preliminary round.
In 2008, they were defeated 7-1 by Suriname in the first qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup.
In 2012, Montserrat achieved their first victory since 1995 and their first-ever victory since joining FIFA, beating the British Virgin Islands 7-0 in a 2012 Caribbean Championship qualifying match.
Montserrat are currently 180th in the FIFA World Rankings.
9. Bahamas
The Bahamas national football team is controlled by the Bahamas Football Association; it was founded in 1967 and joined FIFA in 1968.
The Bahamas has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup. They have been a part of CONCACAF since 1967.
Bahamas played their first international matches in the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games; losing their debut 3-0 against Puerto Rico, followed by an 8-1 loss against Netherlands Antilles and 5-0 to Venezuela.
They did manage to get their first draw, though, a 2-2 result against Dominican Republic.
The following year, Bahamas participated in the 1971 Pan American Games, achieving their first victory over Dominican Republic 4-2, but failed to progress beyond the group stages.
They returned to play in the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games and managed a historic 1-0 victory against Panama, but lost 3-0 to Bermuda and 2-0 to the Dominican Republic and got eliminated yet again in the first round.
On the 28th of April 1987, the Bahamas experienced their worst defeat at the hands of the Mexican team, who crushed them 13-0 as part of the qualifying tournament for the 1987 Pan American Games!
The 2000s saw Bahamas enter three consecutive FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 2002, 2006, and 2010, being eliminated by Haiti (aggregate score 13-0), Dominica (aggregate score 4-2), and Jamaica (aggregate score 13-0), respectively.
In the 2007 Caribbean Cup, they got through the first knockout round but finished in last position in the second qualifying round behind Barbados, Saint Vincent, and Bermuda.
In the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the Bahamas thrashed the Turks and Caicos Islands with an aggregate score of 10-0, advancing to the second phase.
However, the team withdrew from the competition as the renovations for their national stadium were not completed, and playing at neutral venues would have been financially impossible for them.
In the 2018 World Cup qualifying, Bahamas faced Bermuda in the first round, losing 8-0 on aggregate.
In the first round of 2022 World Cup qualification, Bahamas failed to score a goal, finishing in last place, having conceded 15.
They are currently ranked 199th by FIFA.
10. Sri Lanka
Football in Sri Lanka stands somewhat in the shadow of Cricket.
Sri Lanka suffered their heaviest-ever soccer defeat when they lost 1-12 to East Germany in 1964.
Decades later, a shock defeat at the hands of Mongolia — the lowest-ranked team in Asia — rocked the continent.
In July 2018, Sri Lanka made history when they faced Lithuania, their first against an European team. The Sri Lankans managed a respectable 0-0 draw to the UEFA side but lost 0-2 in the second encounter.
During the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Sri Lanka suffered another shocking result as the team fell 0-1 at home to Macau.
Following their refusal to travel to Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, Macau was subsequently disqualified.
As a consequence, Sri Lanka was granted a 3-0 victory, enabling them to advance to the second round of the World Cup for the first time since the 2006 campaign.
In the second round, Sri Lanka faced a challenging draw, being grouped with four 2019 AFC Asian Cup participants: South Korea, North Korea, Lebanon, and Turkmenistan.
As anticipated, Sri Lanka struggled against the group’s strong teams, losing all matches without managing to score a goal, leading to their elimination from World Cup contention.
As predicted, Sri Lanka proved too weak for the group, losing all matches without scoring a single goal and got eliminated from World Cup contention.
Currently, Sri Lanka sits 202nd among the 207 countries in the FIFA World Rankings.
