Uzbekistan made its FIFA World Cup debut on Thursday when it took on Colombia in a Group K match in Mexico City.
With its first appearance, Uzbekistan becomes the ninth landlocked country to participate in the tournament.
Interestingly, Uzbekistan is the first doubles country to participate in the FIFA World Cup. A doubly landlocked country has no access to the sea and is also surrounded by landlocked countries or countries that do not have access to the sea themselves.
It should be noted that Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly landlocked countries, the other being Liechtenstein.
Here is the full list of landlocked countries participating in the FIFA World Cup:
Austria
Location: Central Europe
First World Cup appearance: 1934
Number of World Cup appearances: 8
Most successful World Cup campaign: third place (1954)
Bolivia
Location: Central South America
First World Cup appearance: 1930
Number of World Cup appearances: 3
Most successful World Cup campaign: group stage (1930, 1950, 1994)
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Czech Republic
Location: Central Europe
First World Cup appearance: 2006
Number of World Cup appearances: 2
Most successful World Cup campaign: group stage (2006)
Hungary
Location: Central Europe
First World Cup appearance: 1934
Number of World Cup appearances: 9
Most successful World Cup campaign: Runners-up (1938, 1954)
Paraguay
Location: Central South America
First World Cup appearance: 1930
Number of World Cup appearances: 9
Most successful World Cup campaign: Quarter-finals (2010)
Serbia
Location: Central Europe
First World Cup appearance: 2010
Number of World Cup appearances: 3
Most successful World Cup campaign: Axis Serbia: group stage (2010, 2018, 2022)
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Slovakia
Location: Central Europe
First World Cup appearance: 2010
Number of World Cup appearances: 1
Most successful World Cup campaign: Round of 16 (2010)
Switzerland
Location: Central Europe
First World Cup appearance: 1934
Number of World Cup appearances: 13
Most successful World Cup campaign: quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)
Uzbekistan
Location: Central Asia
First World Cup appearance: 2026
Number of World Cup appearances: 1
Most successful World Cup campaign: debut campaign
Please note: statistics only take into account the countries as individual entities. That’s why they don’t count the World Cups as larger entities like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro.
Published on June 18, 2026
