Seven nations that participated in the World Cup but no longer exist

Article Information

Author: Ahmed Raba, Role: BBC

Published: 10 minutes ago

Reading time: 9 minutes

Seven countries have participated in the World Cup finals. Some won the trophy, others reached advanced stages of the major tournament, and FIFA ranked them among the best teams in the world. However, political changes, wars, and conflicts led to the demise of these nations, meaning they no longer exist.

Despite the disappearance of these nations' names, global football records and the memory of fans still retain their achievements and statistics. The tales and stories surrounding them remain deeply intriguing.

1- The Soviet Union

Image caption: The Soviet Union national team in 1984, with Oleg Blokhin third from the left, standing.

The Soviet Union was established in December 1922 following the Russian Revolution and lasted until 1991. It comprised 15 socialist republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The Soviet Union qualified for the World Cup finals seven times: 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, and 1990. It missed the 1974 finals after refusing to play the second leg against Chile, and failed to qualify for the 1978 tournament.

Its best result in the World Cup finals came in 1966 in England, when it finished fourth after losing the third-place playoff to Portugal 2-1, having been eliminated in the semi-finals by West Germany by the same score.

Over the decades, Soviet football produced players who left indelible marks on European pitches and in global competitions. Among these players are those who etched their names into the legends and history of the game.

Lev Yashin: The Soviet goalkeeper of the 1950s and 1960s is considered one of the best goalkeepers in football history. He is the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or for best player in Europe, in 1963.

The 'Black Spider,' as he was nicknamed, played a major role in his country's triumph in the 1960 European Nations' Cup and the gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games. FIFA honored him by establishing the Lev Yashin Award for the world's best goalkeeper.

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Oleg Blokhin: A striker for Dynamo Kyiv, Blokhin was distinguished by his extraordinary speed and powerful shots. He holds the record for appearances for the Soviet national team (112 matches) and is also its all-time top scorer (42 goals).

Thanks to his immense talent and distinguished performance with his club Dynamo Kyiv and the Soviet Union, he was able to win the Ballon d'Or for best player in the world in 1975.

Igor Belanov: Another striker who dazzled football fans with Dynamo Kyiv and the Soviet national team in the 1980s. The goalscorer Igor Belanov won the Ballon d'Or for best player in the world in 1986, following the Mexico finals.

2- West Germany

Image caption: The West Germany team that won the 1990 World Cup.

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After World War II (1939-1945), Germany was divided into East and West. Each country had its own political system and its own sports and football organization. West Germany and East Germany remained in this state until 1990.

Despite the division, West Germany qualified for the World Cup finals 10 times, after being banned from the 1950 qualifiers due to World War II. However, they caused a major surprise in 1954 when they qualified for the finals and won the trophy.

West Germany subsequently qualified for the tournaments in: 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974 (host nation), 1982, 1986, and 1990. They won the World Cup in 1954, 1974, and 1990, and reached the final match in the 1966 and 1982 tournaments.

The Kaiser, Franz Beckenbauer: German football produced players who dazzled the world with their skill and physical abilities, but Franz Beckenbauer is the undisputed legend of West Germany. The Kaiser won the World Cup with his national team twice: first as a player in 1974, and second as a coach in 1990.

He is the only defender to have won the Ballon d'Or for best player in the world more than once, as he received the prestigious award twice, in 1972 and 1976.

In the 1970 World Cup finals, Beckenbauer suffered a dislocated shoulder in a match against Italy. West Germany had exhausted its legal substitutions, so the Kaiser strapped up his shoulder and continued playing for 50 minutes in the historic clash, which is known as the Game of the Century.

France Football established an award to crown the world's best goalscorers, and this award now bears the name of Gerd Müller; the West German striker of the 1960s and 1970s. Müller was a tireless goalscorer, especially within the six-yard box.

He scored 10 goals for his country in the 1970 World Cup finals and won the Ballon d'Or for best player in the world in the same year. In the 1974 finals, he scored four goals, including the winning goal in the final match against the Netherlands.

His international scoring tally with the West Germany national team reached 68 goals in 62 matches. At the club level, Müller scored 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches for Bayern Munich, and 74 goals in European competitions.

3- East Germany

Image caption: West Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer shakes hands with the East Germany captain in the 1974 World Cup match.

East Germany was founded as the German Democratic Republic in October 1949 and remained separate from West Germany until 1990.

East Germany did not achieve footballing success on par with West Germany. It only qualified for the World Cup finals once, in the 1974 tournament, which was hosted and won by West Germany.

The draw placed East Germany and West Germany in the same group. West Germany defeated Australia and Chile. East Germany defeated Australia but drew with Chile. Both teams secured qualification, but their match against each other was to determine the group winner.

In charged political circumstances, East Germany defeated West Germany 1-0. That was the only clash between the two teams.