Beneficiaries of military expansion! FIFA takes stock of possible new teams for the World Cup: Cape Verde, Benin, Curacao

In the final round of the African region of the World Cup preliminaries, Cape Verde only needs to defeat Swaziland to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in team history, and will become the country with the smallest participating population after Iceland.

In response, Cape Verde announced that 525,000 people nationwide would have a half-day holiday on that day.

This World Cup has expanded to 48 teams. FIFA officials have also taken stock of possible new World Cup teams. Jordan and Uzbekistan have confirmed their participation in the World Cup for the first time, and Cape Verde is also expected to advance.

At the same time, multiple teams from the African Football Confederation, the Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Curacao, Gabon, Madagascar, New Caledonia, Suriname and Uganda, all cherish the dream of making their World Cup debut.

They will achieve their goals through two ways: either directly advancing as the first in the group, or competing for tickets through the intercontinental play-offs to be held in March 2026.