The football teams with the most appearances at the World Cup

Appearing at the greatest football tournament on the planet is always a reason to be proud. For some teams, an appearance at the World Cup has become commonplace, for others, not so much.

From 2026 onwards, as a result of the increase in participating teams from 32 to 48, getting there might become easier.

But there are some teams who have managed a few more appearances than others.

What country has appeared at the most World Cups?

Brazil is the only team that has participated in all 21 tournaments.

Close behind is Germany with 19 appearances, next is Italy with 18 appearances, then Argentina with 17, Mexico with 16, then Spain, France and England with 15 appearances each. Belgium and Uruguay have 13 appearances each.

These numbers do not include the coming World Cup in Qatar.

Germany has made it to the top three the most out of any nation.

They have won four titles and have finished in second and third place on four occasions each.

Brazil has nine top three appearances (five times as a champion, twice in second place and twice in third place).

Italy has won four titles and appeared twice in second place and once in third.

Argentina has two titles and has appeared three times in second place.

Closing the top five, France have two titles, once in second place and twice in third.

In terms of the number of goals scored, Brazil is also the leader with 229.

Next comes Germany, with 226, and Argentina is in third place, with 137.

Due to their number of appearances, Germany and Brazil have also conceded the most goals – 125 and 105, respectively. Mexico has conceded 98 goals.

When looking at the ranking by confederation, UEFA has been champion 12 times, taken second place 16 times and third place on 17 occasions.

CONMEBOL in South America has won nine titles, taken second place at five cups and third place at three.

All other confederations (OFC, CONCACAF, CAF and AFC) together have only won third place once, the United States in the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.