Countries That Have Been Banned From The FIFA World Cup.

FIFA World Cup season is on and we are watching nations from all over the world, battle for the biggest prize, on the biggest stage in world of football. We also have to remember that some national teams will not be featuring. Of course, the majority of countries that miss out on World Cup Tournaments because they fail to qualify. But there are actually a few that don’t feature simply because they can’t. They have been banned. In almost every World Cup Tournament since 1950, at least one country has been banned from participating for different reasons and we will be looking at some of those countries and the reasons, they were banned. Here are six countries that have been banned from playing in the World Cup.

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1. Germany and Japan – 1950: The Second World War happened between 1939 and 1945 and because of that two World Cup Tournaments could not be held. When the competition returned in 1950, FIFA decided to punish the major players in that war by banning both Germany and Japan from featuring in the tournament. Considering the fact that they did that, it is surprising that they allowed Italy, who were one of the axis powers, to feature in the 1950 tournament.

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2. South Africa – 1961 - 1992: South Africa was banned from entering the World Cup for more than three decades, basically because of apartheid. The racism in the country back then was rife. Apparently, their local leagues were divided by race and the white clubs were seen and treated as superior to the black ones. So, in 1961, FIFA banned them and expelled them from the football family. They were reinstated in 1993, but the leaders of the country at the time showed that they hadn't learned their lesson when they decided that they would send an all-white team to England ‘66 and an all-black team to Mexico ‘70, just so both races don’t mix. So, FIFA did not admit them into that tournament and then banned them again. They remained banned until 1992 when South Africa was nearing independence. All political prisoners had been released and an open negotiation process of political parties commenced. So, FIFA lifted the ban and reinstated them. So they played in the World Cup qualifiers for the ‘94 tournament but lost out to Nigeria. In 1998, however, South Africa went on to qualify and make their first ever appearance at a FIFA World Cup tournament. Twelve years later, they were hosts, and till date, that remains the last time they have qualified for the World Cup.

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3. Mexico – 1990: Mexico has hosted the FIFA World Cup twice and will be hosting again in four years’ time. But just after the last time they hosted – which was in 1986 – they committed a grave offense which saw them get banned for two years. They were found guilty of fielding over-aged players in qualifying games for the 1988 Olympics. So, for that, FIFA banned them for two years which meant that they missed Italia ‘90. But they were back in time for USA ‘94 and have qualified for every World Cup Tournament since then.

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4. Chile – 1994: Chile hosted the World Cup in 1962 and finished 3rd on home soil. But thirty two years later, they were not allowed to enter the competition. Because of a man named Roberto Rojas. Rojas played as a goalkeeper for the Chilean team back in the day and he was their starting goalkeeper as they approached the 1990 World Cup. Chile were a goal down in the second half of a qualifying game against Brazil, in 1989 which they needed to win. They could not afford a loss or even a draw, if not, they would miss out on the 1990 tournament. They didn’t want to miss out, Rojas especially. With about 20 minutes to go in the game which was being played at the Maracanã, a flare was thrown into the pitch, and Rojas immediately went down. The firework was thrown by a Brazilian fan and it appeared to have hit the Chilean goalkeeper. His head was bloodied. He was stretchered out of the pitch and his teammates walked off with him as they claimed the playing conditions were not safe for them. So, the match was abandoned. Rojas was smooth. But he just was not smooth enough for video evidence. Tapes of the incident were later reviewed and it was discovered that the firework, in fact, did not even touch the goalkeeper. So, how did his bloodied head come about? He inflicted that upon himself with a razor he hid in his glove. After that discovery, instead of replaying the match, FIFA just handed Brazil a 2-0 win and that meant that Chile didn’t qualify for the 1990 World Cup. But that was not all. They were then banned for one tournament, which meant that they missed out on the 1994 edition in the US. Roberto Rojas, however, was banned for life, along with the team doctor and the coach.

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5. Myanmar – 2006: Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is an Asian country that has never qualified for the World Cup, since it stopped being a part of the United Kingdom. But that didn’t stop them from getting banned by FIFA. They were scheduled to play a World Cup qualifying match in Iran in 2002 but they withdrew. So, FIFA fined them 20,000 pounds and banned them from competing in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. By the way, that was the third time, the country was withdrawing from qualification so yeah, FIFA had had it up to here! Since that fine and ban, Myanmar have never pulled out from qualification again. They are still yet to qualify for the World Cup proper but they always show up for the qualifiers. Apparently, these bans work.

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6. Russia – 2022: This is one, we are all surely very familiar with. We saw everything unfold. Following their invasion of Ukraine, Russia has basically been ostracized by most of the globe. And we saw huge effects of that in the world of football. A Russian club owner was basically forced out of the UK. Russian football clubs were immediately kicked out of European competitions. The Champions League final was moved away from Russia where it was scheduled to be held. And of course, the Russian national teams were banned and suspended by FIFA. Russia, who had already reached the playoffs, and were two games away from qualifying for their 3rd straight World Cup, were effectively kicked out. So now, the hosts of the last World Cup tournament will not be featuring in this year’s tournament.

Which of these ban stories do you find more intriguing? Let us know in the comments.

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