6 Worst International Teams in World Football (2025)

When we think of international football, we think of the great Brazil teams of yesteryear, Lionel Messi’s dramatic first World Cup victory in 2022 and England’s only major trophy in 1966. This article will not look at tales of fortune, though, and instead will look at the worst national football teams in each continent, according to the FIFA Men’s Rankings.

FIFA rank 210 national teams using a points system, accumulated through success in continent qualifiers, major tournaments and even in friendlies. The 210 nations are split into six different confederations outlined below:

• AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
• CAF (Confederation of African Football)
• CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football)
• CONMEBOL (The South American Football Confederation)
• OFC (Oceania Football Confederation)
• UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)

UEFA – San Marino

European nations have dominated the World Cup in the 21st century, with four of the last five winners coming from the UEFA Confederation. However, European football has the worst national team in the world, as San Marino are ranked 210th in the FIFA rankings.

San Marino have only won twice since their first international match in 1986, with both being 1-0 wins over Liechtenstein – the first in April 2004, and the second coming 20 years later when they defeated them in September 2024. While the first fixture was a friendly, the second victory is perhaps more meaningful given that it came in the UEFA Nations League group game. However, they are still yet to win a single match in the European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.

Despite another wretched qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they still remain in contention for an unlikely spot at the tournament through their performance in the Nations League. While it may remain a pipe-dream, it is still a dream nonetheless.

CONCACAF – Anguilla

Next in the world rankings is Anguilla, who currently sit 209th, only a place above San Marino. The Caribbean nation have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or CONCACAF Gold Cup. In the first round of qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in the CONCACAF region, Anguilla played El Salvador in a two-legged match.

However, Anguilla were quickly out of the tie, losing the first leg 12-0 in San Salvador. The second leg was played in front of 22,670 fans, and they were able to limit the damage, only losing the game 4-0, meaning the two-leg aggregate score was 16-0. The country’s biggest defeat, however, came on November 10, 2019, when they lost 15-0 to Trinidad and Tobago in an international friendly.

Since their first international match in 1985, Anguilla have won nine matches, including wins against the British Virgin Islands, Saint Martin and Montserrat. The biggest victory in Anguilla’s victory came on February 8, 2001, when they beat Montserrat 4-1. Goals from Terrence Rogers, Girdon Connor and Ian Edwards secured a famous win for the nation.

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AFC – Guam

Guam have struggled for wins in recent years, but they once reached 146th in the FIFA rankings in 2015, following impressive victories against Turkmenistan and India. Jason Cunliffe is a legend for the Asian country, scoring the most goals in their history and is also the most capped player. Cunliffe has 66 caps for Guam, which is 24 more than the next highest-capped player, Ian Mariano.

The 40-year-old plays as an attacking midfielder now and has played for the nation since 2006. Guam have lost their last 12 matches, including two 7–0 defeats to China. Their last win came back in 2019 when they beat Bhutan 5-0 in the second leg of a World Cup qualifier.

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CAF – Seychelles

Seychelles are now officially the worst-ranked international team in the Confederation of African Football, having slipped past Somalia. Seychelles find themselves 203rd, a far cry from the 129 ranking they were in back in October 2006. Managed by Ralph Jean-Louis, ‘The Pirates’ most recent games came in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification group, losing to Gabon 3-0 on 20th March 2025, before being smashed by Burundi 5-0 just a few days later.

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OFC – Tonga

On April 9, 2009, Tonga’s national football team made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. They suffered a 22-0 defeat to Australia, which at the time was the record international win. However, only two days later, Australia demolished that record as they beat American Samoa 31-0, which remains the biggest win in international football history.

In July 2023, Tonga became unranked by FIFA, as they hadn’t played an international match for four years. They finally played again on November 18, 2023, as they lost 7-0 to New Caledonia and recently beat American Samoa 6-2 in the Pacific Games, scoring five second half goals. Now, they are ranked 198th in the world.

CONMEBOL – Bolivia

Lastly, we have Bolivia, who are the highest ranked team on this list, as they are the 78th best team in the world, according to FIFA rankings. The qualifying stage in South America for the World Cup is notoriously difficult with only 10 teams fighting it out for six automatic spots.

Having said this, La Verde have qualified for the World Cup on three occasions, in 1930, 1950 and 1994. In their three World Cup campaigns, they have been eliminated at the first stage of the competition and are yet to win a game. It is worth noting, though, that in the 1994 World Cup, they drew 0-0 with South Korea and narrowly lost to Germany and Spain.

Bolivia have not started their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign well, losing five out of their first six matches. They are already four points behind Brazil, who occupy the last automatic spot in the tournament. On September 9, 2023, Bolivia lost 5-1 to the Selecao, thanks to goals from Rodrygo, Raphinha and Neymar.

Bolivia also took part in the 2024 Copa América, which is a co-organised event between nations in CONMEBOL AND CONCACAF. The United States were hosting the tournament. Unfortunately for Bolivia, they were knocked out of the group stages following 2-0, 5-0 and 3-1 defeats to the USA, Uruguay and Panama, respectively.

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All data has been accumulated from FIFA, TransferMarkt & Flashscore.