65 days to the World Cup: Haiti and DR Congo break a 52-year drought

Kari AndersonTue, April 7, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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The 2026 World Cup field has been set, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq joining the tournament after winning the play-in tournament last week. And those countries, along with Haiti have something very important in common: The three nations are finally making their return to the World Cup after a decades-long absence.

In the first year of the expanded 48-team tournament, Haiti and DR Congo are back in for the first time in 52 years. Both made their debut in 1974, back when DR Congo was known as Zaire. This year, Haiti qualified for the tournament outright after winning a CONCACAF berth, while DR Congo beat Jamaica in the play-in.

Iraq, which earned its 2026 spot by beating Bolivia 2-1, will be returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1986 — 40 years after making its debut. (None of these three teams advanced past the group stage in their debut year.)

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But they’re not the only countries ending droughts this summer. Three European teams — Norway, Scotland and Austria — are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1998, 28 years ago, while Czechia rejoins the tournament after a 20-year gap following a play-off win over Denmark.

The lengthy absence of those four teams indicates how crowded and highly competitive the UEFA field can be. Norway made the tournament in back-to-back years in ’94 and ’98, but hasn’t been able to break through since. Austria, Scotland and Czechia have deep roots in the tournament, and will be making their eighth, ninth and 10th World Cup appearances, respectively; Czechia has been a runner-up twice (1932, 1962), while Austria took third in 1954.

Now, though, all of these nations will get another chance to make a triumphant return to the tournament.

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Source: “AOL Sports”