The world's worst national team may qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

For this, San Marino needs 10 out of the 14 group winners of the Nations League to qualify directly for the World Cup through the qualifying tournament, which will commence in March 2025.

The teams include Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, England, Norway, Wales, Czech Republic, Romania, and Sweden. These national teams will be seeded in the first and second pots during the draw, which makes it easier for them to qualify for the World Cup through direct selection.

If all the aforementioned teams qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, the San Marino national team will have the opportunity to compete for a spot in the tournament through playoffs against other Nations League group winners—North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, and Moldova. The playoffs will take place at the end of March 2026. The team that can secure two victories in the playoffs will earn a ticket to the tournament.

San Marino is one of the smallest and oldest states in the world. It is located on the Apennine Peninsula and is completely surrounded by Italy. The republic has an area of 61 km² and is home to just over 35,000 people.

Since 1990, the San Marino national team has been a full member of FIFA. Throughout its history, the team has played 211 official matches, winning only three of them. All victories were achieved against the Liechtenstein national team. The first win, with a score of 1:0, occurred in April 2004 during a friendly match. The other two victories were secured in the current Nations League campaign—1:0 at home and 3:1 away.

For a long time, the San Marino national team has been at the bottom of the FIFA rankings, officially being recognized as the weakest national team in the world.