The countries participating in the World Cup over time

Participation in the early years of the World Cup varied depending on its location: until 1970, every World Cup was held in Europe or South America, and the tournaments tended to be heavily populated by teams from the host continent. In 1934 — the first year teams actually had to qualify — the first African team (Egypt) played, and the first Asian one (the Dutch East Indies/present-day Indonesia) followed in 1938. No World Cups were held in 1942 or 1946 due to World War II (during this time, the trophy was hidden under an Italian official’s bed for protection). Soon after the war, the 16-team field was standardized, and geographic balance began to slowly emerge. African countries began consistently participating in the '60s, and a team from the final remaining continent — Australia — first competed in 1974. The field expanded to 24 teams in 1982 and 32 teams in 1998, with the field eventually coming to resemble the relatively diverse, (slightly) less Eurocentric group that plays today. (Note: The colors show the teams' rankings at the end of the tournament. Blue is the winning team.)