World Cup population numbers are for the worldly—and the weirdly obsessive.
Without formally committing to either category, I’ve created this sortable table of the 32 nations that qualified for the knockout round in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Pay special attention to the comparison column—after all, this tournament is all about perspective. The comparisons are, of course, not exact, but they’re reasonably close.
| Country | Population (in millions) | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 47 | 2 Floridas |
| Argentina | 46 | 2 Mexico City metro areas |
| Australia | 27 | 2 Pennsylvanias |
| Austria | 9.2 | New Jersey |
| Belgium | 11.9 | Ohio |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3.4 | Utah |
| Brazil | 213 | 15% of China |
| Canada | 41 | California |
| Cape Verde | 0.5 | Springfield (MO) metro area |
| Colombia | 53 | Andhra Pradesh (Indian state) |
| Croatia | 3.8 | Connecticut |
| DR Congo | 112 | Jakarta + Tokyo + Dhaka metro areas |
| Ecuador | 18 | Kinshasa metro area |
| Egypt | 108 | 216 Cape Verdes |
| England | 58 | 84% of United Kingdom |
| France | 69 | California + Texas |
| Germany | 83 | Norway + Sweden + Netherlands + Spain |
| Ghana | 33 | NYC + LA metro areas |
| Ivory Coast | 31 | Texas |
| Japan | 122 | Maharashtra (Indian state) |
| Mexico | 131 | Bihar (Indian state) |
| Morocco | 36 | Tokyo metro area |
| Netherlands | 18 | Karachi metro area |
| Norway | 5.6 | South Carolina |
| Paraguay | 6.1 | Colorado |
| Portugal | 11.4 | Georgia |
| Senegal | 19 | New York State |
| South Africa | 63 | 28% of Nigeria |
| Spain | 49 | Spanish speakers in the US |
| Sweden | 10.6 | Michigan |
| Switzerland | 9.1 | Virginia |
| United States | 341 | 25% of India |
