See teams that, like Russia, were left out of World Cups for wars and political reasons

As a result of the war started by Russia against Ukraine, FIFA suspended the country’s selection from all international competitions organized by the entity. That way, the Russian team will no longer play the European repechage for the World Cup in Qatar and is out of the tournament.

The game against Poland, for the semifinal, was scheduled for March 23. The Poles, however, had already said through the country’s football federation that they would not contest the duel.

If the Russians managed to advance, they would face in the decision for a spot the winner of the confrontation between Sweden and the Czech Republic. The two national federations had also defined a position of not playing with the Russian team.

It is not the first time that an armed or political conflict has prevented a team from participating on the biggest stage in football. Japan and Germany were out of the tournament because of World War II, Spain also lost an edition due to a civil war in the country, and South Africa was suspended for almost 20 years due to apartheid.

Check out these and other stories from countries that ended up unable to compete in the World Cup.

Spain, 1938

The Spanish team went down in history as the first country to be left out of a World Cup because of a conflict. Involved in the civil war that ended with the victory of dictator Francisco Franco, Spain had its application rejected by FIFA, although another version suggests that the country itself has given up on participating in the Qualifiers.

Austria, at the time occupied by Germany, even obtained its classification for the World Cup, but ended up unable to participate in the tournament held in France.

Japan also withdrew from the qualifiers because of conflict with China. In this way, the classification ended up with the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), which became the first country in Asia to compete in the World Cup.

Japan and Germany, 1950

By guidance of the UN (United Nations), Japan and Germany were suspended shortly after the Second World War. As the punishment started in 1945 and only ended in 1950, there was no time for the two countries to compete in the Qualifiers.

After the 1938 World Cup, the competition took a hiatus from 1939 to 1945 precisely because of World War II.

When the tournament was held again, Brazil ended up being chosen as the host for 1950.

South Africa, 1966 to 1990

After an unrestricted World Cup in 1962, the 1966 World Cup marked the beginning of one of the longest suspensions imposed by FIFA, when South Africa ended up unable to compete in the World Cup due to the apartheid regime in the country.

The nation would only return to the Qualifiers in the 1990s, when it participated in the cycle for the 1994 World Cup.

The racial segregation regime, however, was in force from 1948 to 1994, a period in which the country had four national federations. The oldest was Fasa, which only accepted white athletes; Saifa was made up of South African players of Indian origin; SABFA brought together the Bantu, people from a region of the country that had its own dialect; the SACFA was made up of black athletes.

In 1992, a unified national team played its first official game. The team would only achieve its first classification for the World Cup years later, in the 1998 World Cup, in France.

Iran, 1986

Taking advantage of the Iranian Revolution, which isolated Tehran, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the Kurdistan region, on the Iranian border, and took control over both banks of the Shatt al-Arab River. The war ended in 1988 with the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Iran, the division of sovereignty over the river and the exchange of prisoners of war.

Due to the conflict, FIFA decided to suspend Iran. Without specifying the reasons, the entity chose not to punish Iraq, which, in addition to disputing the Qualifiers, qualified for the edition held in Mexico.

Yugoslavia and Libya, 1994

Also following the recommendations of the UN (United Nations), FIFA decided to suspend Yugoslavia and Libya.

The Yugoslavs did not compete in the 1994 World Cup Qualifiers because of the Balkan War, which resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 people.

Libya, on the other hand, became the target of diplomatic isolation after, under the administration of dictator Muammar Al-Gaddafi, it broke with the United States and European countries due to its policy against Israel.