Belgium join Turkey among five nations who should get World Cup ban

Turkey should be harshly punished for their lack of seriousness about the World Cup, while Belgium are close to facing similar consequences…

The expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams prompted fears that the tournament might be devalued somewhat but, by and large, the minnows have been among the success stories so far in 2026.

But sme of the more established teams are making shows of themselves. To the point where we must consider whether they deserve to be at the next tournament.

Here are five nations we reckon FIFA should consider banning from the 2030 finals…

Belgium

Belgium are on very thin ice here. Should they fail to make it through the group stage – a very real and present danger – they should not be invited to Spain, Portugal and Morocco in four years’ time.

When we predicted that no big nation will crash out as one of the 16 to go home before the last 32, it wasn’t one of our ballsier shouts. With at least one game in every group that a seeded team – a serious one – should win at a canter, it should be impossible to c*ck up before the real business starts with the knockout stages.

But we’ve long since stopped trusting Belgium. The Golden Generation is over, leaving the Red Devils stuck in a weird transition phase, still relying on some of the old boys who couldn’t get it done in their prime, much less in whatever stage of life Romelu Lukaku is currently stumbling through.

If Belgium, or any seeded non-host nation for that matter, fail to get out of their groups, they should be made to think about what they have done until at least 2034.

MORE: Could Belgium manage the unthinkable and pull off a World Cup group-stage exit?

Tunisia

Any nation who finishes a World Cup campaign with more managerial sackings than points should automatically be banned from the next one.

A country with as many goals as sackings ought to be permanently excluded so Tunisia have one game to find the single strike to avoid such ignominy. Assuming they don’t sack another manager before they face Netherlands.

With the Oranje seemingly in their stride, things could get messy for Tunisia, who were even worse in the 4-0 defeat to Japan than they were while losing 5-1 to Sweden, which was bad enough to get Sabri Lamouchi sacked.

Lamouchi’s axing illustrates the expectation upon Tunisia, who instead became the first side to lose their first two games by four-goal margins since 1994. If Netherlands repeat their five-goal shellacking of Sweden, Tunisia will equal Zaire’s record in 1974 of no points gained and 14 goals conceded. And Zaire had many more excuses than Tunisia for being a complete shambles.

Qatar

Qatar never really faced any sanctions for buying the the right to host the tournament in 2022, and their sense of entitlement seems to have followed them to the 2026 tournament, if their last game is any measure.

Canada wiped the floor with Qatar in Vancouver, the 6-0 scoreline at least providing some justice for the manner in which the Maroons behaved.

Qatar had two players sent off, before which they were still given the run-around by the co-hosts. One of those dismissals was for Assim Madibo, who at least seemed to show some remorse for snapping Ismael Kone’s leg.

Kone’s injury, though, seemed inevitable given the way Qatar seemed intent on kicking Canada into the knockout stages. Julen Lopetegui was also a thoroughly unpleasant presence on the touchline, worst of all making us root for Jesse Marsch, a sin punishable by expulsion.

Turkey

It’s time to lead the perennial dark horses to the dog food factory after Vincenzo Montella’s men made a proper b*llocks of what should have been a straightforward group.

Turkey’s campaign was over after two games which saw them lose 2-0 to what we subsequently came to realise is a poor Australia team – who still look good to qualify –  and 1-0 to a Paraguay side who provided the competition with its daftest red card, before playing half a game with 10 men.

Two defeats with an average of 75% possession are a terrible look on Turkey – especially one in the midst of a supposed Golden Generation with the talents of Arda Guler, Kenan Yildiz – but any team that takes 62 shots without scoring is very clearly not serious about the World Cup.

Italy

This is for Italy’s own good. Banning them from the 2028 tournament just spares them further inevitable heartache and, frankly, we’re a little tired of laughing at them now.

Italy, a proud nation boasting four World Cup titles, cannot possibly handle a fourth consecutive qualification failure so this, above all else, is an act of mercy.

Being Bosnia’d in the qualification play-offs this year prompted calls for the mother of all root-and-branch reviews into Italian football, the kind of inquiry that cannot be carried out and implemented inside four years.

So, Italy, give us a call if you get your sh*t together before 2034.