Editing 1994 FIFA World Cup (section)

===Qualification===
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2021}}{{main|1994 FIFA World Cup qualification}}

Three teams—one African, one Asian, and one European—made their debuts at the 1994 tournament. [[Nigeria national football team|Nigeria]] qualified from the African zone alongside [[Cameroon national football team|Cameroon]] and [[Morocco national football team|Morocco]] as [[Confederation of African Football|CAF]] was granted three spots as a result of the strong performances by African teams in [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986]] and [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990]]. In the Asian zone, [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]] qualified for the first time by topping the final round group ahead of [[South Korea national football team|South Korea]] as both edged out [[Japan national football team|Japan]], which was close to making its own World Cup debut, but was denied by [[Iraq national football team|Iraq]] in what became known as the "[[Agony of Doha]]". In the European zone, [[Greece national football team|Greece]] made its first World Cup appearance after topping a group from which [[Russia national football team|Russia]] also qualified, competing independently for the first time after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].

The defending champion, [[Germany national football team|West Germany]], was [[German reunification|united]] with its [[East Germany national football team|East German]] counterpart, representing the unified Germany for the first time since the [[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938 World Cup]]. [[Norway national football team|Norway]] qualified for the first time since 1938, [[Bolivia national football team|Bolivia]] for the first time since [[1950 FIFA World Cup|1950]] (and the last time as of 2022), and [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]] for the first time since [[1966 FIFA World Cup|1966]]. Norway's 56-year gap between appearances in the final tournament equaled [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]]'s record in the previous tournament as the longest. This record was later broken when Wales qualified for the 2022 tournament after a 64-year absence. [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]] had its first successful qualification campaign since [[1978 FIFA World Cup|1978]], failing to qualify in [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982]], qualifying as host in [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986]], and being banned for the [[Cachirules]] scandal in [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990]].

The qualification campaigns of both [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]] and [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] were affected by political events. The nation of [[Czechoslovakia]] [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|dissolved]] in 1993, completing its qualifying group under the name "Representation of Czechs and Slovaks" (RCS), but failed to qualify for the finals, having been edged out by [[Romania national football team|Romania]] and [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]] in [[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4|Group 4]]. Yugoslavia (which was supposed to play in [[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 5|Group 5]]) was suspended from international competition in 1992 as part of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 757|United Nations sanctions]] against the [[Serbia and Montenegro|country]] as a result of the [[Yugoslav Wars]]. The sanctions were not lifted until 1994, by which time it was no longer possible for the team to qualify. [[Chile national football team|Chile]]'s suspension from the 1990 FIFA World Cup, following [[El Maracanazo|the forced interruption]] of its qualification game against [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]], extended to the 1994 qualifiers as well.

This was the first World Cup since [[World War II]] in which none of the [[Home Nations|UK Home Nations]] of [[England national football team|England]], [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]], [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]], and [[Wales national football team|Wales]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/24962509|title=When Wales were a spot kick from the World Cup|work=BBC Sport }}</ref> qualified (they withdrew their FIFA memberships between 1928 and 1946, during the first three tournaments), with England (finishing third behind Norway and [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] in [[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2|Group 2]]) missing out after having finished fourth in the 1990 tournament, and Scotland (who finished fourth in [[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 1|Group 1]]) failing to qualify for the first time since [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/05/14/world-cup-countdown-6-weeks-go-why-england-failed-qualify-1994-fifa-world-cup|title=World Cup Countdown: 6 Weeks to Go - Why England Failed to Qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup|date=May 14, 2018|magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref> [[France national football team|France]], which had been already designated as host of the [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998 tournament]], also missed out following surprise home losses to [[Israel national football team|Israel]] and [[Bulgaria national football team|Bulgaria]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/nov/16/from-vault-ginola-houllier-france-feud|title=From the Vault: The cross that cost France and started a 19-year feud|first=Paul|last=Campbell|date=November 16, 2012|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> This was the second World Cup in a row for which France had failed to qualify, and the last one to date not to feature England, France, and Japan. Other notable absentees were 1986 and 1990 Round of 16 participants [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]], UEFA 
Euro 1992 champions [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]], [[Poland national football team|Poland]], [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]], and [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]].

====List of qualified teams====
The following 24 teams, shown with their pre-tournament [[FIFA Men's World Rankings|FIFA World Ranking]] (in parentheses) from June 1994,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/rank=11/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618014701/http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/rank=11/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 18, 2015 |title=FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking (14 June 1994) |date=January 27, 2012 |website=FIFA.com |publisher=Fédération Internationale de Football Association}}</ref> qualified for the final tournamentː

{{col-begin}}
{{col-4}}
;[[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)|AFC]] (2)
* {{fb|KSA}}&nbsp;(debut) (34)
* {{fb|KOR|1984}}&nbsp;(37)
;[[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|CAF]] (3)
* {{fb|CMR}}&nbsp;(24)
* {{fb|MAR}}&nbsp;(28)
* {{fb|NGA}}&nbsp;(debut) (11)
;[[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)|OFC]] (0)
* ''None qualified''
{{col-4}}
;[[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)|CONCACAF]] (2)
* {{fb|MEX}}&nbsp;(16)
* {{fb|USA}}&nbsp;(23) (host)
;[[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL]] (4)
* {{fb|ARG|1861}}&nbsp;(8)
* {{fb|BOL|civil}}&nbsp;(43)
* {{fb|BRA}}&nbsp;(3)
* {{fb|COL}}&nbsp;(17)
{{col-4}}
;[[1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|UEFA]] (13)
* {{fb|BEL}}&nbsp;(27)
* {{fb|BUL}}&nbsp;(29)
* {{fb|GER}}&nbsp;(defending champion) (1)
* {{fb|GRE}}&nbsp;(debut) (31)
* {{fb|ITA|1946}}&nbsp;(4)
* {{fb|NED}}&nbsp;(2)
* {{fb|NOR}}&nbsp;(6)
* {{fb|IRL}}&nbsp;(14)
* {{fb|ROU}}&nbsp;(7)
* {{fb|RUS}}&nbsp;(19)
* {{fb|ESP}}&nbsp;(5)
* {{fb|SWE}}&nbsp;(10)
* {{fb|SUI}}&nbsp;(12)
{{col-4}}
[[File:1994 world cup qualification.png|thumb|upright=1.4|{{legend|#000cff|Countries qualified for World Cup}} {{legend|#ffb400|Country failed to qualify}} {{legend|black|Countries that did not enter or were banned from the World Cup}} {{legend|#ababab|Country not a FIFA member}}]]
{{col-end}}