Part of the attraction of the World Cup is the ability for countries to outperform their size, economic status and club prestige on the pitch
Just like in 2018, Croatia proved to be a powerful force at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar despite numerous factors working against them – including a tiny population to draw talent from relative to the United States, Mexico and others.
Zlatko Dalic made the most of a talented generation led by Luka Modric, guiding Croatia to a third-place finish after a memorable quarter-final upset of Brazil.
So how did all of the competitors stack up when taking population into account? GOAL's list is calculated by working out the difference between where each country ranks in terms of population size and their final ranking at the World Cup.
When teams went out in the same round, we used points (if a team went out on penalties in the knockouts, we say they drew their match), then goal difference and then goals scored to split them.
Getty Images32Iran (-21 points)
Population rank: 5
World Cup finish: 26
Despite their size, it was hard to blame Iran for struggling in Qatar given the civil unrest back home.
AdvertisementGetty31Canada (-19)
Population rank: 12
World Cup finish: 31
There was a lot of hope entering the tournament that Canada would be surprisingly competitive, but after playing Belgium close in their opener, they ran out of steam.
Getty Images30Mexico (-19)
Population rank: 3
World Cup finish: 22
Mexico parted ways with manager Gerardo Martino right after the tournament and must now re-assess their entire approach to international football. They're at a historical low point.
Getty Images29Germany (-11)
Population rank: 6
World Cup finish: 17
Didn't make it out of their group. There's no way to sugarcoat such an underwhelming result.