Thomas Tuchel’s England completed a flawless qualifying campaign this week, winning all eight matches in their group without conceding a single goal. It is an imposing achievement, one that even surpasses their EURO 2024 qualifying run, which ultimately ended in a narrow final defeat to Luis de la Fuente’s Spain.
England have only once before qualified with a perfect record, back in 1954 when preparing for the World Cup. There is, however, an asterisk attached to that achievement, because only four qualifiers were played, half the number required for the 2026 edition. That tournament ended in a quarter-final defeat to Uruguay, but England are not alone in producing immaculate qualifying records. How, then, have other nations fared after similar campaigns?
YUGOSLAVIA 1954
Remaining in 1954, Yugoslavia not only qualified with a perfect record but also reached the finals without conceding a single goal. Managed under the joint committee system that governed Yugoslav football at the time, they were placed in a group with Greece and Israel and won every match 1–0, home and away. Even with the modest scorelines, it remained a flawless defensive display, although England in 2026 achieved the feat over twice as many matches.
So what happened when they reached the tournament? Much like England in 1954, Yugoslavia exited in the quarter-finals, losing 2–0 to eventual champions West Germany under Sepp Herberger. This mirrored the nation’s broader pattern in European competition as well. Yugoslavia twice reached the European Championship final, in 1960 and 1968, but fell short on both occasions, a series of near misses that resembles England’s history.
TUNISIA AND IVORY COAST 2026
Returning to the present, the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup has made qualification more competitive than ever. Even so, two African teams produced qualifying records that come close to matching England’s standards.
Tunisia, led by Jalel Kadri, went ten games unbeaten, recording nine wins and one draw, and conceded zero goals across the entire campaign. Ivory Coast, coached by Emerse Faé after his AFCON 2024 triumph, also remained unbeaten, finishing with eight wins and two draws, and likewise conceded no goals. Both sides enter 2026 as defensively formidable outfits and will aim to deliver Africa’s long-awaited first World Cup triumph.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING
Perfect or unbeaten World Cup qualifying campaigns are rare, but the European Championship has seen several teams achieve this feat.
Most recently, Roberto Martínez’s Portugal went unbeaten in qualifying for EURO 2024, a tournament in which they were eliminated by Didier Deschamps’ France on penalties after a goalless quarter-final.
In 2012, two nations completed unbeaten qualifying runs. Joachim Löw’s Germany swept through their group only to be halted in the semi-finals by Mario Balotelli’s iconic brace for Italy. Vicente del Bosque’s Spain also qualified undefeated and went on to dominate the tournament, concluding with a 4–0 victory over Cesare Prandelli’s Italy in the final, a result that completed their historic treble of EURO 2008, World Cup 2010 and EURO 2012.
The Czech Republic in 2000 remains the great anomaly of unbeaten qualifying. Under Jozef Chovanec, they won every match in a demanding six-team group that included Scotland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and a strong Slovenia side. The Czech team looked like serious contenders, built around a core that had performed so impressively at EURO 1996 and continued to supply top talent to major European leagues.
Expectations were high as they arrived at EURO 2000, but the momentum evaporated quickly. Despite their perfect qualifying run, they were placed in a brutal group with France, the Netherlands and Denmark, and ultimately fell at the first hurdle. It remains one of the clearest examples of a team peaking too early in the cycle and struggling to translate qualifying dominance into tournament success.
England will hope to emulate Spain in 2012 rather than the Czech Republic in 2000, and to do so on the world stage. Tuchel still has decisions to make regarding several starting positions, but the signs are highly encouraging as 2026 approaches. England will head to New York looking to add a long-awaited second star to the badge.
Roll on summer 2026.
