San Marino could have the opportunity to qualify for the 2026 World Cup without winning a single game, after they beat Liechtenstein to finish top of their Nations League group on Monday.
In winning just their second-ever competitive match - just a couple of months after their inaugural victory, also against Liechtenstein - San Marino will undoubtedly climb off the bottom of the FIFA rankings after picking up seven points from four games to finish first in a Nations League group containing Gibraltar and Liechtenstein.
For a nation that has picked up just three points - no wins included - in all European Championship and World Cup qualification campaigns since first attempting for the 1992 Euros, the play-offs provide a slightly better opportunity for San Marino, a nation that has never even had a sniff at reaching a major international tournament.
San Marino have a shot at a World Cup qualifying play-off spot - and could even qualify for the 2026 tournament without winning a game
In finishing top of their Nations League group, San Marino have an opportunity to automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup play-offs - though plenty more results will need to go their way for that to happen.
World Cup qualifying for European nations will get underway in March 2025, with 12 groups of five and six teams competing for a place in the North American-hosted tournament. The 12 winners of the groups will directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the 12 runners-up also enter the play-offs - for which four more teams will qualify.
There are then four more play-off spots for the best-ranked Nations League group winners who do not finish in the top two of a World Cup group.
With 14 Nations League leagues in total, San Marino will be praying as many Nations League group winners as possible automatically qualify by topping their respective World Cup qualifying groups.
That could prove a tad trickier when considering that some Nations League group winners are guaranteed to be drawn together in the World Cup qualifiers, though, while nations such as Northern Ireland, North Macedonia and Moldova are unlikely to finish in the top two.
As it stands though, there's a good chance that a play-off spot would go to San Marino. If they make it there, they won't even need to win a match to reach USA, Canada and Mexico - with one-off games and penalties deciding draws, San Marino could win both the semi-final and final of their respective play-off path with shootouts.
