Five surprising countries that have outscored Canada at the FIFA World Cup since 1986

Tuesday's FIFA World Cup clash between Algeria and Belgium saw something happen that hadn't taken place since 1986; the Algerians scoring a goal in World Cup play. (It didn't help in the end, as they eventually lost 2-1, but making it to the World Cup and notching a goal there against a tough Belgian team isn't bad at all.) Of course, the 1986 tournament in Mexico also marked Canada's first (and thus far, only) World Cup appearance, but the Canadians didn't even score in three games there. Only making it to one World Cup puts Canada in some interesting company, as 20 countries have done that, including even some relatively good soccer countries like Ukraine. (It's notable that some countries on that list previously competed as part of the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia, like Ukraine and Slovakia respectively; others no longer exist, such as East Germany.) However, failing to ever score in the World Cup is something else, and it means there are some surprising countries that have accomplished more on this stage than Canada. Here are five of the most interesting countries from around the world that have qualified for the World Cup more recently than Canada and managed to at least score a goal.

(For reference, Canada's current population is estimated at 35.3 million, its nominal GDP for 2013 is estimated at $1.825 trillion U.S., its all-time World Cup record is 0-0-3 with no goals for and five against in a first-round exit, its best-ever FIFA ranking is 40th in 1996, and its current FIFA ranking is 110th. Population and GDP aren't directly tied to soccer performance, of course, but they give a general idea of how many people the country is drawing soccer players from and how much infrastructure it has.)

Algeria:
Population: 38.7 million (current estimate)
GDP: $219 billion U.S. (nominal)
World Cup appearances: 1982, 1986, 2010, 2014
World Cup record: 2-2-5, first round, 7-14 (win-draw-loss, furthest advanced, goals for-goals against)
Confederation: CAF (Africa)
Highest FIFA ranking: 19 (2012)
Current FIFA ranking: 22

Algeria has done much better than Canada, but that's not entirely shocking; they have a large population, and soccer's huge in the country. It is interesting that they had such a long spell of being out of the World Cup, though, from 1986 to 2010. That perhaps provides some hope for Canada, suggesting that regional balances of power (and thus, who qualifies for the World Cup) can change dramatically over time. (The Algerian team is also indirectly responsible for a big World Cup rule changes; they didn't advance in 1982 despite a 2-0-1 record thanks to reported collusion between West Germany and Austria in the final group game, which led to all final games within a group being played at the same time.)

Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Population: 3,871,643 (2014 census)
GDP: $49.241 billion U.S. (nominal)
World Cup appearances: 2014
World Cup record: 0-0-1, in progress, 1-2
Confederation: UEFA (Europe)
Highest FIFA ranking: 13 (2013)
Current FIFA ranking: 21

Bosnia and Herzegovina's an interesting team, as they've only been competing as their current country since 1995 following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992. However, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of both) qualified eight times from 1930 to 1990, so there's a strong soccer tradition in the country. The Bosnian team has done quite well since independence, too, only narrowly missing out on the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. They have a small country and compete in a very difficult confederation, but they've accomplished quite a lot. It's also notable that their current starting keeper is Asmir Begovic, who was born in Bosnia but grew up in Canada and played for the Canadian team at the U20 and younger levels; he told Yahoo's Eoin O'Callaghan that he chose Bosnia because he was unimpressed with the leadership of the Canadian program, saying "Going forward I just didn’t see the future being that great for Canadian soccer." The future for Bosnia and Herzegovina certainly looks bright, and Begovic is a part of that.

Jamaica:
Population: 2,889,187 (2012 estimate)
GDP: $15.569 billion U.S. (nominal)
World Cup appearances: 1998
World Cup record: 1-0-2, first round, 3-10
Confederation: CONCACAF (North and Central America)
Highest FIFA ranking: 27 (1988)
Current FIFA ranking: 80

In 1998, their only World Cup appearance thus far, Jamaica became both the smallest nation to score in and the smallest nation to win a World Cup match. Their appearance wasn't spectacular, with a 3-1 loss to Croatia and a 5-0 thumping from Argentina, but they did beat Japan 2-1 in their final game. Jamaica's success with such a small population and such limited resources is impressive. They made it to the final stage of CONCACAF qualifying in this past campaign (one stage further than Canada got), but finished last in the hexagonal round.

New Zealand:
Population: 4,537,081 (2014 estimate)
GDP: $181.3 billion U.S. (nominal)
World Cup appearances: 1982, 2010
World Cup record: 0-3-3, first round, 4-14
Confederation: OFC (Oceania)
Highest FIFA ranking: 47 (2002)
Current FIFA ranking: 97

New Zealand's challenge in getting to the World Cup has typically been beating Australia, which dominated Oceania for decades, earning the confederation's lone opportunity to play off against a representative of another confederation for a World Cup berth in 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. (Oddly enough, Israel was in Oceania in 1990 and won the right to make it to the playoff that year.) Australia left for the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, though, opening up room for New Zealand. The All-Whites won OFC qualifying in both 2010 and 2014, making it to the World Cup in 2010 by beating Bahrain, but falling to Mexico in 2014. In the World Cup, New Zealand lost all three games in 1982, but tied all three in 2010, including an impressive 1-1 draw with Italy. They have a much different path to the World Cup than Canada thanks to their confederation, but face some of the same challenges (including lack of a strong domestic league and competition for players with other popular sports). They've managed to overcome them, though, and even though they're only 13 spots ahead of Canada in the current FIFA rankings, their chances of making it to a World Cup seem much better right now.

United Arab Emirates:
Population: 9,205,651 (2013 estimate)
GDP: $389.994 billion US (nominal)
World Cup appearances: 1990
World Cup record: 0-0-3, first round, 2-11
Confederation: AFC (Asia)
Highest FIFA ranking: 42 (1998)
Current FIFA ranking: 67

The UAE is the one country on this list that hasn't necessarily outperformed Canada at the World Cup; they've only appeared once and also lost all three games. Their appearance was more recent, though, and they did manage to score twice (albeit conceding six more goals as well). They've also come somewhat close to qualifying recently, making it to the final Asian group in 2010 and falling just before that in 2014, and they're 43 spots ahead of Canada in the current world rankings.

There are plenty of other countries that could be listed here, of course. Honduras has qualified three times (including this year), while North Korea has qualified twice. Senegal not only appeared later than Canada (in 2002), they advanced all the way to the quarterfinals. Still, Canada isn't the only underperformer out there; the People's Republic of China has only made one World Cup (in 2002) despite having 1.3 billion people, and Ukraine's lone appearance is surprising given the strength of their team. Only 77 of the 209 national associations in FIFA have ever made the World Cup, too, so there are 139 national teams with less World Cup success than Canada, including Venezuela, Finland and Kenya. (And Canada's much better than the world's worst team, the Turks and Caicos! Oh wait, we might want to add them?) When you look at the list of who has done better than Canada, though, plenty of countries with notably smaller populations, worse infrastructure and players diverted to other sports have managed more success on the World Cup stage.