From England’s 60 years to Korea’s barren run - the longest major-title droughts in international football

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16 July 2026

England

's agonising wait for a major trophy goes on after defeat to Argentina at the 2026

World Cup

. It's been 60 years since the

Three Lions

won their sole major tournament, making it one of the longest droughts in international football.

Sudan claimed the first and only

Africa Cup of Nations

title as host nation in 1970.

Hasabu El-Sagheir scored the decisive goal in the 1-0 final win over Ghana, to secure Sudan's sole major tournament.

Sudan

, who have never qualified for the

, have progressed out the group stage at AFCON just twice since.

England are on the longest trophy drought of any European team to have won a major tournament. The

won the

on home soil in 1966, where a

Geoff Hurst hat-trick

inspired a 4-2 win over West Germany.

Since then,

have lost three

semi-finals and two European Championship finals, with four of those defeats having come since 2018. For a nation that prides itself as being one of the world's most reputable, the tangible success has been modest.

A recurring theme on this list has been nations to have won one major tournament, achieved as host nation.

Israel

won the 1964 Asian Cup by beating South Korea in the final.

In the 1990s, Israeli club sides and the national team began competing in UEFA competitions, more than two decades after leaving Asia, due to political protests from other Asian nations.

Israel have never qualified for a European Championship or

Ethiopia were a prominent part of the early

. Across the first three tournaments,

Ethiopia

finished runners-up, third, and then champions in 1962.

After reaching at least the semi-finals in five of the first six editions,

have qualified only four times since and have never progressed from the group stage.

South Korea hold the unwanted record for the longest major tournament drought. South Korea won back-to-back Asian Cup titles in 1956 and 1960, but have endured a wretched record since.

Across the last 66 years, South Korea have finished as runners-up on four occasions and reached the semi-finals a further four times. The Taegeuk Warriors did also reach the

semi-finals during a memorable underdog run on home soil in 2002.

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