Turkey qualified for the first time since 1954, Poland and Portugal both qualified for the first time since 1986 and Costa Rica and Uruguay qualified for the first time since 1990. Sweden, Russia and the Republic of Ireland also returned after missing the 1998 World Cup. 1998 semi-finalists the Netherlands, three-time participants in the 1990s Romania, Colombia and Norway, and Bulgaria and Morocco, who had participated in the previous two finals tournaments, alongside Iran which participated in the latest edition, failed to qualify, while South Korea set a record by appearing in a fifth successive finals tournament, the first nation from outside Europe or the Americas to achieve this feat.