Every World Cup scoreboard carries the same shorthand: three letters that stand for a nation and most are instantly recognizable.
England, for example, is ENG, Brazil is clearly BRA and GER stands for Germany, and so on. However, it isn’t as black and white for every country in the tournament.
Some seem to make little to no sense at all. There are those that possess codes that don’t match how English-speaking fans say their name — and the logic behind it is surprisingly more interesting than it looks.
Forty-eight teams bring unique cultures, history and different nicknames to the 2026 World Cup: here’s all of them explained.
Why Are Spain ESP?
REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
This one is easily explained, but Spain features an ESP rather than SPA. In this case, it comes from the country’s own name for itself: España.
The FIFA country codes are typically built from a nation’s official name rather than the English translation. Spain is one of the clearest examples of this. Yet, if FIFA had gone with the English word, the code would more plausibly read SPA.
Why Are Switzerland SUI?
Switzerland‘s case is a little deeper. The country has four national languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh), but FIFA’s code doesn’t borrow any of the obvious options.
SUI comes from Suisse, which is the French name for the country. It also isn’t SWI, the English-based abbreviation that fans would assume, and it isn’t CHE either (Switzerland’s separate ISO code taken from the Latin title and used mainly for postal and diplomatic purposes rather than sport). Hence, why Switzerland is SUI.
List of World Cup 2026 Team Abbreviations
Amber Searls/ Imagn Images via Reuters
Nation
Code
Confederation
Algeria
ALG
CAF
Argentina
ARG
CONMEBOL
Australia
AUS
AFC
Austria
AUT
UEFA
Belgium
BEL
UEFA
Bosnia and Herzegovina
BIH
UEFA
Brazil
BRA
CONMEBOL
Canada
CAN
CONCACAF
Cape Verde
CPV
CAF
Colombia
COL
CONMEBOL
Croatia
CRO
UEFA
Curaçao
CUW
CONCACAF
Czechia
CZE
UEFA
DR Congo
COD
CAF
Ecuador
ECU
CONMEBOL
Egypt
EGY
CAF
England
ENG
UEFA
France
FRA
UEFA
Germany
GER
UEFA
Ghana
GHA
CAF
Haiti
HAI
CONCACAF
Iran
IRN
AFC
Iraq
IRQ
AFC
Ivory Coast
CIV
CAF
Japan
JPN
AFC
Jordan
JOR
AFC
Mexico
MEX
CONCACAF
Morocco
MAR
CAF
Netherlands
NED
UEFA
New Zealand
NZL
OFC
Norway
NOR
UEFA
Panama
PAN
CONCACAF
Paraguay
PAR
CONMEBOL
Portugal
POR
UEFA
Qatar
QAT
AFC
Saudi Arabia
KSA
AFC
Scotland
SCO
UEFA
Senegal
SEN
CAF
South Africa
RSA
CAF
South Korea
KOR
AFC
Spain
ESP
UEFA
Sweden
SWE
UEFA
Switzerland
SUI
UEFA
Tunisia
TUN
CAF
Turkey
TUR
UEFA
Uruguay
URU
CONMEBOL
USA
USA
CONCACAF
Uzbekistan
UZB
AFC
Spain and Switzerland aren’t the only outliers; they are two among a group that follow a similar pattern. Take Morocco (MAR) and Ivory Coast (CIV) as examples. Those two follow the same French-derived logic as SUI, taken from Maroc and Côte d’Ivoire, respectively.
Then there are some codes that exist purely to avoid collisions. Austria becomes AUT rather than the more obvious AUS due to the fact Australia claimed the code first.
A third group also exists; it leans into formality rather than geographic. Saudi Arabia (KSA) and South Africa (RSA) both use codes from their full official titles. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of South Africa — rather than the shorthand for the country name alone.
According to reports, the schedule for England’s game against Mexico is set to be changed. The game was supposed to take place at 6pm local time in Mexico City, but will be moved.
There were fears that thunderstorms could cause delays on the day of the last 16 fixture. According to the Met Office forecast, the storms are expected to begin an hour before kick-off and last one hour into the World Cup clash.
As such, the game is now set to be moved to Sunday at 12:00 PM, six hours earlier than the intended kick-off. As such, if the change goes through, viewers in the UK wiill now watch the game at 7pm (GMT).
Even England’s best player understands the task ahead.
England Set To Have New Kick-Off Time vs Mexico
Hannah Mckay via Reuters
A report from Mexican news outlet Claro Sports explained that FIFA will change the kick-off time ‘due to the risk of a thunderstorm. A post on social media noted:
Claro Sports has learned that the round-of-16 match between Mexico and England is changing its schedule due to the risk of a thunderstorm. The match will take place this Sunday at 12:00 PM, in a key adjustment for one of the most anticipated clashes of the World Cup.”
Tottenham have received an official offer to sell one of their players in the summer transfer window from one of the ‘big teams’ in Turkey.
We could see a host of players leave Spurs in the summer transfer window, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side looking to bring in a host of reinforcements.
Spurs have already confirmed the signings of Mateus Fernandes, Jan-Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, and Martin Dubravka, which could lead to a number of players leaving the club.
Midfielder Joao Palhinha has already confirmed that he won’t be remaining with Spurs next season after the North London club had an opportunity to sign him on a permanent deal following his loan spell.
Yves Bissouma also departs at the end of his contract, but further exits are likely.
He won’t be a Tottenham Hotspur player next season
Tottenham Receive Official Offer
According to journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, Tottenham have received an official offer from one of the big sides in Turkey, likely meaning Fenerbahce, Besiktas or Galatasaray, for Brazilian forward Richarlison.
It’s unclear which team has submitted an offer for Richarlison or how much. Either way, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Spurs were willing to accept the deal.
Richarlison is unlikely to be the starting striker for Spurs heading into the new season. It wouldn’t be a surprise if De Zerbi’s men look to bring in a new centre-forward.
You scored
out of 20
Tottenham to Make Big Loss on Richarlison
Regardless of how much Tottenham have received in terms of the offer for Richarlison, they look set to make a huge loss on the Brazilian forward.
Considering he has hardly set the world alight during his time in North London, it is going to be difficult for Tottenham to even get near that in terms of a sale.
It would be a shock to see Tottenham receive even £30 million for Richarlison. They may have to accept that they are going to make a huge loss in order to get him off the books.
A former USMNT manager has gone viral this week after being called out for comments he made about Mauricio Pochettino following the USA’s 2-0 win over Bosnia in the World Cup Round of 32. The Stars and Stripes secured their first World Cup knockout victory since 2002 on Wednesday night.
Folarin Balogun – one of the standout performers at this summer’s tournament – played both hero and villain in Santa Clara. He scored the crucial opener to put his side in the driving seat, but then threw a spanner in the works for Pochettino and co. when he was shown a red card in the 64th minute. That left Mark Tillman to step up late on and double the co-hosts’ advantage.
After topping their group and recording back-to-back World Cup wins for the first time since 1930 with victories over Paraguay and Australia, the USA have well and truly caught football fever this summer. There’s a sense of optimism surrounding the team unlike anything seen before – but that doesn’t mean everyone is jumping on the bandwagon.
Ex-USMNT Manager Bizarrely Puts Pochettino on Blast After Bosnia Win
Phil Noble via Action Images via Reuters
Perhaps a little salty, Gregg Berhalter was unimpressed with Pochettino’s tactical set-up during the 2-0 victory over Bosnia, and believes superstar Christian Pulisic needs to be utilised more ahead of their Round of 16 tie vs Belgium.
Speaking on FanDuel’s Coaches Corner, which features Berhalter alongside fellow former coaches Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, he was critical of the way the US was getting ‘Captain America’ involved. “I want to touch quickly on Christian, because I don’t know if you guys remember the first time he touched the ball in the game?” he asked the studio.
“It really came from us building in our shape, it was like a 3-1-6 (formation) almost. (Bosnia) are playing, as Bob, mentioned a 5-3-2. So they shifted over once to our three, but then on the next pass to our open center back, they’re released with a midfielder. When they did that, Antonee Robinson was high, Malik (Tillman) was high, Christian was wide and we played in the ball.
“Malik runs behind the back line and Christian cuts across the middle of the field like a knife – just accelerating across the field. That was a really dangerous attack.
I would have liked to see that more. Stay wide, get the ball, take the opponent on and have been have players running from there. I don’t think we did that enough. I don’t think there was enough intention to get Christian the ball in those positions to really set him loose.”
While Berhalter – who has sat in Pochettino’s seat on two separate occasions, between 2018 and 2022, and again between 2023 and 2024 – was just providing some analysis, as he was called upon to do, he has been destroyed by his former supporters after the video quickly went viral on social media.
⚽
World Cup History Quiz
You scored
out of 20
Gregg Berhalter looks on before the game between the United States and Bolivia in a 2024 Copa America match at AT&T Stadium on June 23, 2024.Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Pochettino’s tactics are superior to those of the fired coach. That’s the opinion of a majority of USA fans right now, and so scrutiny towards the current manager’s predecessor has been swift, with one X user remarking: “Yes, let’s ask the guy who was fired for being bad at his job what we should’ve done,” as others pointed out that he “failed” to do what his heir has managed to do.”
“He needs to stay in his lane,” a third added, as a fourth wrote: “His opinion is irrelevant.” Elsewhere, a fifth brutally concluded: “If I were Greg Berhalter watching what’s happening right now I think I would be spending 100% of my time trying to make sure people don’t remember that I exist.”
Opta’s Supercomputer claims Lionel Messi’s Argentina have a stronger chance than England
In his first spell in charge of the USA, Berhalter’s side reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and won the Concacaf Nations League Gold Cup in 2021, but his second spell lasted only 14 games. After a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay to knock them out of the Copa AMerica at the group-stage, he still claimed he was the right person to lead the team to the 2026 World Cup, but faced the axe instead.