--- title: Every 2018 FIFA World Cup Country Code Acronym Explained description: Here’s a complete list of FIFA codes for all 32 teams competing in the 2018 World Cup, with explanations. canonical: https://time.com/5313823/world-cup-fifa-team-name-code/ author: Alejandro de la Garza article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-15T19:10:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:35:24.377Z article:section: Sports og:title: Every 2018 World Cup Team Name Code, Explained og:description: What's CRC? What about KSA? We've got you covered og:url: https://time.com/5313823/world-cup-fifa-team-name-code/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14c794e1d40d6d8d/69893330656a3ff267bd4bb0/fifa-country-code-explained.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 FIFA World Cup: 1st Stage Group B match Morocco 0 - 1 Iran og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Every 2018 World Cup Team Name Code, Explained twitter:description: What's CRC? What about KSA? We've got you covered twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14c794e1d40d6d8d/69893330656a3ff267bd4bb0/fifa-country-code-explained.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Every 2018 World Cup Team Name Code, Explained  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Jun 15, 2018 7:10 PM UTC  ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - JUNE 15, 2018: Morocco's Younes Belhanda (L) and Iran's Masoud Shojaei in a First Stage Group B football match between Morocco and Iran at Saint-Petersburg Stadium (also known as Krestovsky Stadium) at FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - JUNE 15, 2018: Morocco's Younes Belhanda (L) and Iran's Masoud Shojaei in a First Stage Group B football match between Morocco and Iran at Saint-Petersburg Stadium (also known as Krestovsky Stadium) at FIFA World Cup Russia 2018Alexander Demianchuk—Alexander Demianchuk/TASS  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Jun 15, 2018 7:10 PM UTC With the FIFA 2018 World Cup underway, fans less familiar with international soccer may take a look at the score and wonder: Wait, who’s playing in this game? In most cases, World Cup team names take their scoreboard acronyms, also known as FIFA codes, from the first three letters of their name in English. But there are a handful of exceptions. Here’s a complete list of the FIFA codes for all 32 teams competing in the 2018 World Cup, along with explanations when their origin isn’t immediately clear. 1. ARG: Argentina 2. AUS: Australia 3. BEL: Belgium 4. BRA: Brazil 5. COL: Colombia 6. CRC: Costa Rica. Because Costa Rica’s name is two words long, the FIFA code takes the first letter from each word instead of the first three letters. The second “C” is from the “C” in “Rica.” 7. CRO: Croatia 8. DEN: Denmark 9. EGY: Egypt 10. ENG: England 11. FRA: France 12. GER: Germany 13. ISL: Iceland. In French, “Iceland” is spelled “_Islande_.” The FIFA Code refers to the French spelling. 14. IRN: Iran. The International Olympic Committee country code for Iran is “IRI,” which stands for “Islamic Republic of Iran.” The FIFA code removes the “a” from “Iran,” abbreviating the name to IRN, in line with the country codes set out by the International Organization for Standardization. 15. JPN: Japan. 16. KOR: South Korea. FIFA refers to South Korea’s soccer team as the “Korea Republic national football team.” The team code is the first three letters of that name. North Korea’s FIFA code is “PRK” for “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” though only South Korea is playing in this year’s World Cup. 17. MEX: Mexico 18. MAR: Morocco. The name refers to the French spelling of Morocco, _Maroc_. 19. NGA: Nigeria. The country code “NIG” belongs to Niger, so “NGA” is used to distinguish Nigeria. 20. PAN: Panama 21. PER: Peru 22. POL: Poland 23. POR: Portugal 24. RUS: Russia 25. KSA: Saudi Arabia. KSA stands for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 26. SEN: Senegal 27. SRB: Serbia 28. ESP: Spain. ESP comes from the French spelling for Spain, _Espagne_. 29. SWE: Sweden. 30. SUI: Switzerland. The FIFA abbreviation refers to the French spelling of Switzerland, _Suisse._ 31. TUN: Tunisia 32. URU: Uruguay ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5313823/world-cup-fifa-team-name-code/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5313823/world-cup-fifa-team-name-code/"},"headline":"Every 2018 World Cup Team Name Code, Explained","datePublished":"2018-06-15T19:10:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:35:24.377Z","description":"What's CRC? What about KSA? 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