Every 2018 World Cup Team Name Code, Explained

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

Subscribe to TIME

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.

Please enter a valid email address.

* The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again.

Sign Up Now

An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later.

Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies.

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.