What’s in a name ? Not much when it comes to roses,plenty when it comes to the naming ,or nicknaming rather, of football teams.
Goal.com did a whole lot of research on the nicknames of the teams that will be playing in Qatar 2022 and here are some of their findings.
Australia – Socceroos
The term ‘Socceroos’ was coined by Sydney-based journalist Tony Horstead who wanted to highlight Australia’s iconic kangaroos. The words soccer and kangaroo are combined into a portmanteau word as soccer-roo – which is something we should have figured out before.
Iran – Team Melli
Team Melli in the Persian language means “The National Team”. There are a few other nicknames as well such as Shiran e Iran meaning the “The Iranian Lions”, Shirdelan meaning the “Lion Hearts” and “Princes of Persia”. They are also the best Asian team according to FIFA rankings.
Japan – Samurai Blue
The Japanese team is nicknamed the Samurai Blue in close reference to their historical Samurai background.
This world cup features 5 asian teams – Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia , Japan and hosts Qatar.
Qatar – The Maroon
Which brings us to Qatar ,whose national team are nicknamed The Maroon, corresponding to the colour of their home jersey.( Not very imaginative-but easy to remember)
Saudi Arabia – Al Akhdar
Saudi Arabia have got a few nicknames, the most popular one being Al-Akhdar which means “The Greens”. They are also known as as-suqur al-akhdar which translates to “The Green Falcons”. The third nickname is that of as-suqur al-arabiyyah, the “Arabian Falcons”.
South Korea – Taegeuk Warriors
Fans often call the South Korean team The Reds, their primary kit colour. They are also known as the Taegeuk Warriors and the Lions of Asia. Taegeuk (meaning supreme ultimate)is the symbol found on the South Korean flag.
Moving to Africa we have …
Ghana – Black Stars
Ghana is known as the Black Stars. They are called so after the black star at the centre of the Ghanaian flag.
Morocco – The Atlas Lions
Morocco, the six-time World Cup participants, are nicknamed The Atlas Lions after their official national animal the Barbary lion which was also called Atlas lion. The animal is now,alas, extinct but used to be found in Morocco.
Senegal – Lions of Teranga
Teranaga is a word that is sipped into Senegalese culture which loosely means good hospitality. Hence the team is known as Teranga Lions.
Tunisia – Eagles of Carthage
Carthage is an important commune in Tunisia and was also the seat of an ancient civilisation. Whereas, the eagle has its place in the logo of the Tunisian football federation. The team is known as the Eagles of Carthage.
Moving to the American side of the world we have ..
Canada – The Reds
The Canadian football team is nicknamed The Reds corresponding to their colour of the home kit. They are also known as the Maple Leafs in close reference to their country flag, which has a maple leaf in it. ( Should be Maple leaves if one is striving for grammatical accuracy)
Costa Rica – Los Ticos
Costa Ricans are often called Ticos because of their unique way of saying diminutives in Spanish.
(For example, when saying something is small —or “chico” in Spanish— Costa Ricans would say it is “chiquitico,” or very small.So, they have the nickname of The Ticos.) They are also known as The Selection (La Sele) and The Tricolour ( La Tricolour).
Mexico – El Tri
The Mexican team is known as El Tri which means The Tricolour corresponding to the three dominant colours of their national flag.
Argentina – La Albiceleste
The colours of the stripes on their jerseys, and on the Argentina flag are sky blue and white. Hence they are known as La Albiceleste.
Brazil – Seleção
Selecao is a pretty common term in the Portuguese language which means the selected players. Brazilians call every football team ‘selecao’. However, the national team is distinguished and is known as ‘The Selecao’.
Ecuador – La Tri
Ecuador is also nicknamed La Tri and La Tricolour after their national flag which has three colours.
Uruguay – La Celeste
Uruguay are nicknamed La Celeste which means the Sky Blue, referring to their jersey colour.
And returning to Europe we have ..
Belgium – Die Roten Teufel
The Belgian squad is known as Die Roten Teufel which means The Red Devils. It was attributed to the team by former manager Pierre Walckiers inspired by their jersey colour in 1906. Which leads us to the obvious question – why then are Manchester United also called The Red Devils ? -when most of them are mostly not Belgian ?
Croatia – Kockasti
Luka Modric are co. are known by the nickname of Kockasti which means the chequered ones in accordane to the patern on their national flag.
Denmark – Da Rod-Hvide
De Rød-Hvide menas The Red and Whites in Danish. It is inspired from the colours of their primary kit.
England – Three Lions
The Football Association of England has three lions on their logo which is why the English team is known as the Three Lions.)It has nothing to do with the leonine appearance of David Beckham.)
France – Les Blues
The French team is known as Les Blues beacuse of the blue colour of their jersey.
Germany – Nationalelf
The German national football team is nicknamed as Nationalelf which means the National Eleven. They are also known as DFB Eleven. Die Mannschaft also means The Team.
Netherlands – Oranje
The Netherlands team is known as Oranje in correspondence to their home kit colour and the logo of KNVB, the governing body of football in the counry.
Poland – Biało-czerwoni
The Poland national team’s nickname is a bit of a tongue twister as it is known as Biało-czerwoni in Polish. In English, it means the White and Reds.
Portugal – Os Navegadores
Portugal has a rich history of famous navigators who criss-crossed the oceans in search of new countries. Hence the national team is known as Os Navegadores which means The Navigators.
Serbia – Orlovi
The Serbian team is known as Orlovi which means The Eagles in reference to their white double-headed eagle, a national symbol of Serbia.
Spain – La Roja
The Spanish national team is known as La Roja which means The Red One. They are also known as La Furia Roja which means The Red Fury.
Switzerland – Rossocrociati
The Swiss football team is known as the Rossocrociati which means The Red Cross. They are also known as Nati which means the National team in Swiss.
Wales – The Dragons
Wales have been nicknamed the Dragons because of the presence of Smaug,a fire-breathing dragon on their national flag.
USA – Star Stripes
The United States have a straightforward nickname, the Stars and Stripes, which is inspired party from their national flag and a bit by the striped logo of the United States Soccer Federation. They are also known as The Yanks.

Sadly missing from this list are the Italian Azurris who did not make the cut this time.
Phew !