The World Cup is in full swing and it has been amazing so far, producing exciting finishes, spectacular saves and plenty of scoring. Usually the teams are referred to simply by their country, but did you know that every team has a nickname, kust like your favourite basketball or football team. Some are awesome, some are snoozefests, and others are a bit odd. Let's take a look at them all and learn a bit more about each squad.
The Colors
Azzuri of Italy are named after their uniform colorCourtesy of FIFA
Mexico - "El Tri" or "El Triclolor"
Named for the three colours represented on their national flag.
Ecuador - "El Tri"
Real original, guys.
Italy - "Azzuri"
Named for the colour of their jerseys, which are azure blue.
France - "Les Bleus"
Also named for their jersey colour, also a shade of blue. Come on people!
Spain - "El Furia Roja"
The Red Fury were anything but, having already been shockingly eliminated from reaching the Knockout Stage.
Netherlands - "Clockwork Orange"
Probably the coolest of the colour nicknames because it's both a reference to their style of play and a Stanley Kubrick movie (Rated R).
Argentina - "La Albicelestes"
Meaning the white and sky blue, again, it's just the colour of their flag and uniforms.
Japan - "The Blue Samurai"
AT least they threw samurai in to their name. The best of the colour names in my opinion.
Chile - "La Roja"
Or, the Red One. A bit too smiliar to Spain to be cool. But hey, at least they still have a chance of winning!
Ghana - "Black Stars"
As per their national flag.
Belgium - "Red Devils"
They wear red and they are devils!
Uruguay - "La Celeste"
Or translated to "The Sky Blue One", again, for their team uniform. Yawn.
The Animals
England - "Three Lions"
The triumvirate of lions on their kit is where they get this fearsome moniker. Have been more like the three kittens so far this tournament though.
Brazil - "Canarinho"
Or Little Canary. This is a riff on their bright yellow jerseys but we had too many colour teams and this was a gray area.
Cameroon: "Les Lions Indomptables"
The Indomitable Lions have a very intimidating nickname, and are one of two teams to invoke the lions as a symbol.
Australia - "Socceroos"
They combined the word soccer with the word kangaroo. Better than the Soccoala I suppose.
Ivory Coast - "Les Elephants"
The Elephants are named for the Ivory Coast's booming, you guessed it, ivory trade. Maybe not a good thing to be advertising your exploitation of animals for profit?\
Nigeria - "Super Eagles"
They aren't just eagles, they are SUPER EAGLES!!!!!!! Amazing nickname.
Algeria "Les Fennecs"
Algeria is 80 percent desert. Not to be confused with The Cheesecake Factory, which is 80 percent dessert.
The Patriotic
The Colombians are named after their cultural identity in South AmericaCourtesy of FIFA
Colombia - "Los Cafeteros"
Or, the Coffee Growers, for their main export, which is coffee!
Honduras - "Los Catrachos"
"Catrachos" is a catch-all name for Hondurans as said by other Central American countries.
Costa Rica "Los Ticos"
A Tico is another word for somebody from Costa Rica.
United States - "The Yanks"
SELf-explanatory. I wish the US nickname was a little more hardcore, like the SUPER EAGLES!!!!!
Portugal - "Seleccao das Quinas"
Which translates to "Team of the Five", in reference to the five shield on their team insignia. Come to think of it this isn't patriotic at all, but they didn't fit in to any other categories.
The Boring
To save time, all of these team nicknames roughly translate to "National Soccer Team. Booooooooring.
Switzerland - "The Schweizer Nati"
Russia - "Sbornaya"
Germany - "Nationalmannschaft"
Iran - "Team Melli"
The Amazing
South Korea are Taeguk, or The WarriorsCourtesy of FIFA
Croatia - "Vatreni"
Which translates to The Blazers.
Greece - "The Pirate Ship
A relatively new nickname that was given when Greece hosted the World Cup in 2004 and an announcer commented that they would have to make like pirates and steal the games in order to win.
South Korea - "Taeguk"
The Warriors are also known as the Red Devils, but Warriors is way cooler. Let's go with Warriors.
Bosnia & Herzegovina - "Dragons"
They win best nickname in the tourney, which is unfortunately the only thing they will win this World Cup.
Have You Say
Which FIFA Team Nickname is your favorite? Comment below and let us know!
