FIFA World Cup mascot

Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. The mascot designs represent a characteristic feature (costume, flora, fauna, etc.) of the host country.^[1]

The World Cup mascot is frequently one or more anthropomorphic characters targeted at children with cartoon shows and other merchandise released to coincide with the competition.

World Cup	Mascot(s) Name	Description
England 1966	World Cup Willie	A lion, a typical symbol of the United Kingdom, wearing a Union Flag jersey with the words "WORLD CUP". Designed by freelance children's book illustrator Reg Hoye.[2] Bill Titcombe made a comic strip about the character. [3] In 2014 Lonnie Donegan Jnr re-recorded the campaign song originally sung by his father Lonnie Donegan.[4]
Mexico 1970	Juanito	A boy wearing Mexico's kit and a sombrero (with the words "MEXICO 70"). His name is the diminutive of "Juan", a common name in Spanish.
West Germany 1974	Tip and Tap	Two boys wearing Germany kits, with the letters WM (Weltmeisterschaft, World Cup) and number 74.
Argentina 1978	Gauchito	A boy wearing Argentina's kit. His hat (with the words ARGENTINA '78), neckerchief and whip are typical of gauchos.
Spain 1982	Naranjito	An orange, a typical fruit in Spain, wearing the kit of the host's national team. Its name comes from naranja, Spanish for orange, and the diminutive suffix "-ito".
Mexico 1986	Pique	A jalapeño pepper, characteristic of Mexican cuisine, with a moustache and wearing a sombrero. Its name comes from picante, Spanish for spicy peppers and sauces.
Italy 1990	Ciao	A stick figure player with a football head and an Italian tricolore body. Its name is an Italian greeting.
United States 1994	Striker, the World Cup Pup	A dog, a common US pet animal, wearing a red, white and blue soccer uniform with the words "USA 94".
France 1998	Footix	A cockerel, one of the national symbols of France, with the words "FRANCE 98" on the chest. Its body is mostly blue, like the host's national team shirt and its name is a portmanteau of "football" and the ending "-ix", a name suffix common among the Gauls. Other proposed names were "Raffy", "Houpi" and "Gallik".
South Korea/Japan 2002	Ato, Kaz and Nik (The Spheriks)	Orange, purple and blue (respectively) futuristic, computer-generated creatures. Collectively members of a team of "Atmoball" (a fictional football-like sport), Ato is the coach while Kaz and Nik are players. The three individual names were selected from shortlists by users on the Internet and at McDonald's outlets in the host countries.
Germany 2006	Goleo VI Sidekick: Pille	A lion wearing a Germany shirt with the number 06 and a talking football named Pille. Goleo is a portmanteau of the words "goal" and "leo", the Latin word for lion. In Germany, "Pille" is a colloquial term for a football.
South Africa 2010	Zakumi	Zakumi is a leopard, a common animal found in South Africa, with green hair wearing a shirt saying South Africa 2010. Zakumi's green and gold colors represent South African national sports' teams colors. His name comes from "ZA", for South Africa, and "kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages.
Brazil 2014	Fuleco	A Brazilian three-banded armadillo wearing a white T-shirt reading, "Brasil 2014." The Brazilian three-banded armadillo is found only in Brazil and is classified as a vulnerable species, and the selection of Fuleco brings attention to Brazil's great biodiversity. The name Fuleco is a portmanteau of the words "Futebol" ("Football") and "Ecologia" ("Ecology").
Russia 2018	Zabivaka	A wolf with a name translating from Russian like The Goalscorer.

See also

• UEFA European Football Championship mascot

References

1. Kasprzak, Emma (2012-06-15). "BBC News - World Cup Willie's sporting mascot legacy". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
2. Kasprzak, Emma (2012-06-15). "BBC News - World Cup Willie's sporting mascot legacy". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
3. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/t/titcombe_bill.htm
4. "World Cup Willie". footballandmusic.co.uk. 2007–2014. Retrieved 2014-06-17.

External links

• Information on Goleo VI and Pille
• Official FIFA web page on Zakumi