The FIFA World Cup official mascots are a series of characters for each World Cup event. The trend began with World Cup Willie in 1966 FIFA World Cup, one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition. The mascot designs represent a characteristic or symbol of the host country, such as flora, fauna, or costume.[1] The design is frequently one or more anthropomorphic characters targeted at children and coinciding with cartoon shows and merchandise.[2]
| World Cup | Host Country | Mascot name | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | England | 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. Bill Titcombe made a comic strip about the character.[3] In 2014, Lonnie Donegan Jr. re-recorded the campaign song originally sung by his father Lonnie Donegan.[4] | |
| 1970 | Mexico | 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. | |
| 1974 | West Germany | Tip and Tap | Two boys wearing Germany kits, with the letters WM (Weltmeisterschaft, World Cup) and number 74. | |
| 1978 | Argentina | Gauchito | A boy wearing Argentina's kit. His hat (with the words ARGENTINA '78), neckerchief and whip are typical of gauchos. | |
| 1982 | Spain | 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". | |
| 1986 | Mexico | 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. | |
| 1990 | Italy | Ciao | A stick figure player with a football head and an Italian tricolore body. Its name is an Italian greeting. | |
| 1994 | United States | Striker | A dog, a common US pet animal, wearing a red, white and blue soccer uniform with the words "USA 94". | |
| 1998 | France | 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".
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| 2002 | Ato, Kaz and Nik | Orange, purple, and blue (respectively) futuristic, computer-generated creatures. Collectively members of a team of "Atmosball" (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. | ||
| 2006 | Germany | Goleo VI and Pille | A lion wearing a Germany shirt with the number 06 with 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. | |
| 2010 | South Africa | Zakumi | Zakumi. He 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' team's colors. His name comes from "ZA", for South Africa, and "Kumi", a word that means "ten" in various African languages. | |
| 2014 | Fuleco | A Brazilian three-banded armadillo wearing a white T-shirt reading "Brasil 2014" and a green Bermuda. He has a blue carapace which is patterned after a traditional football. The selection of Fuleco brings attention to the country's great biodiversity, as the Brazilian three-banded armadillo is endemic to Brazil and is classified as a vulnerable species. The name Fuleco is a portmanteau of the words "futebol" ("football") and "ecologia" ("ecology"). | ||
| 2018 | Russia | Zabivaka | A wolf with a name that translates from Russian as The Goalscorer. Zabivaka wears red shorts and a blue and white T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Russia 2018". The color combination is that of the Russian team, with the mascot being selected via internet voting. | |
| 2022 | Qatar | La’eeb | A white floating ghutrah with eyes, eyebrows and an open mouth. Its name is La’eeb, which is an Arabic word meaning "super-skilled player". | |
| 2026 | Canada Mexico United States | TBD | TBD | |
| 2030 | Morocco Portugal Spain | TBD | TBD | |
| 2034 | Saudi Arabia | TBD | TBD |