Here Is What Each Of The 48 World Cup Nations Calls Itself In Its Native Tongue

FIFA World Cup Trophy next to flags of Czech Republic v South Africa

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has brought the 48 best soccer teams in the world to North America for what has been the best World Cup of the modern era in terms of match quality. We have seen the world’s best players (Messi, Haaland, Mbappe, Kane) all do what they do best and underdog nations punching above their weight.

One thing that has stood out to many viewers in North America is how the names printed in jerseys often do not match up to what the TV announcers are calling that country. Similarly, there has been chatter of why the U.S. broadcasters are calling Turkey ‘Türkiye‘ as the true pronunciation but ignoring what other countries call themselves.

What Every FIFA World Cup Nation Calls Itself In Its Native Language

Born out of sheer curiosity, I looked up what all 48 nations competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup call themselves and put together this list below. For the most part, the pronunciations are not vastly different from what we hear on TV. However, there are a handful of outliers that are unrecognizable to the English-speaking ear.

Group A

Mexico protest World Cup Mexico City Riot Estadio Azteca Police

Mexico: México
South Korea: Daehan Minguk / Republic of Korea
Czechia: Česko
South Africa: Suid-Afrika

Group B

air-canada-airline-pilot

Canada – Canada
Switzerland – Suisse / Schweiz
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Bosnia I Hercegovína, Босна и Херцеговина
Qatar – Qaṭar قطر

Group C

Scotland fan at World Cup

Brazil – Brasil
Morocco – Al-maɣréb المغرب,
Scotland – Scotland
Haiti – Haïti, Ayiti

Group D

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group D - United States v Australia - Seattle Stadium, Seattle, Washington, U.S. - June 19, 2026 Chris Richards of the U.S. celebrates after the match

USA – United States
Paraguay – Paraguái, Paraguay
Australia – Australia
Türkiye – Turkey

Group E

Germany players Kai Havertz, Leroy Sane and Florian Wirtz high-fiving

Germany – Deutschland
Cote d’Ivoire – Côte d’Ivoire
Ecuador – Ecuador
Curacao – Kòrsou

Group F

mount fuji volcano in Japan

Netherlands – Nederland, Nederlân
Japan – Nippon 日本
Sweden – Sverige
Tunisia – Tunes, تونس

Group G

Mo Salah and Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1

Egypt – مصرMisr
Iran – Iran
Belgium – België, Belgique, Belgien
New Zealand – New Zealand

Group H

Spain players during hydration break at World Cup

Spain – España
Uruguay – Uruguay
Cape Verde – Cabo Verde
Saudi Arabia – Al-‘Arabiyyah as Sa‘ūdiyyah المملكة العربية السعودية

Group I

Erling Haalnd world cup superstar Norway

Norway – Norge
France – France
Senegal – Sénégal
Iraq – Al Iraq

Group J

Messi is both an otherworldly scorer and provider

Argentina – Argentina
Austria – Österreich
Jordan – Al-‘Urdun الأردن
Algeria – Dzayer

Group K

Cristiano Ronaldo's sister was not happy with Portugal's performance at the World Cup.

Colombia – Colombia
DR Congo – République du Congo, Republíki ya Kongó
Portugal – Portugal
Uzbekistan – O‘zbekiston Ўзбекистон

Group L

Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane celebrating England's 4th goal against Croatia

England – England
Ghana – Gaana, Ghana, Gana, Gana
Panama – Panamá
Croatia – Hrvatska

Of course, there is no expectation that you should call every country in the world by the name they call themselves in their native languages. It would be inconceivable to expect someone to know every language on earth.

In the case of Türkey, or Türkiye, they formally requested the world call them Türkiye. Other countries have tried this in the past as well but the global news media seems to have largely ignored the requests so it is interesting to see everyone fall in line with calling Türkey by their requested name, by the name the nation calls itself, while ignoring others.

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Here Is What Each Of The 48 World Cup Nations Calls Itself In Its Native Tongue
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