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 show some representing 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	Mascot(s)	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] In 2014 Lonnie Donegan Jnr re-recorded the campaign song originally sung by his father Lonnie Donegan.[3]
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	TBA

See also

• UEFA European Football Championship mascot
• AFC Asian Cup mascot

References

External links

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

FIFA World Cup Tournaments Uruguay 1930 Italy 1934 France 1938 Brazil 1950 Switzerland 1954 Sweden 1958 Chile 1962 England 1966 Mexico 1970 West Germany 1974 Argentina 1978 Spain 1982 Mexico 1986 Italy 1990 United States 1994 France 1998 South Korea/Japan 2002 Germany 2006 South Africa 2010 Brazil 2014 Russia 2018 Qatar 2022 2026 Finals 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Qualification 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Squads 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Seedings 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Broadcasters 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Bids 2014 2018 and 2022 2026 2030 Statistics All-time table Goalscorers top goalscorers finals goalscorers hat-tricks milestone goals own goals Penalty shoot-outs Player appearances Records Red cards Referees Team appearances Teams with no appearances Miscellaneous Awards Balls Broadcasters Economics History Hosts Mascots Official films Official songs Trophy Video games Notes: There was no qualification for the 1930 World Cup as places were given by invitation only. In 1950, there was no final; the article is about the decisive match of the final group stage.