The list of FIFA country codes assigns a unique three-letter code—often called a "FIFA trigramme"—to each national association affiliated to FIFA. There are 211 FIFA members, and every member uses its trigramme on official scoreboards, match reports, ranking tables and competition documentation. These codes provide a compact, language-neutral way to identify teams in fixtures and results.

Format and naming

FIFA trigrammes are normally three uppercase letters. Many follow familiar abbreviations used in other international sport systems, such as IOC or ISO codes, but they are managed independently by FIFA and can differ for historical, political or practical reasons. Codes typically reflect either the English name of the country, its local name, or a commonly recognised short form.

Uses and importance

  • Displayed on electronic scoreboards and televised graphics during matches.
  • Used in official tournament draws, match schedules, and result archives.
  • Shown beside teams in FIFA rankings, qualification tables and statistical databases.

Because the codes are concise and standardized, they reduce ambiguity when teams from different language areas are referenced simultaneously.

Notable examples and special cases

Many familiar national teams use widely recognised codes: BRA (Brazil), ARG (Argentina), GER (Germany), FRA (France), ESP (Spain), ITA (Italy), JPN (Japan), and USA (United States). Some special cases highlight how FIFA codes differ from other standards or reflect unique administrative arrangements:

  • Home nations of the United Kingdom compete separately: ENG (England), SCO (Scotland), WAL (Wales), NIR (Northern Ireland).
  • Territories and recently recognised associations may have distinct trigrammes (examples include KOS for Kosovo and PLE for Palestine).
  • Coding can change when associations rename, merge, split or when FIFA updates its records; historical lists may show former codes no longer in use.

Finding the official list

FIFA publishes the authoritative list of member associations and their official codes in its competitions documents and member directories. For the current roster of associations and corresponding trigrammes consult the FIFA members information provided by FIFA or its competition materials. National associations also publish their own preferred short names and codes in event programmes and federation websites.