The following is a list of nicknames of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) national association football teams.

Nicknames

  • Nicknames in italics are commonly used in English.
Team Nickname English translation Notes Ref.
 Albania Kuqezinjtë The Red and Blacks Depicts the colours of the flag of Albania.[citation needed] [1]
Shqiponjat / Shqipet The Eagles The eagle is one of the national symbols of Albania. The crossed hands gesture, which symbolizes an eagle, is sometimes used as a celebration by Albanian players. [2]
 Andorra La Seleccio Tricolor The Tricolour Selection The flag of Andorra is a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow, and red with the country's coat of arms. [3]
 Armenia Հավաքական The Collective Team From the Armenia national football team. [4][5]
 Austria Wunderteam Wonder Team In the 1930s led by Manager Hugo Meisl, the team earned the Nickname after a 14 matches undefeated run. [6]
 Azerbaijan Odlar Yurdu Komandasi The Land of Fire Team The Land of Fire is the adopted motto of the Azerbaijan Republic. [4]
 Belarus Белыя Крылы The White Wings In August 2016, the Football Federation of Belarus announced that the team's nickname would be the "White Wings". The name was influenced by the book The Land Beneath White Wings (1977) by famous Belarusian writer Uladzimir Karatkievich. [4]
 Belgium De Rode Duivels
Les Diables Rouges
Die Roten Teufel
The Red Devils In 1906, the Belgium national team players received the nickname Red Devils because of their red jersey. [4]
 Belgium (Women) The Red Flames [7]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Zmajevi The Dragons Popularized by football TV commentator Marjan Mijajlović during Belgium vs. Bosnia 2010 World Cup qualification game on 28 March 2009. A historical allusion to general Husein Gradaščević, who fought for independence, and was known as the "Dragon of Bosnia". [4]
Zlatni Ljiljani The Golden Lilies Sometimes referred to as the Golden Lilies, which was an original nickname given to all the country's teams and sportsmen or Women by fans after independence in reference to official state insignia at the time (flag and coat of arms). [8]
 Bulgaria Лъвовете The Lions The coat of arms of Bulgaria consists of a crowned golden lion rampant over a dark red shield. The Lion is the national animal of Bulgaria. [4]
 Croatia Vatreni The Fiery Ones Vatra means Fire in Croatian. [9][10]
Kockasti The Chequered Ones The Croatian checkerboard is the national symbol of Croatia. [11]
 Cyprus Η γαλανόλευκη The White and Blues The Naval Jack of Cyprus is blue with a white cross. [4]
 Czech Republic Nároďák The National Team Narod translates to the people in English [9]
Lokomotiva The Locomotive The Czech Republic is one of the world biggest Locomotive builders led by Škoda. [9]
 Denmark The Danish Dynamite Mainly relating to the Danish team of the 1980s. [12]
 England The Three Lions The history of the three lions symbol goes back to the 12th Century when a red crest with three gold lions would be carried into battle to inspire English troops. [9]
 England (Women) The Lionesses [13]
 Estonia Sinisärgid The Blue shirts From their home kit which traditionally consists of a blue shirt. [14]
 Faroe Islands Landsliðið The National Team Landsliðið means squad in Icelandic. [4]
 Finland Huuhkajat The Eagle Owls Huuhkajat means Owls in English. [15]
 Finland (Women) Helmarit The Pearl Owls [16]
 France Les Bleus The Blues Because of the traditional color of their uniforms which is blue. [9]
 Georgia ჯვაროსნები The Crusaders Legend tells of Crusaders who left France 800 years ago and became detached from the main army, marched through Turkey and Armenia and settled in the Greater Caucasus mountains in Georgia. [4]
 Germany Die Mannschaft* The Team *"Die Mannschaft" is mainly used outside of Germany. Locally, it generically means "the (male) team". [17][18]
 Gibraltar Team 54 Gibraltar was the 54th nation to join UEFA. [19]
 Greece Η Εθνική The National Team Η ΕθνικήI Ethnikí means the National team in English. [20]
Το Πειρατικό The Pirate Ship Unofficial nickname given after the Euro 2004 win. [21]
 Hungary Nemzeti Tizenegy National Eleven From the teams starting 11 players. [22]
 Iceland Strákarnir Okkar Our Boys Strákarnir Okkar means our boys in Icelandic. [4]
 Israel הכחולים-לבנים The Skyblue and Whites (HaTkhulim-Levanim) From the Hebrew words for the original colors of the Flag of Israel (as well as the colors of the capital city of Israel's emblem as depicted in the Coat of Arms of Jerusalem), which is two skyblue horizontal stripes framing a skyblue Star of David on top of white background. [23]
הנבחרת The Chosen Team (HaNivcheret) From the shortened Modern Hebrew term used primarily for the selected national sportspeople, combined with the biblical Hebrew term of the Chosen people that alludes to the Jews and the Israelites. [24]
 Italy Gli Azzurri The Blues The colour blue originates from the House of Savoy coat of arms, which had a blue background. [25]
La Nazionale The National Team From the Italian National Team. [26]
 Italy (Women) Le Azzurre The Blues (female) The colour blue originates from the House of Savoy coat of arms, which had a blue background. [27]
 Kazakhstan Казахстанские барсы The Snow Leopards The snow leopard is one of the rarest mammals in Kazakhstan. [4]
 Kosovo Dardanët The Dardanians The Dardani or Dardanians were an Indo-European tribe which settled in the region of present-day Kosovo. [28]
 Latvia 11 vilki 11 wolves From the teams starting 11 players. [4]
 Liechtenstein Nati Short for "National". From "Nationalmannschaft", the German for "National team". [4]
 Lithuania Rinktine The National Team Rinktine means national team in Lithuanian. [4]
 Luxembourg d'Roud Léiwen The Red Lions d'Roud Léiwen means red lions in Luxembourgish. [29]
 Malta Knights of St. John The Order of the Knights of St John was a Catholic Military Order established in 603 [4]
 Moldova Selectionata The Selection From the chosen ones or the chosen [4]
 Montenegro Hrabri Sokoli The Brave Falcons From the Falco vespertinus which are native to Montenegro. [30]
 Netherlands Oranje Orange Orange is the colour of the Dutch royal family. [9]
Clockwork Orange Nickname of the 1970s the Dutch team, famous for its precision passing. [31]
The Flying Dutchmen wordplay associated with the legendary ship the Flying Dutchman [32]
 Netherlands (Women) Oranjeleeuwinnen Orange Lionesses The Lion is one of the national symbols of the Netherlands, orange is its national color. [33][34]
 North Macedonia Црвени Рисови The Red Lynx [4][35]
Црвено-Жолти The Red-Yellow From the Macedonian flag which is red and yellow. [4]
 Northern Ireland Norn Iron Slang term for "Northern Ireland". [36]
 Norway Drillos Used during the tenure of Egil "Drillo" Olsen. [37]
 Poland Biało-czerwoni The White and Reds From the polish flag which is white and Red. [4]
Orły The Eagles From the polish coat of arms which depicts white crowned eagle on red field. [9]
 Portugal Seleção das Quinas Team of the Five From the 5 shields present in the Coat of arms of Portugal, known in Portuguese as "Quinas". [9]
 Republic of Ireland Na Buachaillí i nGlas The Boys in Green The green in Ireland's tricolor flag is meant to represent Ireland's Catholic heritage and nationalism. [4]
 Romania Tricolorii The Tricolours from the Romanian flag that has 3 colors. [38][39]
 Russia Наши парни
Сборная
Our Guys
The National Team
Сборная means national team in Russian. [4]
 San Marino La Serenissima The Most Serene the Republic of San Marino is also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino. [40]
 Scotland The Tartan Terriers From the Scottish Terrier, popularly called the Scottie, which is a breed of dog popular in Scotland. [41]
 Serbia Бели Орлови White Eagles From the Serbian double-headed heraldic eagle, a common symbol in the nation's heraldry and vexillology [4]
 Slovakia Repre Short for "Národná reprezentácia" (The National Team) From the Slovakian national team meaning. [4]
Národný tím National Team [4]
Bojovní Jondovci The Fighting Jondas From the Slovakian word meaning warrior. [4]
 Slovenia Zmajčeki The Dragons A dragon is a large, serpent-like legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around the world. [42]
 Spain La Furia Roja The Red Fury "La Furia Roja", means the Red Fury in Spanish. [43][44]
 Sweden Blågult The Blue-Yellow From the Swedish flag which is Blue and Yellow [4]
  Switzerland Nati Short for "Nationalmannschaft" (The National Team) From Nationalmannschaft which means National team in German. [4]
 Turkey Ay Yıldızlılar The Crescent-Stars The crescent and the star, present on the flag, are the national symbols of Turkey. [4]
 Ukraine Синьо-жовт The Blue and Yellows From the flag of Ukraine. [9][45]
 Wales Y Dreigiau The Dragons The Welsh Dragon is the national symbol of Wales. [4]

See also

References

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  5. ^ "Ազգային Հավաքական". www.ffa.am. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  6. ^ disputed; nickname for teams of 1934 and 1938
  7. ^ "Red Flames will play Norway and Ireland in April". royal-belgian-football-association.prezly.com. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Are the boys from Bosnia ready to make their mark on world football?". Outside of the Boot. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
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