The inaugural FIFA World Cup was in 1930, but during the first edition there was no mascot for the tournament. In the first half of the 20th century the World Cup was strictly soccer and nothing more, but today everything is combined between sports, advertising and merchandising.
There have only been 15 mascots during FIFA World Cup history, usually a single character, but during the 1974 World Cup in West Germany the tournament mascot was led by two characters.
Most of the mascot designs are related to the culture of the host country although during the 2002 World Cup, three mascots (Ato, Kaz and Nik), were not fully linked to the local culture of South Korea and Japan.
What was the name of the first FIFA World Cup mascot?
The first FIFA World Cup mascot was World Cup Willie during the 1996 World Cup in England, that mascot had the characteristics of a lion, something very common in the culture in England.
Other unforgettable mascots were Naranjito of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Goleo of the 2006 Germany World Cup and Zakumi of the 2010 South Africa World Cup.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will have a mascot highly related to the culture not only of the nation, but of an entire region. The name of the mascot is La’eeb and the character is a floating ghutrah, his name translates into English as super-skilled player.
