Ever wondered why Morocco shows up as MAR on the scoreboard, and not MOR?

If you've been watching the World Cup and squinting at your screen going "Wait, that doesn't look right…," you're not alone.

Morocco has been one of the most exciting teams in recent World Cup history. In Qatar 2022, they did what no African nation had ever done before; reached the semi-finals, knocking out Spain and Portugal along the way.

Cristiano Ronaldo went home early. Morocco fans did not.

Fast forward to 2026, and they've picked up right where they left off. In their opening group match, they went toe-to-toe with Brazil and held them to a 1-1 draw.

Their striker, Ismael Saibari, born in Spain, raised in Belgium, and proudly Moroccan, chipped the ball over Alisson, one of the best goalkeepers in the world like he was at training. Brazil scrambled to equalise through Vinicius Junior, and that was that. A point each, though some would argue that Morocco was the better side

A team that plays like that deserves to have their name spelled correctly on the scoreboard. So, why doesn't it say MOR?

Morocco's name in French is “Maroc.” FIFA, which operates largely in French as one of its official languages, assigned country codes based on French names in several cases. MAR comes from Maroc.

Now why does France get to name Morocco?

France colonised Morocco from the late 1800s until 1956, leaving behind a deep linguistic footprint the country still carries today.

Today, Morocco's official languages are Arabic and Amazigh, but French remains widely used inside the country and also, apparently, in FIFA scorecards.