Football National Teams That Changed Their Name
Following the recent news that the Wales football team could well change their name to Cymru, with the Football Association of Wales (FAW), giving this some serious consideration, this appears to have been met with some mixed reaction in and around the sport.
Indeed, Noel Mooney, who is the FAW chief executive, seems to agree that this name change should happen:
“The team should always be called Cymru; that’s what we call it here.
“Our view at the moment is that domestically we’re clearly called Cymru. That’s what we call our national teams. If you look at our website, how we talk about ourselves, we are very much Cymru.”
He continued:
“Internationally, we feel we have a bit more work to do yet. So we are going to this World Cup as Wales.
“But I think 2023 will be a year when we have a good discussion with all the different stakeholders – whether that’s governments, our own boards, councils and decision-making bodies, staff, club and players.
“We’re a very open democratic organisation and we don’t just unilaterally decide today to do something like that.
“I would say it’s the direction of travel, but there’s no firm decisions on it. It’s more almost by osmosis that we’re heading towards it.”
This latest development got us thinking about other football nations that have switched their names for one reason or another, whether this is the spelling or the actual pronunciation.
Republic of Macedonia With A Slight Tweak
After February 2019, Macedonia perhaps bizarrely became the Republic of North Macedonia following a political dispute with neighbouring country Greece.
After gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, the country decided to call itself Macedonia; however, that led to decades long disputes with Greece, which has a region called ‘Macedonia’.
The agreement to change its name meant that while the language and capital city would, of course, stay the same, it meant that ‘North Macedonia’ would be used as the country’s official name for all activities, such as sporting. This meant that the nation’s football team immediately became referred to as ‘North Macedonia’.
Turkish (not so) Delight?!
As of earlier this year, the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan requested that the international community recognise the country by its Turkish name of, Turkiye, instead of Turkey, following an official name change.
The reason behind this switch was that this version expressed the culture and traditions of the country in a more accurate way while also veering away from the association with the animal that shared the same spelling. Its new spelling has a rough pronunciation of “tur-key-yay”.
Indeed, Erdoğan revealed:
“The word Türkiye represents and expresses the culture, civilisation, and values of the Turkish nation in the best way.”
As a result, the football team has also adopted the new spelling of the country, with this appearing as such in media reports.
Iran Initiates Name Change Domino Effect?!
As far back as the 1935, the Iranian government issued a request to countries that it had diplomatic relations with, to call it Iran and not ‘Persia’, which it was known as at the time.
The literal translation in the country’s language was ‘Iran’ and from that point forward, the name change was in effect.
Although in some circles, it was still known as ‘Persia’ for a considerable amount of time, this is one name that is effectively long-forgotten. In an official capacity, the country goes by Iran and its citizens call themselves ‘Iranians’.
Indeed, the country’s football team is known as ‘Iran’ and has featured in numerous World Cup tournaments under this name.
Swaziland Switch
In April, 2018 the African nation of Swazliand changed its name to the Kingdom of Eswatini, which translates literally to “the land of the Swazi’s”.
“African countries on getting independence reverted to their ancient names before they were colonized,” King Mswati III told a crowd gathered for that year’s independence day celebrations. “So from now on, the country will be officially be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini.”
The name switch of course, meant that the nation’s football team name changed, while a lot more than followed. In the country, other things had to be taken into account and as a result, vehicle registration plates, military uniforms, signage and even the currency all changed.
German Southwest Africa’s Switch To Namibia
This is one perhaps from left-field, though it may answer a question if you’ve ever wondered why there are so many Germans in Namibia.
Prior to this name-change in 1990, this was a German colony between the years of 1884 and 1919, however, it did not change its name for decades. This was because the League of Nations attributed German Southwest Africa under the jurisdiction of South Africa, until it finally gained its independance in 1990 and changed its name to Namibia.
The country has since shown signs that it can flourish on its own and has even done well in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament, under its own flag.
What Now For Wales?
It appears likely that this change will happen at some point and while it is perhaps too late to do so before the upcoming World Cup, do not be surprised to see this come to fruition in the coming six months.
A country that has always had a fierce sporting identity, the use of its Welsh name is only likely to help instil further pride among not only the country’s fans but also the participating football players.
The name change could also help to bring in a new era of football talent, with the likes of veterans Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey unlikely to feature at the World Cup in 2026.
It does seem as though a precedent has been set though when it comes to name-changes and it should not come as too much of a surprise if this continues over the next few years – indeed, it has been reported that Czech Republic is also keen to change its name to Czechia. The argument here is that it would be easier to promote the country’s national identity on a global scale with a one-syllable word, citing France as an example, with the country officially known as ‘The French Republic’.
Regardless of what happens – one thing that many would agree on, is that football quite simply, is one language under one global banner. The rest is just conversation.
