Why are Saudi Arabia KSA? Explaining shortened name of Middle Eastern country and other World Cup team abbreviations

With all eyes on scorelines at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there are some team abbreviations that catch the eye more than others. 

While the majority are fairly straightforward and simply the first three letters of a nation's name, others can leave fans scratching their heads. 

Saudi Arabia will be referred to as KSA during the World Cup and is one abbreviation sure to raise a few eyebrows.

The Sporting News takes a look at every nation's abbreviation below.  

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Why Saudi Arabia is displayed as KSA

FIFA have opted to use the KSA abbreviation or country code when referring to Saudi Arabia. 

KSA stands for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is the country's official title.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed in 1932 after the dual kingdoms of the Hejaz and Najd were unified by royal decree. 

Both FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) use the KSA abbreviation, but the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) uses SAU. 

🇺🇸 1994
🇫🇷 1998
🇰🇷🇯🇵 2002
🇩🇪 2006

🎁 Happy birthday to one of the greatest players in Saudi Arabia's history, Sami Al-Jaber, who played in four consecutive editions of the #WorldCup 🇸🇦#HBD | @SamiAlJaber | @SaudiNT_EN pic.twitter.com/sX7Gxee3Yt

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 11, 2021

What is ISO country naming? 

ISO country naming is an internationally recognised way of coding a country based on a series of letters or numbers. 

These ISO codes are used on things like passports and international vehicle registration. 

This system is viewed as a way to save time and reduce the number of errors when referring to countries. 

Full list of country abbreviations at World Cup 2022

All FIFA country members have their own unique abbreviation that can sometimes differ from their three-letter ISO code.

These are the 32 abbreviations that will be displayed during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: