2026 World Cup Funny Names - 2/2

As promised from last week, here are the remaining teams & names …

SHORT AND SWEET

Colombia – Yerry Mina, D, Cagliari

• Full name is Yerry Fernando Mina González

Turkey – Can Uzun, MF, Eintracht Frankfurt

• Born in Germany, dual national

Senegal – Pathe Ciss, MF, Rayo Vallecano (Spain)

• Spell check wants me to change this to "Path Cissy'

New Zealand – Ben Old, MF, St Etienne

• “Considered a former child golf prodigy, playing in his first international golf tournament at the age of seven” [Wikipedia]

France – Malo Gusto, D, Chelsea

• Means “I don’t like it” in Spanish

Norway – Oscar Bobb, MF, Fulham

• Not to be confused with Bob Oscar

Netherlands – Guus Til, MF, PSV (Netherlands)

• Born in Zambia, moving to the Netherlands at age 3

THAT"S A MOUTHFUL

Austria – David Affengruber, D, Elche (Spain)

• A different David Affengruber plays for Austrian team SV Horn II

Germany – Nico Schlotterbeck, D, Borussia Dortmund

• “Cousin Sandrine appeared on the German edition of Love Island” [Wikipedia]

Morocco – Ayoube Amaimouni, W, Eintract Frankfurt

• Actual last name is Amaimouni-Echghouyabe 

Australia – Nestory Irankunda, W, Watford

• Born in Tanzania, moving to Australia at 3 months

Uzbekistan – Odiljon Hamrobekov, MF, Tractor (Azerbaijan)

• Also played for Pahktakor, Navbahor & Bunyodkor

Bosnia & Hercegovina – Dennis Hadžikadunić, D, Sampdoria

• Born & grew up in Sweden

Iran – Hossein Kanaanizadegan, D, Persepolis (Iran)

• Once played for Machine Sazi

JUST PLAIN WEIRD

Saudi Arabia – Nawaf Boushal, D, Al-Nassr (Saudia Arabia)

• Full name is Nawaf Mashari Abdulrahman Boushal 

England – Nico O’Reilly, D, Manchester City

• “Out here in the fields / I fight for my meals / I get my back into my living …”

Croatia – Joško Gvardiol, D, Manchester City

• Most expensive defender in soccer history (£77M)

Uruguay – Facundo Pellistri, W,  Panathinaikos (Greece)

• “The lead singer of Uruguayan rock band La Vela Puerca, Sebastián Teysera, is Pellistri's godfather.” [Wikipedia]

Algeria – Ramiz Zerrouki, MF, Twente (Netherlands)

• Born & raised in the Netherlands

Tunisia – Firas Chaouat, F, Club Africain (Tunisia)

• Born in a city called Sfax

Czechia – Mojmir Chytil, F, Slavia Prague

• Spell check prefers "Mohair Chili"

Curacao – Shurandy Sambo, D, Burnley

• Born in the Netherlands

Belgium – Zeno Debast, D, Sporting CP (Portugal)

• Has 1 career goal

Ecuador – Pervis Estupian, D, AC Milan

• Spell check wants me to make Pervis Estonian

2026 World Cup Funny Names – 1/2

Ah, the World Cup is finally here. I’m pretty excited.

Will England win it all (hey, it actually happened within my lifetime)? Will the US get out of the group stage? Will someone other than the usual suspects win the title? 

Now, the World Cup also represents a primo opportunity to find some funny names. Below, I’ve selected the best from each of the 48 teams. I’ve also organized them into like groups to make processing a little easier. 

For each player, I’m listing their position & current team, as well as a little tidbit about them. I’m also throwing in a pic, a weird, embarrassing, or unfortunate one, if I could find it. So, let’s check ‘em out …

AWESOME ALLITERATION

Mexico – Raul Rangel, G, Guadalajara

• Not to be confused with the Mexican badminton player of the same name

Egypt – Ramy Rabia, D, Al Ain (UAE)

• Full name is Ramy Hisham Abdel Aziz Mostafa Rabia

Portugal – Diogo Dalot, D, Manchester United

• “Diogo” is the Portuguese equivalent of “Diego”

Spain – Pedro Porro, D, Tottenham

• In Spanish, “porro” means “further”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

Scotland – Che Adams, F, Torino

• Born in England
• Maternal grandparents were from Edinburgh
• Is named after Che Guevara

S Korea – Jens Castrop, MF, Borussia-Monchengladbach

• Born in Germany to a German father & South Korean mother

Switzerland – Breel Embolo, F, Rennes

• Born in Cameroon, moved to France, then Switzerland as a child

USA – Folarin Balogun, S, Monaco

• Born in Brooklyn to Nigerian parents; moved to UK at 1 month

Panama – Eric Davis, D, Plaza Amador (Panama)

• Not to be confused with the English soccer player, American football player, American baseball player, NZ rugby player, and American clown

Sweden – Eric Smith, D, FC St Pauli

• Father Anders also played professional soccer in Sweden

Argentina – Alexis Mac Allister, MF, Liverpool

Father Carlos, brothers Kevin & Francis, and uncle Patricio all professional played soccer

THAT"S NOT A NAME

Ghana – Prince Kwabena Adu, MF, Viktoria Plzen (Czechia)

• Once played for Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (Ukraine)

Japan – Shuto Machino, S, Borussia-Monchengladbach

• “Machine” in Japanese is “kikai”

Jordan – Mohammad Abu Hashish, D, Al Karma (Iraq)

• Born in Iraq

DRC – Charles Pickel, D, Espanyol

• Born in Switzerland; of Congolese & Swiss descent

Canada – Promise David, S, Union SG (Belgium)

• Full name is Promise Oluwatobi Emmanuel David Akinpelu

S Africa – Evidence Makgopa, F, Orlando Pirates (S Africa)

• Has a brother named Promise

Haiti – Martin Experience, D, Nancy

• Born in France, dual national

THAT'S NOT A FULL NAME

Qatar – Edmilson Junior, W, Al-Duhail (Qatar)

• Full name is Edmilson Paulo da Silva, Jr.
• Father Edmilson Paulo da Silva, Sr. played soccer in Belgium, where Jr. was born

Cape Verde – Diney, D, Al Bataeh (UAE)

• Full name is Edilson Alberto Monteiro Sanches Borges

Paraguay – Kaku, MF, Al Ain (UAE)

• Full name is Alejandro Sebastián Romero Gamarra

Brazil – Alisson, G, Liverpool

• Full name is Alisson Becker
• Has a brother named Muriel

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Ivory Coast – Christ Inao Oulai, MF, Trabzonspor (Turkey)

• Jesus Gallardo plays for Mexico

Iraq – Mohanad Ali, F, Dibba (UAE)

• Nickname is Mimi

Wow! Forty-eight is a lotta countries. Let’s divide and conquer, and continue this again next week.

Native Victories in Tennis Slams

Ah, tennis season is back. I just watched the men’s finals from Roland Garros. I missed the women’s.

What struck me, though, was that no one in either final was French. Which got me thinking – for each of the slams, when was the last time the victor was actually a native of the country the slam takes place in?

Methodology

For all 4 slams:

• For both the men’s and women’s finals, find the last year a native won 
• Calculate how many years that’s been for each
• Add the two together
• Order the slams/countries by total number of years

US (26)

Men's – 2003 (23), Andy Roddick

• Other slam titles:  none
• Fun fact:  married to SI swimwear model Brooklyn Decker

I understand she has a mean backhand

Women's – 2023 (3), Coco Gauff

• Other slam titles:  French (1)
• Fun fact:  beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon at age 15

When your trophy is bigger than you are

Australian (55)

Men's – 1975 (51), John Newcombe

• Other slam titles:  Wimbledon (4), US (2), Australian (1)
• Fun fact:  ranked 15th greatest player of all time

Who knew Sean Connery played tennis?

Women's – 2022 (4), Ashleigh Barty

• Other slam titles:  Wimbledon (1), French (1)
• Fun fact:  took a break from tennis to play professional cricket

Wimbledon (59)

Men's – 2016 (10), Andy Murray

• Other slam titles:  US (1), Wimbledon (1)
• Fun fact:  won 2 gold medals at the Olympics

Women's – 1977 (49), Virginia Wade

• Other slam titles:  US (1), Australian (1)
• Fun fact:  grew up in South Africa

French (139)

Men's – 1946 (80), Marcel Bernard

• Other slam titles:  none
• Fun fact:  beat Jaroslav Drobny

Women's – 1967 (59), Francoise Durr

• Other slam titles:  none
• Fun fact:  had a serve that "might not have registered on a radar gun" [World Tennis Hall of Fame]

A true child of the 60s

Too bad the Italian Open isn’t a slam. Native Italians won last year’s titles (Yannik Sinner, men's) and the year before (Jasmine Paolini, women’s).