What Does FIFA Stand For?

FIFA stands for a French name, letter by letter

Here is how the four letters line up with the original words and their English meaning:

Notice that the English word order is different. A direct English acronym would be IFAF, which nobody uses. The French form became the brand, and it never changed.

What does FIFA stand for in English, and why is it French?

The founding meeting took place in Paris, and the first member countries were all in Europe. French was the common language of international diplomacy at the time, so the group took a French name. Over the decades, FIFA grew to include more than 200 national soccer associations from every part of the world, but the original letters stayed.

In English, the full name is the International Federation of Association Football. Most English speakers never say the long form. They say "FIFA" as one word, FEE-fuh, the way people say NASA or NATO.

Association football and the word soccer

The last two words of the name explain a puzzle many Americans have. In the 1800s, two kinds of football were popular in England: one played under the rules of the Football Association, and one played under rugby rules. The first became known as association football. Students shortened "association" to "soc," and the slang word soccer grew out of it.

So when you read what FIFA stands for in soccer, the answer already contains the word soccer in disguise. The A in FIFA, association, is the same root.

What FIFA does in the World Cup and beyond

FIFA organizes the men's World Cup, first played in 1930, and the Women's World Cup, along with youth and club tournaments. It holds half the votes on the board that sets the official Laws of the Game, publishes world rankings for national teams and oversees player transfers between countries.

National associations are the members. Each one runs soccer in its own country and also belongs to a regional confederation. When a team says it "qualified through FIFA," it means it earned a place in a tournament that FIFA runs.

How to write and say the FIFA acronym

• Capitals: write it in all caps, FIFA.
• Periods: none. F.I.F.A. is not standard.
• Article: no "the" needed. Write "FIFA announced" rather than "the FIFA announced."
• Accents: the official French spelling puts an accent on the first e, Fédération. English text, including this page, often drops it.

The letters also became famous as the title of a long-running soccer video game series made under license, which is why many younger fans first learned the word from a game screen.

Sports letters that sit near FIFA

Soccer coverage is full of short forms. A few you will meet alongside FIFA:

• ECNL, a youth soccer league name in the United States.
• MVP, most valuable player, used for tournament awards.
• NCAA, the body that runs college sports, including college soccer.

For more organizations known by their letters, browse the brand name acronyms list. Curious why FIFA counts as an acronym rather than an initialism? This primer on acronyms walks through it.