During the ongoing FIFA World Cup, international scoreboards and broadcast graphics have displayed country abbreviations that have prompted questions among viewers. According to GoogleNewsEN, The Mirror has published an explanation of why nations such as Curaçao are shown as ‘CUW’ and Saudi Arabia as ‘KSA’.

The abbreviations in use are derived from the official three-letter country codes established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) under the standard known as ISO 3166-1 alpha-3. These codes are internationally recognised for the identification of countries and territories, and are adopted by FIFA and broadcasting organisations for use on scoreboards, statistical displays, and on-screen graphics.

According to GoogleNewsEN, ‘CUW’ denotes Curaçao, the autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands situated in the southern Caribbean. The code is drawn directly from the island’s official ISO designation. ‘KSA’ represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the abbreviation reflecting the country’s English-language official title.

The application of these standardised codes is intended to ensure consistency in international communications, regardless of the language of the broadcast or publication. FIFA applies this system uniformly across its tournaments in order to avoid ambiguity between countries with similar names or initials.

The party could not be reached for comment.

Curaçao is participating in a FIFA World Cup for the first time, a circumstance that has drawn increased international media attention to the island’s country code. ISO codes are also widely applied beyond the sporting context, including in aviation, banking, and diplomatic correspondence.