As you’re watching Morocco play at the 2022 World Cup, you may look up at the score bug on your television coverage — this time around it’s on FOX — and wondered: Why is the abbreviation for the country “MAR”? Shouldn’t it be “MOR” because, you know, those are the three letters Morocco starts with?
Nope! And there’s a good reason why that’s the case.
Morocco is spelled that way in English. But in French — Morocco became independent from France in 1956 — it’s Maroc. And that’s where you get your “MAR” from that you see in the World Cup scoring bug.
There’s your answer!
