Last fall, Tazuni was announced by FIFA as the official mascot of the 2023 Women's World Cup. In theory, the two co-host nations could have proposed two different mascots for FIFA, but Tazuni easily became the final joint choice of both Australia and New Zealand.
Tazuni - official mascot of the 2023 Women's World Cup
Tazuni is a sketch of the original Eudyptula penguin that calls both New Zealand and Australia home. Even the name Tazuni is a clever combination of languages, "Taz" is pronounced like the first syllables of "Tasman", which is the Tasman Sea that separates Australia and New Zealand; and "uni" is part of the word "Unity", which means unity, a value that is very important for a top event like the Women's World Cup.
Tazuni welcomes fans to 2023 Women's World Cup
Tazuni's story is quite interesting: "A 15-year-old girl, playing in the midfielder position, suddenly felt a real love for football after participating in a match with a group of children on the beach. Her football dream became a reality when one evening, she looked up and saw fireworks blazing overhead from a nearby stadium. The children from the beach handed her a football jersey and she confidently strode into the stadium to show off her talent."
"Tazuni is not only the mascot of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, but also a message about bringing the culture of Australia and New Zealand closer to fans around the world ," said Sarai Bareman, FIFA's director of women's football.
The previous eight Women's World Cups, except for 2003, have all had mascots. The first Women's World Cup mascot in 1991 was a bird named Ling Ling. The 2019 World Cup mascot is a chicken named Ettie. Ettie is described as "the daughter of Footix" - the official mascot of the 1998 Men's World Cup, also held in France.
Shueme Mascot of World Cup 2015
World Cup 2019 Mascot Ettie
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