For most football fans, the 2026 World Cup was the first time they saw "Türkiye" on a major international scoreboard. The name is not new in the country itself — but the global push to adopt it is recent, and the world is adjusting unevenly.

A name with baggage

In Turkish, the country has been Türkiye — "land of the Turks" — since the republic was founded in 1923. In English, though, the world settled on "Turkey," a word that also names the bird served at holiday dinners and, in slang, something foolish or a flop. Turkish officials long disliked the association.

In December 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formalized a switch, ordering ministries to use "Türkiye" in international communications and relabeling exports "Made in Türkiye." Analysts said a central aim was simply to shed the link to the bird and the slang, while officials framed it as raising the country's "brand value," CNN reported.

The UN makes it official

The drive reached a milestone on June 1, 2022, when Turkey's foreign minister wrote to the United Nations requesting the change. The UN accepted it the same day, with a spokesman saying it took effect "from the moment the letter was received," NPR reported. Countries can request how their names are rendered in UN documents; Türkiye joined a list of states whose own name differs from the common English version, much as Germany is Deutschland at home.

A slow, uneven rollout

Acceptance at the UN did not mean universal adoption. The United States followed in January 2023, with the State Department saying it would use "Türkiye" in formal and bilateral contexts, while noting "Turkey" could still appear where it is more familiar to the public, NPR reported. Football's governing bodies adopted the new spelling too, and the 2026 World Cup is the first the country has played under the name Türkiye on official tournament materials (it did not qualify for 2022).

Media usage remains inconsistent: many outlets use Türkiye in formal references but slip into "Turkey" in everyday copy and on air.

The diacritic problem

Part of the friction is technical. The "ü" in Türkiye is a distinct vowel sound, not decoration — and it does not sit on standard English keyboards, so organizations must decide whether to keep the diacritic or simplify to "Turkiye." FIFA uses the full spelling; some broadcasters drop the umlaut in on-screen graphics. Turkish officials argue that stripping it distorts the name.

The World Cup spotlight

At the 2026 tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, Türkiye were drawn in Group D with the US, Australia and Paraguay; their campaign ended in the group stage. For a global audience, it was a reminder of a change many had missed. A country's name is, ultimately, a matter of how it wishes to be known — and on that, the world's governments and institutions have largely agreed. Whether broadcasters, editors and keyboards fully catch up may take longer.