"Move over Ballon d'Or, we've got new World Cup mascots to analyze and argue over. With news that Maple the Moose (representing Canada), Zayu the Jaguar (Mexico), and Clutch the Bald Eagle (United States) have officially joined the tournament's all-time list of mascots for 2026, we wondered where the trio fit in the pantheon?"
"Soccer should reward the avant-garde risk takers and not those who want to park the bus artistically, but 20+ years later, this one still feels just as confusing as it did back then. A contrived attempt at looking to the future, these guys ultimately land at the bottom of our ranking thanks to not even playing soccer to begin with. According to FIFA, they're playing "Atomball" instead, with Ato the coach and Kaz and Nik his players."
Maple the Moose (Canada), Zayu the Jaguar (Mexico), and Clutch the Bald Eagle (United States) join the World Cup mascot roster for 2026 and are placed within a historical ranking. The mascot lineage dates to 1966 and includes wildly varied figures such as an anthropomorphic orange, a trouser-less bear with a talking soccer ball, and a faceless stick figure. The ranking orders mascots from worst to best using criteria like creativity, relevance, and playfulness. Some entries, such as Ant, Kaz and Nik (2002), rank lowest for not playing soccer and promoting an alternate game called "Atomball," while Gauchito (1978) is criticized for lacking originality.
Read at ESPN.com
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