Spain had Naranjito, the smiling orange in 1982, France Footix, the football-playing rooster in 1998, now Brazil has chosen an endangered armadillo as the mascot for the 2014 World Cup.
The mascot, unveiled late on Sunday, represented the three-banded armadillo, an endangered species indigenous to Brazil. While nature’s version is light brown in colour, FIFA’s mascot is yellow with green eyes and a blue shell, the colours of the Brazilian flag, and will be holding aloft a football.
Three-banded armadillos live mainly in Brazil’s arid northeast and are threatened by habitat destruction. They are unusual among armadillos as they can roll up into a ball to defend themselves from predators.
According to FIFA, a vote would be held to choose the mascot’s name.