A brand new object is the focus this week, and what a fun one it is! This is Albärt, the official mascot for the men’s UEFA EURO 2024 that is currently taking place in Germany.
He is a teddy bear dressed in a colourful kit and boots, and is reversible. Albärt can be transformed into a football, making him all the more special. His name is a mashup of the German name Albert, and the German word for bear, which is ‘bär’. It was voted for by the German public and beat out the other three names, which were Bärnardo, Bärnheart, and Herzi Von Bär.
Albärt made his debut on 20th June 2023. In the morning, he was at a primary school in Gelsenkirchen, and later that day he was at Arena AufSchalke, where Germany played a friendly match against Colombia.
The mascot is part of an initiative to inspire children across Europe to get active and encourage a love of football, team spirit, creativity, and to build self-confidence.
When did the EURO tournament start having an official mascot?
The first UEFA European Football Championship mascot was for the 1980 tournament in Italy, and was Pinocchio. As you might have guessed, he is based on the character from the children’s story, The Adventures of Pinocchio. The mascot is a small wooden boy with a long nose, but this version of Pinocchio has the colours of the Italian flag on his nose, and a hat that has EUROPA 80 written on it.
Albärt’s unique name and nostalgic colour scheme most certainly make him a worthy addition to the lineage of wacky and wonderful EURO mascots!
Other mascots in our collection
Super Victor is the EURO mascot from 2016 which took place in France. He is not a bear like Albärt, but a human.
Super Victor was voted as the official name for the mascot, beating the names Driblou and Goalix. ‘Super’ references the super powers that he has, which he got from a magic cape, boots, and ball, and ‘Victor’ reminds us of victory and empowerment.
For the women’s EURO in 2022, there were three mascots! Here we can see that Ashley has her kit on and is holding a football.
The mascots are known as Hat Trick all together, but each have their own personality traits. Ashley is the captain who wears No.7 and has strength. The other two are Kai, the No.4 who has intelligence, and Robyn, the No.10 who has skill. They show us that teamwork is better and more important than individual efforts.