High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! WAGs (or Wags) is an acronym, used particularly by the British tabloid press, to describe the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, originally the England national football team. The term came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although it had been used occasionally before that. The acronym has since been used by the media in other countries to describe the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen in general.