Airline tries to congratulate soccer team. Manages to insult an entire nation.

A US airline has been forced to apologise after it sent a tweet congratulating the US soccer team over a 2-1 win in the World Cup.

The tweet, by airline Delta, featured an image representing each of the countries. For the US the universally recognized Statue of Liberty and for Ghana – a majestic giraffe.

Only one problem, Delta.

Ghana doesn’t have any giraffes.

After the tweet was sent, Twitter users scrambled to point out that there are no giraffes in Ghana. Many described the message as being stereotypical and ignorant.

The reaction on social media was swift.

The Huffington Post points out that even local travel firms in Ghana have a disclaimer that giraffes aren’t a part of the local fauna.

“Please realize that we are not the destination of choice for a big-time safari adventure,” Easy Track Ghana warns on its website. “There are no giraffes or zebras or leopards living anywhere in Ghana. Lions exist here, but you would never see one.”

One twitter user actually unearthed the source of the image – from the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, nearly 5000 km away.

The airline apologized for the tweet, but not before making a spelling mistake in its apology (We’ve all been there, Delta!)

Making the rounds on the Internet now is a helpful map just for the people at Delta explaining where all the giraffe habitats actually are.