Football And World Languages

I am not a football (or soccer) fanatic but World Cup fascinates me always. The official campaign of FIFA says “Football unites the world.” For me, World Cup unites my family. I remember staying late and watching matches with my parents during my childhood years. With 62 games now done and dusted, just two matches are yet to be played at the World Cup in Qatar. My parents, who are now in their seventies, and I are still so keen to wake up for the 3:00 am matches.

There are 32 nations qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and fans from all over the world flogged to Qatar for this international extravaganza, one can imagine the vast amount of different languages you could hear in Qatar. Let us look at the World Cup from the language perspective. This year in Qatar, there’re 8 English-speaking teams, 6 Spanish-speaking teams, 4 French-speaking teams, 4 Arabic-speaking teams (including Tunisia), 3 German-speaking teams, 2 Portuguese-speaking teams, and others. Do you know who they are?

If you are already a football fan, you might know the football-related terminologies in your own language. But what if you also learn them in other languages? Knowing them will surely help when you converse with new friends who are also football fans from other countries. Let’s get ready for another round of football fever.

TYPES OF MATCH

Today will be the semi-final where Croatia is to play against Morocco for the 3rd place in World Cup 2022. “Finale” will be held on 18-Dec-2022.

English	German	Spanish	French	Italian	Chinese
preliminary round	Gruppenphase	Eliminación	tour préliminaire	turno preliminare	初賽
second round	zweite Runde	Ronda preliminar	deuxième tour	secondo round	第二輪
quarterfinal	Viertelfinale	Segunda ronda	quart de finale	quarti di finale	八強賽
semifinal	Halbfinale	Cuartos de final	demi-finale	semi finale	準決賽
final	Finale	Semifinal	finale	finale	決賽

ROLES

Before each match, we would check the team lineup to see who is where, right?

English	German	Spanish	French	Italian	Chinese
goalkeeper	Torwart	Portero	gardien de but	portiere	守門員
captain	Kapitän	Capitan	capitaine	Capitano	隊長
defense	Abwehr	Defensa	la défense	difesa	防守
defender	Abwehrspieler	Defensor	défenseur	difensore	後衛
midfielder	Mittelfeldspieler	Mediocampista	milieu de terrain	centrocampista	前衛
winger	Außenstürmer	Laterales/ Cierre	ailier	ala	邊鋒
forward	Stürmer	Delantero	avant-centre	inoltrare	前鋒
coach	Trainer	Técnico	entraîneur	allenatore	教練
linesman	Linienrichter	Árbitro asistente	juge de touche	guardalinea	巡邊員
referee	Schiedsrichter	Árbitro	arbitre	arbitro	裁判
first team player	Spieler der ersten Mannschaft	Primer equipo en jugar	premier joueur de l’équipe	giocatore della prima squadra	先發球員
substitute	Austauschspieler	Sustituto	remplaçant	sostituto	替補球員

MOTION JARGONS

We need to catch these important words during the matches in order to gain a better understanding.

English	German	Spanish	French	Italian	Chinese
clearance	abwehren	—	autorisation	liquidazione	間隙
corner kick	Eckstoß	Tiro de esquina	corner	calcio d’angolo	角球
throw in	Einwurf	Saque	lancer de touche	buttare dentro	擲球入場
free kick	Freistoß	Tiro libre	coup franc	calcio libero	自由球
save	retten	Salvado	enregistrer	Salvare	救球
handball	Handball	Mano	faute de main	palla a mano	手球
penalty	Strafstoß (also: Elfmeter)	Penalty	penalty	pena	罰球
header	Kopfball	Cabezazo / Pase de cabeza	tête	intestazione	用頭頂球
offside	abseits	Fuera de juego	hors-jeu	fuorigioco	越位
move	sich bewegen	Movimiento	mouvement	muoversi	移位
pass	passen	Pase	passer	passaggio	傳球
own goal	Eigentor	Auto gol	propre but	autogol	烏龍球
bicycle kick	Fallrückzieher	Patada /Puntapié	roue	rovesciata	倒掛金鉤
ball juggling	Mit dem Ball jonglieren	Mantener la pelota	balle de jonglage	giocoleria con la palla	挑球
dive	Schwalbe	Fingir una falta	plonger	tuffo	假摔
score a hat trick	Einen Hattrick schießen	—	réussir un coup du chapeau	segnare una tripletta	帽子戲法

GENERAL TERMINOLOGIES

English	German	Spanish	French	Italian	Chinese
team	Mannschaft	Equipo	équipe	squadra	球隊
opposing team	Gegner	Equipo contrario	équipe adverse	squadra avversaria	對手團隊
player	Spieler	Jugador	joueur	giocatore	球員
lineup	Mannschaftsaufstellung	Alineación	s’aligner	allineare	陣容
midfield	Mittelfeld	Medio campo	milieu de terrain	centrocampo	中場
goal scorer	Torschütze	Goleador	buteur	capocannoniere	進球員
scoreboard	Anzeigetafel	Marcador	tableau de bord	tabellone	記分牌
score	Spielstand	Marcador	score	punto	得分
first half	erste Hälfte	Primera mitad	première mi-temps	primo tempo	上半場
second half	zweite Hälfte	Segunda mitad	seconde mi-temps	secondo tempo	下半場
replay	Wiederholung	Repetición	seconde mi-temps	replay	重播
foul	Foulspiel	Falta	faute	fallo	犯規
national team	Nationalmannschaft	Selección nacional	équipe nationale	squadra nazionale	國家隊
stadium	Stadion	Estadio	stade	stadio	體育場
red card	rote Karte	Tarjeta roja	carte rouge	cartellino rosso	紅牌
yellow card	gelbe Karte	Tarjeta amarilla	carte jaune	Carta gialla	黃牌
draw	unentschieden	Empate (1-1)	egalité	disegno	平手
match	Spiel	Juego/Partido	rencontre	incontro	比賽
bench	Bank	Banca	banc	panchina	替補球員
pitch	Spielfeld	Cancha / Campo	terrain	intonazione	足球場
goal post	Tor	Palo /Poste	poteau de but	palo della porta	球門柱
penalty shoot-out	Elfmeter schießen	Tiro/Lanzamiento de penales	tir au pénalty	calcio di rigore	PK戰
flag post	Eckfahne	Banderín de la esquina	poteau de drapeau	postazione di bandiera	旗桿
defeat	Niederlage	Derrota	défaite	sconfitta	落敗
victory	Sieg	Victoria	la victoire	vittoria	獲勝
extra time	Verlängerung	Tiempo extra	temps supplémentaire	tempo extra	加時賽
changing rooms	Kabine	Vestidores	vestiaire	spogliatoi	更衣室
trophy	Pokal (also: Preis)	Trofeo	trophée	trofeo	獎盃

Football and foreign languages have many things in common, ranging from communication to having the power to bring cultures together. Let our passion for footbal drive us further in our language learning journey. As football unites the world, we become multilingual and mulicultural. Now, we are ready to enjoy the football matches anywhere and can talk about them with our friends from around the world. Bravo!!

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Football and World Languages