Soccer English vocabulary for the World Cup 2022

Are you excited about the FIFA World Cup 2022? The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious soccer competition in the world. Played every four years, the World Cup hosts the top 32 national teams in a month-long tournament. The host country is selected by FIFA.

Let’s learn some new vocabulary now that you’ve learned a little bit about the World Cup!

• All ball—This is said when a player attempts to tackle the ball, and connects with the ball rather than the player’.

• Back of the net—A commentator’s favourite to describe the ball crossing the line and hugging the net, in other words, a goal.

• Ball-to-hand—The claim that the contact between the hand and the ball is inadvertent, therefore it shouldn’t warrant a free kick.

• Bicycle kick—The movement by a player where they jump up, throw both feet in the air and hit the ball in a pedalling motion to send the ball in the opposite direction they’re facing. Also known as the overhead kick.

• Boot it—An instruction given by the teammates of a player for them to kick the ball with full power to get it away.

• Box-to-box player—A player that can successfully play both sides (defensive and offensive) of the game. See: Radja Nainggolan, Yaya Touré, Patrick Vieira.

• Brace—A word to describe the achievement of a player that scores two goals in one game. “Scoring a brace” is the way to go when using it in a sentence.

• Chip shot—A shot that is kicked from underneath the ball to provide some arc for it to go over the opponent. See: Lionel Messi.

• Class act—A player/manager that deserves praise, especially with their attitude and manners off the field.

• Clean sheet—The accolade a team/goalkeeper earns when a full game is played without conceding a goal.

• Cleats—The plastic or metallic bumps on the sole of football shoes. Also used for the shoes themselves.

• Clinical finish—A top-notch shot that leads to a goal. The scorer of this goal is called the clinical finisher. See: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Harry Kane, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima.

• Cracker—A breathtaking football match or an outstanding goal, mainly from a long distance.

• Dive—The exaggerated falling move of a player to deceive the referee in order to win their team a foul call.

• Dummy run—An off-the-ball run made by an offensive player to create space for his teammate with the ball. Used to trick opponents by pretending to move towards the ball.

• Feint / Flip Flap—The dribbling of the ball in one direction after faking the dribble in the other direction with a bogus body movement. Also known as the snakebite for being resembling a snake’s agile attack on its prey.

• First-time ball—Transferring the ball to a teammate with one single touch when a pass is received.

• Flick-on—A move where the offensive player hits a moving ball with their foot or head when it’s passing by them without controlling it first.

• Game of two halves—A cliché that commentators resort to when a match has consisted of two halves with huge disparities in character and score.

• Hairdryer treatment—The hard scolding of players by their manager, usually takes place in the changing room. Popularized by the former Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson.

• Hard man—A player notorious for their tough, physical, and assertive style of football. See: Roy Keane, Gennaro Gattuso, Graeme Souness.

• Hoof—Purposelessly kicking the ball towards the opposite goal with power.

• Hospital ball—A reckless pass that’s within reach of two players from opposing teams that can give rise to injuries.

• Howler—An inexplicable mistake by a player that generally proves costly.

• Hug the line—The instruction given to wing players to stay closer to the sidelines, especially when dribbling forward.

• In his/her pocket—Refers to one player having dominated an opposition player.

• Line-o—One of the nicknames for the assistant referees that work on the sidelines.

• Lost the dressing room—A phrase to describe a situation in which the manager has lost control over and the respect of the players.

• Man-on—The loud cry to inform a teammate with the ball that an opponent is approaching or dangerously close by.

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