Are you watching the soccer World Cup now? Actually, it’s called the FIFA World Cup and, if you’re from the UK (and some other countries), the sport’s called football, not soccer. Anyway, the World Cup is exciting, isn’t it? There have been a lot of great goals and games so far.
Is your country playing? Who do you think will win?
This year is the first time to have 48 teams playing so it’s the biggest World Cup so far. It’s also the first time for the games to have hydration breaks. These are short breaks during the games for players to rest and drink water.
Watching sports games in English can also be a great way to build your listening skills. The commentators (speakers on TV) may talk quickly, but you can see the action as it’s described in real-time. It’s also a great way to practice listening to different English accents. But sometimes the commentators use special words or phrases, so I’ll do my best to explain a few of them below.
1. Underdogs
A team not expected to win. It can be used in any sport including non-team sports.
eg. Egypt were the underdogs when they played Argentina.
2. Hat-trick
One player scores three goals in the same game. It can also be used in other team sports that have goals (and cricket). It’s often used with the verb ‘score’ or ‘get’.
eg. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick against Nigeria.
3. An equaliser
A goal that that makes the scores level. It’s also often used as the verb ‘equalise’. They’re spelt ‘equilizer/equalize’ in US English.
eg. Argentina got an equaliser in the 82nd minute.
4. Be eliminated
To be knocked out of the tournament because the team loses (or doesn’t have enough points). Teams don’t want to be ‘eliminated’, they want to ‘progress’ to the next round. It’s often used with the verb ‘be’ or ‘get’.
eg. Mexico were eliminated in the Round of 16.
5. Own goal
A player accidentally scores against their own team. So, you guessed it, it’s not a good thing.
eg. It was an unfortunate own goal by the defender.
6. Nutmeg
To run around another player by kicking the ball between their legs. You can also ‘nutmeg’ a goalkeeper by kicking the ball between their legs to score.
eg. What an amazing nutmeg by Bellingham!
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Extra tip! When talking about scores in soccer, we sometimes use the word ‘nil’ instead of ‘zero’ eg. The final score was one nil to Spain (Spain won the game 1-0). We also sometimes use the word ‘all’ when the scores are the same eg. New Zealand drew with Iran two all (the score was 2-2). |
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