Spanish for football
Goal, penalty, offside: how people talk about football — in the stadium, in the bar and in front of the TV.
Why this field
In Spain and Latin America football is a topic that connects almost everyone. If you can join in, you quickly find company — at the bar, at work, in a shared flat.
The language is lively and full of images, and it shows grammar that otherwise seems dry: augmentatives, the superlative in -ísimo and the perfect for what has just happened.
Sentences to say aloud
The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.
¿Quién juega hoy?Who’s playing today?
¿Vemos el partido en el bar de la esquina?Shall we watch the match at the bar on the corner?
¡Golazo!What a goal!
El árbitro ha pitado penalti.The referee has given a penalty.
Estamos empatados a uno.It’s one all.
Ha sido fuera de juego clarísimo.That was clearly offside.
El portero lo ha parado todo.The goalkeeper has saved everything.
¡Árbitro, eso es falta!Ref, that’s a foul!
¡Venga, que todavía queda media hora!Come on, there’s still half an hour to go!
Nos han metido un gol en el último minuto.They scored against us in the last minute.
What matters here
- In Spain, what has just happened goes in the perfect: Ha marcado. In Latin America people mostly say Marcó.
- The ending -azo makes things bigger: gol becomes golazo, a particularly fine goal.
- People shout and swear at football. What is normal in the stands quickly sounds rude in a conversation with strangers.
Try it yourself
Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Spanish, then open it to compare.
Who’s playing today?
¿Quién juega hoy?
What a goal!
¡Golazo!
It’s one all.
Estamos empatados a uno.
The goalkeeper has saved everything.
El portero lo ha parado todo.
The grammar behind it
Word lists that go with it
More fields
Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.