Football or soccer? Football refers to any of several games played with an inflated leather ball by two teams on a field with a goal at each end. The most common forms of football are: Rugby Football; American Football; Association Football—also known as soccer from (as)soc(iation football). The vocabulary on this page is for Soccer, the form most closely related to the original and the form played in the FIFA World Cup.

Useful Football Vocabulary

attack: to make a forceful attempt to score a goal

away game: a game played at the opponent's ground

away team: the team that is visiting the opponent's ground

beat: to defeat

champions: a team that has beaten all other teams in a sporting contest

cheer: to shout in encouragement and give support

corner kick: a restart of the game where the ball is kicked from one of the four corners of the field

defend: to resist an attack

draw: a game that ends with both teams having the same number of goals

field: the rectangular, grass area where a game is played

FIFA: Federation Internationale de Football Association; the official body of international football

foul: an unfair or invalid piece of play, against the rules

free kick: a kick given to a player for a foul by the opposition; the player kicks the ball without any opposing players within ten feet of him

match: a game of football

opposing team: a team playing against another team own goal a mistake, when a team places the ball inside its own goal

pass: when a player kicks the ball to a teammate

referee: the chief official; he starts and stops play, makes all decisions about the rules, and acts as timekeeper

score: (verb) to put the ball into the goal and gain a point

send a player off: when the referee tells a player to leave the field for bad behaviour

substitute: a player who replaces another player on the field

tackle: to try to take the ball away from another player by kicking or stopping it with the feet