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Sporty French Vocabulary
World Cup, European Championship, Saturday morning at the park … whenever and wherever you watch or play soccer / football, this French vocab can help you out.
| soccer football, footy |
le football, le foot | |
| game, match | le match | |
| half | la période | |
| half time | la mi-temps | |
| hydration break | la pause fraîcheure | |
| overtime, (UK) extra time | la prolongation | |
| regular time (90 minutes) | le temps réglementaire | |
| stoppage time | les arrêts de jeu | |
| People and Players | Gens et joueurs | |
| team | une équipe | |
| French soccer team, "the Blues" | les Bleus | |
| soccer/football player | un footballeur | |
| coach | un entraîneur | |
| defender | un défenseur | |
| forward | un avant, attaquant | |
| goalie | un gardien de but, goal | |
| line judge, assistant referee | un juge/arbitre de touche | |
| player | un joueur | |
| playmaker | un meneur de jeu | |
| referee | un arbitre | |
| striker | un buteur | |
| substitute | un remplaçant | |
| sweeper | un libero | |
| winger | un ailier | |
| Field and Equipment | Terrain et équipement | |
| cleats | les crampons | |
| corner flag | le piquet de corner | |
| football | le ballon de foot | |
| goal net | le filet | |
| midfield | le milieu du terrain | |
| playing field, pitch | le terrain de jeu | |
| penalty box | la surface de réparation | |
| shin guard | le protège-tibia | |
| six-yard-box | la surface de but | |
| soccer ball | le ballon de foot, le ballon rond | |
| stadium | le stade | |
| uniform, kit | le maillot | |
| whistle | le sifflet | |
| Passes and Plays | Passes et jeux | |
| corner kick | un corner | |
| direct kick | un coup franc direct | |
| dive (fake fall) | une simulation | |
| fake out, (UK) dummy | une feinte | |
| free kick | un coup franc, coup de pied arrêté | |
| header | une tête | |
| indirect kick | un coup franc indirect | |
| kick/pass around a player’s legs | un grand pont | |
| nutmeg, between-the-legs pass | un petit pont | |
| pass | une passe | |
| perfect pass | un caviar | |
| tackle | un tacle | |
| throw in | une remise en jeu, une touche | |
| volley | la volée | |
| the wall | le mur | |
| Scoring and Penalties | Buts et pénaltys | |
| dissent | des contestations / protestations | |
| foul | une faute | |
| goal | un but | |
| goal kick | six mètres | |
| hand ball | une faute de main | |
| headbutt | un coup de tête | |
| lined up, centered | cadré | |
| offside | hors-jeu | |
| out of bounds | sorti | |
| own goal | un but contre son camp un but CSC |
|
| penalty kick | un pénalty | |
| penalty spot | le point de pénalty | |
| red card | le carton rouge | |
| shot, scoring attempt | une frappe | |
| tie game, draw | un match nul | |
| yellow card | le carton jaune | |
| Verbs | Verbes | |
| to be offside | être hors jeu | |
| to bring down | faucher | |
| to control the ball | contrôler le ballon | |
| to counter, charge down (UK) to counterattack |
contrer | |
| to dive, take a dive | faire du chiqué | |
| to dribble | dribbler | |
| to fake | feinter | |
| to get past an opponent | déborder | |
| to head (the ball) | faire une tête | |
| to lead, be winning | mener | |
| to line up / center (a shot) | cadrer | |
| to pass (the ball) | faire une passe | |
| to play soccer | jouer au foot(ball) | |
| to put up a strong defense | bétonner | |
| to run | courir | |
| to score (a goal) | marquer (un but) | |
| to save a goal/penalty | sauver un but/penalty | |
| to send off | expulser | |
| to set an offside trap | jouer la ligne de hors-jeu, jouer le hors-jeu | |
| to shoot, kick | tirer | |
| to trap, control | amortir | |
| World Cup | la Coupe du monde, le Mondial | |
| UEFA European Championship Euro |
le Championnat d’Europe de football l’Euro |
|
| Go French team! | Allez les Bleus ! | |
| Long live France! (and the French team) |
Vive la France ! |
Vocab Quiz
Test yourself soccer vocab with this fill-in-the-blanks exercise: Au club de foot
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
French listening practice
- C’est qui les Bleus ?
- Coupe du Monde 1998
- Devant un match de foot
- Didier Deschamps entre dans la légende bleue
- Mbappé, la nouvelle coqueluche
- Le racisme dans le football français
Related features
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