Looking for French football vocabulary? It's all here! From general terms to expressions, chants, and even some sample videos.
Whether or not you’re in a pub in a French-speaking city, in the dining table discussing with French-speaking friends, or watching a World Cup game in your couch, these French football terms and phrases can surely come in very handy.
Sports is easily among the topics that people love to discuss, argue, butt heads, or bond over immediately like brothers-in-arms.
In a previous article, we have listed down the French vocabulary for general sports terms (you can check it out here). But today, let’s take a look at Football terms and expressions.
The list is considerably bigger than previous vocabulary themes covered in this blog. But as France’s most popular sport, football (or soccer to you, North American readers) truly deserves more attention.
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French Football Terms: General
| le football / le foot | football, soccer (American English) |
| le football américain | American football |
| le match | game |
| le match de foot | football game |
| un match de barrage / un match éliminatoire | a play-off |
| le championnat européen | the European championship |
| la Coupe du Monde / le Mondial | World Cup |
| l'actualité du football | football news |
| le phase à élimination directe | the knockout stage |
| une émission spéciale | a special broadcast |
| un événement de grande envergure | a large scale event |
| l'épreuve phare | the flagship / main event |
| Équipe de France Espoirs de football | France national under-21 football team |
| Fédération française de football (FFF) | French football federation |
| les demi-finales | semi-finals |
| les quarts de finale | quarter-finals |
| le football hexagonal | national (French) football |
Football Equipment
| le stade | stadium |
| le terrain de foot | football field, pitch |
| le panneau d'affichage | the display panel/ display board |
| le poteau de but | goalpost |
| le filet | goal net |
| le milieu du terrain | midfield |
| l'entraînement de foot (m) | football practice |
| le ballon de football/foot | football/soccer ball |
| les chaussures à crampons | cleats |
| l'équipe de foot (f) | football team |
| le maillot | uniform, kit |
| le maillot de foot | football jersey |
| le short de foot | football shorts |
| le piquet de corner | corner flag |
| les protège-tibias | shin guards |
| le sifflet | whistle |
People
| un juge/arbitre de touche | line judge, assistant referee |
| l'avant centre | center forward |
| un entraineur | coach |
| le défenseur | defense |
| le fan de foot | football fan |
| le joueur de football | football player |
| le footeux | football player (slang) |
| un footballeur | football player/ soccer player |
| l'attaquant | forward |
| un avant | forward |
| le gardien de but | goalkeeper/goalie |
| le milieu gauche | left mid-fielder |
| l'ailier gauche | left wing |
| le milieu de terrain | midfielder |
| un joueur | player |
| un meneur de jeu | playmaker |
| l'arbitre (m) | referee |
| le milieu droit | right mid-fielder |
| l'ailier droit | right wing |
| un buteur | striker |
| un remplaçant | substitute |
| un libéro | sweeper (or libero) |
| une équipe | team |
| un ailier | winger |
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Plays, Rules, Penalties
| un but | goal |
| un but contre son camp | own goal |
| le carton jaune | yellow card |
| le carton rouge | red card |
| un caviar | perfect pass |
| des contestations / protestations | dissent |
| un corner | corner kick |
| un coup franc, coup de pied arrêté | free kick |
| un coup franc direct | direct kick |
| un coup franc indirect | indirect kick |
| un coup de tête | head butt |
| une faute | foul |
| une faute de main | hand ball |
| une feinte | fake out |
| un grand pont | kick/pass around a player's legs |
| hors-jeu | offside |
| un match nul | tie game, draw |
| le mur | the wall |
| une passe | pass |
| un pénalty | penalty kick |
| un petit pont | nutmeg, between-the-legs pass |
| une remise en jeu, une touche | throw in |
| une simulation | dive / fake fall |
| un tacle | tackle |
| une tête | header |
| la volée | volley |
| six mètres | goal kick |
| sorti | out of bounds |
| la surface de but | six-yard-box |
| la surface de réparation | penalty box |
| la période | half |
| la mi-temps | halftime |
| le temps réglementaire | regular time (the standard 90-minute game) |
| les arrêts de jeu | stoppage time |
| la prolongation | overtime |
| amortir | to trap, control |
| bétonner | to put up a strong defense |
| contrôler le ballon | to control the ball |
| déborder | to charge past an opponent |
| dribbler | to dribble |
| être en position de hors-jeu | to be off-side |
| être hors jeu | to be off-side |
| être sur le coté | to be on-side |
| expulser | to expel, to send off |
| faire du chiqué | to (take a) dive |
| faire une passe | to make a pass/ to pass the ball |
| faire une tête | to hit the ball with the head |
| faucher | to bring down |
| feinter | to fake |
| jouer la ligne de hors-jeu, jouer le hors-jeu | to set an offside trap |
| marquer (un but) | to score (a goal) |
| mener | to lead, be winning |
| sauver un but/penalty | to save a goal/penalty |
| tirer | to kick/ to shoot |
| tirer un penalty | to take a penalty |
| donner un coup de sifflet final | to blow the final whistle |
| le match est arrêté afin d'avertir ou d'expulser un joueur | the match is stopped in order to caution or dismiss a player |
| le joueur reÒ«oit un avertissement | the player receives a warning |
| une charge illégale / irrégulière | an illegal challenge |
| un comportement répréhensible | misconduct |
| le joueur contrevenant | the player at fault |
| un coup de coude | an elbowing |
| faute de main | handball |
| faute de X | foul by X |
| faute à Y | foul on Y |
| frapper un adversaire | to hit an opponent |
| une infraction de hors-jeu | a breach of the off-side rule |
| un geste d'humeur | violent conduct |
| une infraction aux lois du jeu | a breach of the laws of the game |
| une faute passible d'un coup franc | a foul punishable by a free kick |
| une perte de temps | a waste of time |
| le gardien saisit le ballon des mains | the keeper handles the ball |
| un tacle volontaire | a deliberate foul tackle |
| tirage de maillot | shirt pulling |
| le match est arrêté | the match is stopped |
| de l'avis de l'arbitre | in the opinion of the referee |
| une balle à terre | a dropped ball |
| ballon hors du jeu | ball out of play |
| un nouveau ballon | a new / replacement ball |
| un joueur légèrement blessé | a slightly injured player |
| un joueur sérieusement blessé | a seriously injured player |
| le ballon est en jeu dès qu’il est botté et a bougé | the ball is in play as soon as it is kicked and has moved |
| le gardien a bougé | the keeper has moved (off his line) |
| un jouer qui bouscule un adversaire | a player who jostles an opponent |
| le but en argent | the silver goal |
| le but en or | the golden goal |
| but marqué sur hors-jeu | off-side goal |
| les équipes changent de camp | the teams change ends |
| le champ de jeu | the field of play |
| le champ de vision de l'arbitre. | the (field of) view of the referee. |
| une charge loyale | a fair challenge |
| les nouvelles consignes d’arbitrage | the new instructions for referees |
| il est coupable d'une faute | he is guilty of a foul |
| un arrêt définitif | an abandoned match |
| le ballon est endommagé | the ball is damaged |
| l'endroit où se trouve le ballon au moment de l'arrêt de jeu | the location of the ball when play was stopped |
| Ã hauteur du point de penalty | level with the penalty spot |
| pas d'infraction | no offence |
| le lieu d'exécution du coup franc | the position of the free kick |
| le match est déclaré nul | the match is declared drawn |
| une plaie qui saigne | a wound that bleeds |
| pour être soigné | to be treated (medically) |
| laisser le jeu se poursuivre | to allow play to continue |
| un ballon qui rebondit sur un poteau | a ball that rebounds off a post |
| la règle du hors-jeu | the offside rule |
| le match est repris | the match is restarted |
| il retarde la reprise de jeu | he delays the start of play |
| retenir un adversaire | to hold an opponent |
| un tacle à retardement | a late tackle |
| le même nombre de tentatives | the same number of attempts |
| le joueur qui a touché en dernier le ballon | the player who last touched the ball |
Phrases, Expressions, and Chants
| BUT ! | GOAL! |
| coude à coude | neck and neck (lit. elbow to elbow) |
| un match à gros enjeu | a match with high stakes |
| je me concentre sur le match | I am concentrating on the match |
| C'est quoi, le score ? | What's the score? |
| le match est loin d'être fini | the match is far from over |
| le jeu se durcit | the game is getting serious |
| nous méritons de gagner ce match | we deserve to win this match |
| un match ennuyeux | a boring match |
| un match assez terne | a fairly dull match |
| un match nul | a draw |
| un nul blanc | a no-score draw |
| une courte victoire | a narrow victory |
| une victoire écrasante ! | a crushing victory! |
| un match à rebondissements | an action-packed match |
| c'est le foot ! | that's football! |
| une décision difficile à saisir | a hard-to-accept decision |
| tout le monde l'a vu sauf l'arbitre | everyone saw it except the referee |
| Péno, ya péno, là ! | Hey, that's penalty, there! |
| Tire ! | Shoot! |
| Il est aveugle ou quoi ? | Is he blind or what? |
| aux chiottes l'arbitre ! | Stick the ref to the toilets! |
| Mais putain ! | For fuck's sake! |
| Passe la balle, nom de dieu ! | Pass the ball, for God's sake! |
| Passe ! | Pass (the ball)! |
| Tête, bon sang ! | Head it, goddammit! |
| Oh bieeeen ! | Niiiice! |
| Mais noooooon ! | Nooooooo! / Dooooon't! |
| Voilà à à ! | That's it! |
| Abruti ! | Fool! / Moron! |
| Allez Les Bleus ! | Go Blues! (to cheer for the French team) |
| la prochaine fois, peut-être | next time, perhaps |
Now here are some videos to pump you up while learning about and watching football in French!
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Allez les Bleus Chant Video
"Qui ne saute pas n'est pas français" Chant Video
This old chant means, "anyone who is not jumping isn't French". Now stand up and start jumping!
"On est en finale"
This simple song is quite easy to follow. It means, "we're in the final!"
La Marseillaise
There's bound to be a lot of patriotic spirit in football games especially the World Cup. So if you want to kick things up a notch, you could also join in on singing France's national anthem.
And of course, as with any sports events, a lot of cursing is gonna come out. You'll need a different list for that one. Check out 20 French Curse Words that are NSFW.
The next time you hangout with your friends you can watch and talk about football in French.
Don't forget that football in French is different from football Américain (American football in French).
We hope you enjoyed this list of French football vocabulary.
For the most comprehensive list of French vocabulary, check out our French Vocabulary Mastery Course.
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I enjoy reading Talk in French every week.I have a question concerning liaison.Do you use liaison when all words end with a consonant and begin with a vowel?