French Vocabulary for the Football Fanatic

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Last Updated: June 6, 2023

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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.

french sports vocabulary football

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.

Download the list in PDF format

The best part? You can get all these French football vocabulary in a printable PDF by clicking the button below. You'll also get access to the rest of the French Learning Package, a huge collection of PDFs and MP3 files about the French language.

French Football Terms: General 

le football / le footfootball, soccer (American English)
le football américainAmerican football
le matchgame
le match de footfootball game
un match de barrage / un match éliminatoirea play-off
le championnat européenthe European championship
la Coupe du Monde / le MondialWorld Cup
l'actualité du footballfootball news
le phase à élimination directethe knockout stage
une émission spécialea special broadcast
un événement de grande envergurea large scale event
l'épreuve pharethe flagship / main event
Équipe de France Espoirs de footballFrance national under-21 football team
Fédération française de football (FFF)French football federation
les demi-finalessemi-finals
les quarts de finalequarter-finals
le football hexagonalnational (French) football

 

Football Equipment

le stadestadium
le terrain de footfootball field, pitch
le panneau d'affichagethe display panel/ display board
le poteau de butgoalpost
le filetgoal net
le milieu du terrainmidfield
l'entraînement de foot (m)football practice
le ballon de football/footfootball/soccer ball
les chaussures à cramponscleats
l'équipe de foot (f)football team
le maillotuniform, kit
le maillot de footfootball jersey
le short de footfootball shorts
le piquet de cornercorner flag
les protège-tibiasshin guards
le siffletwhistle

People

un juge/arbitre de toucheline judge, assistant referee
l'avant centrecenter forward
un entraineurcoach
le défenseurdefense
le fan de footfootball fan
le joueur de footballfootball player
le footeuxfootball player (slang)
un footballeurfootball player/ soccer player
l'attaquantforward
un avantforward
le gardien de butgoalkeeper/goalie
le milieu gaucheleft mid-fielder
l'ailier gaucheleft wing
le milieu de terrainmidfielder
un joueurplayer
un meneur de jeuplaymaker
l'arbitre (m)referee
le milieu droitright mid-fielder
l'ailier droitright wing
un buteurstriker
un remplaçantsubstitute
un libérosweeper (or libero)
une équipeteam
un ailierwinger

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Plays, Rules, Penalties

un butgoal
un but contre son campown goal
le carton jauneyellow card
le carton rougered card
un caviarperfect pass
des contestations / protestationsdissent
un cornercorner kick
un coup franc, coup de pied arrêtéfree kick
un coup franc directdirect kick
un coup franc indirectindirect kick
un coup de têtehead butt
une fautefoul
une faute de mainhand ball
une feintefake out
un grand pontkick/pass around a player's legs
hors-jeuoffside
un match nultie game, draw
le murthe wall
une passepass
un pénaltypenalty kick
un petit pontnutmeg, between-the-legs pass
une remise en jeu, une touchethrow in
une simulationdive / fake fall
un tacletackle
une têteheader
la voléevolley
six mètresgoal kick
sortiout of bounds
la surface de butsix-yard-box
la surface de réparationpenalty box
la périodehalf
la mi-tempshalftime
le temps réglementaireregular time (the standard 90-minute game)
les arrêts de jeustoppage time
la prolongationovertime
amortirto trap, control
bétonnerto put up a strong defense
contrôler le ballonto control the ball
déborderto charge past an opponent
dribblerto dribble
être en position de hors-jeuto be off-side
être hors jeuto be off-side
être sur le cotéto be on-side
expulserto expel, to send off
faire du chiquéto (take a) dive
faire une passeto make a pass/ to pass the ball
faire une têteto hit the ball with the head
faucherto bring down
feinterto fake
jouer la ligne de hors-jeu, jouer le hors-jeuto set an offside trap
marquer (un but)to score (a goal)
menerto lead, be winning
sauver un but/penaltyto save a goal/penalty
tirerto kick/ to shoot
tirer un penaltyto take a penalty
donner un coup de sifflet finalto blow the final whistle
le match est arrêté afin d'avertir ou d'expulser un joueurthe match is stopped in order to caution or dismiss a player
le joueur reÒ«oit un avertissementthe player receives a warning
une charge illégale / irrégulièrean illegal challenge
un comportement répréhensiblemisconduct
le joueur contrevenantthe player at fault
un coup de coudean elbowing
faute de mainhandball
faute de Xfoul by X
faute à Yfoul on Y
frapper un adversaireto hit an opponent
une infraction de hors-jeua breach of the off-side rule
un geste d'humeurviolent conduct
une infraction aux lois du jeua breach of the laws of the game
une faute passible d'un coup franca foul punishable by a free kick
une perte de tempsa waste of time
le gardien saisit le ballon des mainsthe keeper handles the ball
un tacle volontairea deliberate foul tackle
tirage de maillotshirt pulling
le match est arrêtéthe match is stopped
de l'avis de l'arbitrein the opinion of the referee
une balle à terrea dropped ball
ballon hors du jeuball out of play
un nouveau ballona new / replacement ball
un joueur légèrement blesséa slightly injured player
un joueur sérieusement blesséa seriously injured player
le ballon est en jeu dès qu’il est botté et a bougéthe ball is in play as soon as it is kicked and has moved
le gardien a bougéthe keeper has moved (off his line)
un jouer qui bouscule un adversairea player who jostles an opponent
le but en argentthe silver goal
le but en orthe golden goal
but marqué sur hors-jeuoff-side goal
les équipes changent de campthe teams change ends
le champ de jeuthe field of play
le champ de vision de l'arbitre.the (field of) view of the referee.
une charge loyalea fair challenge
les nouvelles consignes d’arbitragethe new instructions for referees
il est coupable d'une fautehe is guilty of a foul
un arrêt définitifan abandoned match
le ballon est endommagéthe ball is damaged
l'endroit où se trouve le ballon au moment de l'arrêt de jeuthe location of the ball when play was stopped
à hauteur du point de penaltylevel with the penalty spot
pas d'infractionno offence
le lieu d'exécution du coup francthe position of the free kick
le match est déclaré nulthe match is declared drawn
une plaie qui saignea wound that bleeds
pour être soignéto be treated (medically)
laisser le jeu se poursuivreto allow play to continue
un ballon qui rebondit sur un poteaua ball that rebounds off a post
la règle du hors-jeuthe offside rule
le match est repristhe match is restarted
il retarde la reprise de jeuhe delays the start of play
retenir un adversaireto hold an opponent
un tacle à retardementa late tackle
le même nombre de tentativesthe same number of attempts
le joueur qui a touché en dernier le ballonthe player who last touched the ball

Phrases, Expressions, and Chants

BUT !GOAL!
coude à coudeneck and neck (lit. elbow to elbow)
un match à gros enjeua match with high stakes
je me concentre sur le matchI am concentrating on the match
C'est quoi, le score ?What's the score?
le match est loin d'être finithe match is far from over
le jeu se durcitthe game is getting serious
nous méritons de gagner ce matchwe deserve to win this match
un match ennuyeuxa boring match
un match assez ternea fairly dull match
un match nula draw
un nul blanca no-score draw
une courte victoirea narrow victory
une victoire écrasante !a crushing victory!
un match à rebondissementsan action-packed match
c'est le foot !that's football!
une décision difficile à saisira hard-to-accept decision
tout le monde l'a vu sauf l'arbitreeveryone 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!
Voilààà !That's it!
Abruti !Fool! / Moron!
Allez Les Bleus !Go Blues! (to cheer for the French team)
la prochaine fois, peut-êtrenext 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.

There you have it French football vocabulary list!


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

Speak, Listen, and Write French like a Native with a Talk in French Membership

  • Learn French on your own terms with our comprehensive, self-paced beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses, each with a step-by-step plan tailored to your level. 
  • Master French pronunciation and sound like a native with our pronunciation course.
  • Receive personalized feedback and guidance from a dedicated French teacher.

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French football vocabulary

About the author 

Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Instagram

  • 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?

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