When the World Cup (a Copa do Mundo) is around the corner, Brazilians all over the world have their jerseys ready and futebol is present in every conversation with friends. So let’s get your soccer vocabulary in Portuguese ready so you can join the conversation and connect deeper with this Brazilian passion.
World Cup Trivia
The first World Cup was in 1930. Brazil is the only team to have played in every World Cup.
Only eight countries have won the competition: Brazil (5 times champion), Italy (4 times), Germany (4 times), Uruguay (twice), Argentina (twice), France (once), England (once), and Spain (once).
No one has won the World Cup as many times as Brazil 🙂
Turn the World Cup into a cultural experience
If you have the chance, I very much encourage you to go to a bar or restaurant where Brazilians are meeting to watch Brazil play. It will be a fun cultural experience, I am sure. If you do so, please come back to our blog to share your experience with us!
Soccer Vocabulary in Portuguese
Now let’s get your soccer vocabulary sharp for the games.
First let’s see a few basic sentences that are always handy for any game:
- Quanto tá o jogo? = What is the score?
- O jogo tá 2 a 1. = The score is 2 – 1.
- Quem tá ganhando? = Who is ahead?
- Quem ganhou? = Who won?
- Qual é seu time? = What is your team?
- Por quem você tá torcendo? = Who are you rooting for? (torcer por = to root for)
Brazilian Portuguese has many idiomatic expressions that come from soccer. I have a few lessons with such expressions, such as vestir a camisa, pendurar a chuteira, pisar na bola e entrar de sola. I bet it will feel good to understand your Brazilian loved ones when they use these colloquial Brazilian expressions.
Here is more soccer vocabulary (the terms in bold are in the video):
O Time = the team
A seleção brasileira = Brazil team
O time, a equipe = team
A camisa do time = team’s jersey
O jogador / os jogadores = player / players
O técnico = coach
O Juiz, o árbitro = referee
O bandeirinha / a bandeirinha = assistant referee
O jogador titular = starter
O capitão = captain
O reserva = bench player
O banco = bench
O locutor / a locutora = the commentator
A torcida = the fans
A convocação = the call-up
As Posições no Campo = The Positions on the Field
Atacante = forward
Centroavante = center forward
Meio-campo = midfielder
Goleador = striker
Ponta-esquerda = left wing
Ponta-direita = right wing
Lateral-esquerdo = left back
Lateral-direito = right back
Zagueiro = defender
Goleiro = goalkeeper
Com a Bola no Pé = With the Ball
A bola = ball
O chute = kick
Chutar = to Kick
O início de jogo, o pontapé inicial = kick-off
O gol = goal
O golaço = a beautiful goal
O gol contra = own goal
A defesa = a save
O pênalti = penalty kick
O tiro livre = free kick
A barreira = the wall
O drible = the dribble
Marcar o gol = to score
O empate = tie
O gol de empate = equalizer
A cabeçada = header
Matar no peito = to chest trap
O arremesso lateral = throw-in
O cruzamento = cross
O escanteio = corner kick
Tiro de meta = goal Kick
O impedimento = offside
Decisão por pênaltis = penalty shootout
O placar = the score
A falta = foul
Mais sobre o Jogo = More about the game
O amistoso = friendly game
O apito = whistle
A arquibancada = the stands
O cartão amarelo = yellow card
O cartão vermelho = red card
Os descontos = injury time
O intervalo = half time
A prorrogação = extra time
O Campo = The Field
A linha lateral = side line
A linha de meio de campo = halfway line
A grande área = penalty area
A linha da grande área = penalty area marking
A marca do pênalti = penalty spot
As barras, a trave = goal post
O travessão = crossbar
A rede = the net
Enjoy the games!
To take your fluency to the next level you need to have real conversations with real people. There’s only so much that apps, books, and videos can do for your Portuguese.
Street Smart Brazil offers one-on-one, live, online Portuguese lessons. Enjoy your own private Brazilian Portuguese tutor and learn Portuguese from wherever you are in the world.
I’d like to thank you for sharing such an amazing job. I simply loved your your website.
Best wishes!
Andy
Muitíssimo obrigada, Anderson! ♥
Oi Luciana, obrigada pelas dicas. Gostaria de mais vocabulários ligados ao esporte.
Oi! Você viu essa lição? https://streetsmartbrazil.com/learn-39-olympic-sports-portuguese/
Pessoal!
Luciana explains that you can stream for free on ESPN3. You do not NEED Comcast, I can do this at work. We don’t have Comcast, and I hope your network is fastner than ours!
Also, you can watch the games later, in the GameCast archive. Go to ESPN3, espn.go.com and find the game in the bar near the bottom of the web page. You will get to a page with some tabs, choose GAMECAST. Now look at the BLUE oval on the play bar that says WATCH NOW. You can also select the language. Select PORTUGUESE. These guys are much better than the English-language clowns on ESPN. The PT commentators are speaking on a whole different higher level than what you’ll hear in English on ESPN.
I am understanding more little by little. Study Lucianas’s Blog on Vocabulario de Futebol, and learn memorize all of the soccer terms. I have watched her blog five times. You WILL begin to understand what the commentators in PT are saying. They do not talk THAT fast. Claro, they sound very animado, excited and exciting. Try it, you’ll like it.
Also, you’ll learn what your Brazilians are saying when they talk about futebol! The World Cup is so much fun and it is a great learning experience for us!