Futbol glossary

The announcers will throw words at you fast. Here is a plain-language cheat sheet for the terms you will hear most at the World Cup. Keep it open in a tab.

Scoring and results

• Brace: two goals by the same player in one game.
• Hat-trick: three goals by the same player in one game.
• Clean sheet: a game in which a team concedes zero goals. Goalkeepers and defenders love these.
• Own goal: when a player accidentally scores into their own net. It counts for the other team.
• Nil: zero, as in "two-nil" for a 2-0 score.

Time and flow

• Stoppage time (or injury time): extra minutes added at the end of each half to make up for stoppages.
• Extra time: two 15-minute halves played if a knockout match is tied after 90. See Extra time and penalties.
• Full time: the end of the match.

On the field

• Pitch: the field of play.
• Offside: an attacker caught ahead of the defense when the ball is played. See What is offside?.
• Cross: a pass played from a wide area into the middle, usually toward the goal.
• Nutmeg: playing the ball through an opponent's legs. A small humiliation, much celebrated.
• Set piece: a restart like a free kick or corner that teams plan and rehearse.

Cards and fouls

• Booking: a yellow card.
• Sent off: shown a red card and forced to leave the game, so the team plays a player short.
• Penalty: a free shot from the spot, awarded for a foul inside the box.

Tournament words

• Group stage: the opening round where teams play in groups of four. See Group stage and tiebreakers.
• Knockout: the single-elimination rounds, where losing means going home.
• Cap: one appearance for the national team. A player with 100 caps has played 100 times for their country.
• Friendly: a practice match that does not count for any title.
• VAR: Video Assistant Referee, the video review system for goals, penalties and red cards.

Heard a word that is not here? Ask Capi below and he will break it down on the spot.