Soccer Vocabulary Guide for Americans

By: Mr. David Barnett

Many Americans have a hard time getting into soccer for various reasons. It might be that they didn’t grow up playing it or that their family has a strong connection to another sport. One major struggle for newer American soccer fans often has to do with words. Many common things are called something very different in soccer, especially when you start watching the European leagues and have British commentators (like the legendary Martin Tyler pictured above). So, to help you get the most out of your soccer watching experience, I’ve decided to help translate some of these words into American for you.

18-Yard Box or Penalty Box - Goalie Box

You will actually hear this both ways from English commentators. The penalty box is 18-yards from the end-line, so the phrase makes sense as long as you can remember the number. Many people just refer to it as the penalty box, since fouls inside of that box by the defending team result in a penalty. It is also the only area that the goalkeeper can touch the ball with their hands.

Boots - Cleats

Soccer cleats are called boots, and professionals generally wear boots with some pretty aggressive studs on them. Oftentimes you will hear people say something about a “studs-up challenge” or “studs showing,” which just means that they were dangerously leading with the studs on their boots.

Caution - Yellow Card

Many times, English commentators use the phrase “given a caution” or “cautioned” when someone receives a yellow card. Many Americans think that this means they were just given a warning or something, but yellow cards are considered a warning before getting a red, but yellow cards do come with their own consequences in many leagues.

Cap - Appearances for a National Team

Many people use the term cap when talking about how many times a player has represented their country in an international match. This comes from the early days of international matches where players were given actual hats either by the opponents or in some cases their own nation to commemorate their participation. Sometimes this still happens (like the Irish cap above), especially for a player's first cap, but it is mostly a symbolic term now.

Club - Team

This one can be pretty confusing for Americans, because the term team is also used in soccer, but not in the same way as it is usually in other American sports. The club is the overall organization, so Manchester United is a club. But, Manchester United has several teams under their club umbrella. For example, there is the men’s first team and the women’s first team, with various levels of youth teams below each of those.

Crossbar and Posts - Goal Frame

There are lots of phrases used for the metal frame of the goal, but the one that confuses most Americans is the difference between the crossbar (the long bar across the top) and the posts (the side bars connecting to the ground). Knowing the term post is important to understanding the phrases “near post” and “far post” or “back post,” which just describes the post compared to where the ball is. Frame and bar are other common terms used pretty frequently.

Dive - Flop

A dive is either pretending that someone fouled you or exaggerating the impact made on you. This is one thing that makes a lot of Americans upset, and I get it. I hate seeing it, too. But, if you’ve ever watched basketball before, you have seen plenty of diving. 

End-line or By-line - Baseline or Goal Line

The lines behind the goal are actually called end-lines, not goal lines most of the time. Many Americans use either the American football goal line or the basketball baseline as the way to describe these lines. The term goal line is used in soccer, though, which is the part of the end-line that is actually in the goal. So, the ball crossing the goal line results in a goal, but the ball crossing the end-line results in either a goal kick or a corner kick.

Football - Soccer

This one should be a familiar one for most people. We call the beautiful game of football the old nickname of soccer here in the United States, largely because of the other sport that shares the name. Some Americans think that American football had the name first, and that is very far from the truth. We just adopted the sport of football when things were still changing, and eventually what was originally called football would split off into three different sports: football/soccer, rugby, and American football. 

Hat Trick - Scoring 3 Goals

Many Americans understand this one thanks to hockey. If a player scores 3 goals in the same game it is called a hat trick. There are some leagues or countries that do not consider penalties as a part of a hat trick, like Germany, so it is not always as easy to track as you might think.

In Europe - Qualified for the European Cups

This one is commonly said when talking about the current positions of teams in the table. Certain positions in each league qualify for some very exclusive and valuable competitions for the following season, so if you are in one of these top spots in the league, it is said that you are “in Europe.” The number of teams that qualify are different for each league based on the relative strength of the leagues. For example, in the English Premier League, the top 4 teams make it into the Champions League (the top European league), with a couple lower teams making into lower cups.

In the Book - Carded

“Going in the book” just means that a player has received a yellow or red card. It just means that the referee wrote their name in the little notebook they use to track the cards given out. Sometimes this is shortened to just “booked.”

Kit - Uniform

The uniform worn by the teams is called a kit. Most teams have a home, away, and alternate or third kit so that they can wear versions that do not clash with their opponents. Check out the clean fits from West Brom above.

Man Down - Playing with 1 Fewer Player

When a team is “a man down,” it usually means that one of their players has received a red card. Occasionally teams play a man down while they wait to substitute an injured player or if they have run out of substitutions when a player gets injured and can’t replace them.

Manager - Head Coach

The term coach is still used in soccer, but that generally applies to specific position coaches. So, you have a goalkeeping coach, for example. Managers have similar roles as a head coach does in American sports, though they tend to have additional responsibilities when it comes to contracts and signing new players compared to most American sports.

Match - Game

This one is not 100% true all of the time, but it usually is. Generally, when referring to an individual matchup between two teams, people call it a match rather than a game. It seems like when talking statistics, the word game occasionally is used in place of match, but not all that often.

Nutmeg or Meg - Ball Between the Legs

Getting megged is the ultimate embarrassment for a defender. Not that I would know from experience, of course. Basically, it’s playing the ball between the spread legs of an opponent, as a shot, pass, or to dribble around the player. 

Pitch - Field

The soccer field is actually called the pitch. I don’t have many details to add for you here, but calling it a field will get you some confused looks from Europeans for sure.

PK - Penalty Kick

This one is pretty simple, but still takes some getting used to for some Americans. You often hear people say this abbreviation, but you also see it frequently on the screen during score recaps.

Promotion and Relegation - Teams Going Up or Down in the League System

This is a super cool feature of most European leagues and one that I plan to have an entire article on in the future. Basically, the worst teams in the top leagues get pushed down into a lower league at the end of the season, while the best teams from that league get to move up to the top league. Using this system, pretty much every match is huge, unlike in some American leagues. If you have two teams that are both toward the bottom of the rankings in American sports, that game is going to be basically pointless and probably not all that exciting. In European football, that match is life or death for the clubs, the players, and their supporters. 

Pundit - Specialist or Expert

Considering our website is called Provo Pundits, it seems right that this gets mentioned. Pundits are the people that are in the studio analyzing the games, giving their opinions, telling viewers what to be watching for, or whatever. They typically appear before and after the game or during halftime shows. Some pundits publish articles in various newspapers or websites, and some have their own television programs or YouTube channels.

Set Piece - Free Kick

This is another one that is used both ways. You earn a free kick when there is a foul on one of your players or the other team does something wrong. What happens from there is usually referred to as a set piece. Basically, it just means that you get to plan for how to put the ball back into play. Most teams have some of their larger players come forward, they have a set piece specialist that is the best at taking these kicks, and they even have a coach dedicated to set pieces.

Side or Squad - Team

Side is a little bit of an older term, but you still hear it from time to time. Common uses are in phrases like “Liverpool’s best side ever was many decades ago,” or “this manager has done a lot to improve this side.” Squad is usually used when talking about individuals within a team a bit more, like “that signing really improves the squad.”

Stoppage Time or Injury Time - Time Added to the Match

Since the clock does not stop in soccer, referees add time to each half for anything they consider wasted time. This can include for injuries, stoppages due to crowd disturbances, players taking too long to take free kicks or throw ins, goal celebrations, or really any other time that the ball was not in play. First half stoppage time is usually shorter than second half, but not always. Average seems to be about 2-3 minutes for first half and 4-5 minutes for second half, though it has been getting longer as referees track wasted time better, and video assistant referee systems take a bit longer to make decisions.

Supporter - Fan

Fans of different clubs are usually referred to as supporters. To me it just makes it sound like a more permanent or deep connection to the club, but it can be a bit confusing for Americans.

Touchline - Sideline

The longest lines on the pitch are the two touchlines. The substitutes benches for both teams are usually on one of these touchlines. This is also connected to the phrase “out to touch,” which just means out of bounds. 

Upper 90 or Upper V - Top Corner

This refers to the 90 degree angle made by the top corner of the goal. Putting the ball into the upper 90 is really difficult for the goalkeeper to save, so it’s a lot more likely to score a goal if you can pull the shot off.