Today's words · ⚽ Football
Shout along: 10 German football words
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The quickest way to make friends in Germany? Watch football together.
Saturday afternoon, and the local pub (Kneipe) is packed with people in football shirts. A goal goes in, everyone jumps up and shouts “Tor!” — and you clap a second too late.
Today's ten words are the ones you'll hear during any match. With them you can join the conversation, and next time you'll be shouting “Tor!” with everyone else. ⚽
📋 The ten words at a glance
- der Fußball — football, soccer; football (ball)
- das Fußballspiel — football match, soccer game
- die Mannschaft — team (sports)
- der Spieler — player
- das Tor — gate; goal (football)
- der Torwart — goalkeeper
- der Schiedsrichter — referee, umpire
- der Fan — fan
- das Stadion — stadium
- unentschieden — drawn, tied; undecided
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
der Fußball
[FOOS-bal]football, soccer; football (ball)(Pl. die Fußbälle)
📌 Am Wochenende spiele ich Fußball.
→ At the weekend I play football.
💡 Fuß (foot) + Ball = football ⚽ Built exactly like the English word.
Bonus Fußball spielen = to play football · Fußball gucken = to watch football
das Fußballspiel
[FOOS-bal-shpeel]football match, soccer game(Pl. die Fußballspiele)
📌 Gehen wir am Samstag zum Fußballspiel?
→ Shall we go to the football match on Saturday?
💡 Fußball + Spiel (game) 🏟️ Spiel is das, so the whole word is das.
Bonus People often just say das Spiel: Wer hat das Spiel gewonnen?
die Mannschaft
[MAN-shaft]team (sports)(Pl. die Mannschaften)
📌 Unsere Mannschaft hat gewonnen!
→ Our team won!
💡 Mann (man) + -schaft (group) = a group of people 👥 Words ending in -schaft are always die.
Bonus The German national team is often simply called die Mannschaft.
der Spieler
[SHPEE-ler]player(Pl. die Spieler (f: die Spielerin))
📌 Der Spieler hat ein tolles Tor geschossen.
→ The player scored a great goal.
💡 spielen (to play) + -er = player 🏃 Footballers and gamers are both Spieler.
Bonus A female player is die Spielerin.
das Tor
[TOR]gate; goal (football)(Pl. die Tore)
📌 Er hat in der letzten Minute ein Tor geschossen.
→ He scored a goal in the last minute.
💡 Same root as English door 🥅 The ball goes through the ‘door’ — Tor!
⚠ das Tor = gate, goal, but der Tor = fool. Mind the article!
der Torwart
[TOR-vart]goalkeeper(Pl. die Torwarte (f: die Torwartin))
📌 Der Torwart hat den Ball in letzter Sekunde gehalten.
→ The goalkeeper saved the ball at the last second.
💡 Tor (goal) + Wart (keeper — think ward) = goalkeeper 🧤
Bonus You'll also hear der Torhüter.
der Schiedsrichter
[SHEETS-rikh-ter]referee, umpire(Pl. die Schiedsrichter (f: die Schiedsrichterin))
📌 Der Schiedsrichter hat einen Elfmeter gegeben.
→ The referee awarded a penalty.
💡 scheiden (to separate, decide) + Richter (judge) = the judge on the pitch 🟨
Bonus Elfmeter! = Penalty! You'll hear it when the whistle blows.
der Fan
[FEN]fan(Pl. die Fans)
📌 Ich bin ein großer Fan von dieser Band.
→ I'm a big fan of this band.
💡 Straight from English fan, short for fanatic 📣
Bonus A football scarf is der Fanschal.
das Stadion
[SHTAH-dee-on]stadium(Pl. die Stadien)
📌 Am Samstag gehen wir ins Stadion.
→ On Saturday we're going to the stadium.
💡 From Greek stadion, a racecourse 🏟️ Almost the same as stadium.
⚠ Unusual plural: die Stadien.
unentschieden
[OON-ent-shee-den]drawn, tied; undecided📌 Das Spiel endet unentschieden.
→ The match ends in a draw.
💡 un- (not) + entschieden (decided) = not decided 🤝 So it's a draw!
Bonus Es steht 1:1. = It's one-all. (Say eins zu eins.)
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Football is close to a national sport in Germany. Bundesliga matches traditionally take place on Saturday afternoons, and many people meet in a pub or at a friend's place to watch together.
At the stadium, fans wear their club scarf (Schal) and sing all match long. Many German stadiums still have standing sections (Stehplatz), which makes the atmosphere really loud.
During big tournaments like the World Cup or the Euros, people gather in squares and parks to watch on giant screens. Germans call this Public Viewing — it sounds English, but that's a German use of it. 📺
✅ Quick quiz
Q. The match ended 1:1. How do you tell a friend the result?
- ① Wir haben gewonnen!
- ② Der Torwart hat den Ball gehalten.
- ③ Das Spiel ist unentschieden ausgegangen.
Show the answer
③ Das Spiel ist unentschieden ausgegangen.
unentschieden means drawn, which fits a 1:1 result.
At the next match, shout “Tor!” for every goal and “Unentschieden!” at a draw. You might make a new German friend on the spot! 🎉
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🥾 Hiking & walks