Football in Different Languages
Discover 'Football' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Football
Afrikaans sokker | ||
Albanian futboll | ||
Amharic እግር ኳስ | ||
Arabic كرة القدم | ||
Armenian ֆուտբոլ | ||
Assamese ফুটবল | ||
Aymara pilut anatawi | ||
Azerbaijani futbol | ||
Bambara ntolatan | ||
Basque futbola | ||
Belarusian футбол | ||
Bengali ফুটবল | ||
Bhojpuri फुटबॉल | ||
Bosnian fudbal | ||
Bulgarian футбол | ||
Catalan futbol | ||
Cebuano football | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 足球 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 足球 | ||
Corsican football | ||
Croatian nogomet | ||
Czech fotbal | ||
Danish fodbold | ||
Dhivehi ފުޓްބޯޅަ | ||
Dogri फुटबाल | ||
Dutch amerikaans voetbal | ||
English football | ||
Esperanto futbalo | ||
Estonian jalgpall | ||
Ewe bɔl | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) football | ||
Finnish jalkapallo | ||
French football | ||
Frisian fuotbal | ||
Galician fútbol | ||
Georgian ფეხბურთი | ||
German fußball | ||
Greek ποδόσφαιρο | ||
Guarani fútbol | ||
Gujarati ફૂટબ .લ | ||
Haitian Creole foutbòl | ||
Hausa kwallon kafa | ||
Hawaiian pôpeku | ||
Hebrew כדורגל | ||
Hindi फ़ुटबॉल | ||
Hmong ncaws pob | ||
Hungarian futball | ||
Icelandic fótbolti | ||
Igbo bọọlụ | ||
Ilocano football | ||
Indonesian sepak bola | ||
Irish peil | ||
Italian calcio | ||
Japanese フットボール | ||
Javanese bal-balan | ||
Kannada ಫುಟ್ಬಾಲ್ | ||
Kazakh футбол | ||
Khmer បាល់ទាត់ | ||
Kinyarwanda umupira wamaguru | ||
Konkani फूटबॉल | ||
Korean 축구 | ||
Krio futbɔl | ||
Kurdish futbol | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) تۆپی پێ | ||
Kyrgyz футбол | ||
Lao ບານເຕະ | ||
Latin eu | ||
Latvian futbols | ||
Lingala ndembo | ||
Lithuanian futbolas | ||
Luganda omupiira | ||
Luxembourgish fussball | ||
Macedonian фудбал | ||
Maithili फुटबाल | ||
Malagasy baolina kitra | ||
Malay bola sepak | ||
Malayalam ഫുട്ബോൾ | ||
Maltese futbol | ||
Maori whutupaoro | ||
Marathi फुटबॉल | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯐꯨꯠꯕꯣꯜ | ||
Mizo football | ||
Mongolian хөл бөмбөг | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဘောလုံး | ||
Nepali फुटबल | ||
Norwegian fotball | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mpira | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଫୁଟବଲ୍ | ||
Oromo kubbaa miillaa | ||
Pashto فوټبال | ||
Persian فوتبال | ||
Polish piłka nożna | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) futebol | ||
Punjabi ਫੁਟਬਾਲ | ||
Quechua futbol | ||
Romanian fotbal | ||
Russian футбол | ||
Samoan lakapi | ||
Sanskrit फुटबालं | ||
Scots Gaelic ball-coise | ||
Sepedi kgwele ya maoto | ||
Serbian фудбал | ||
Sesotho bolo ea maoto | ||
Shona nhabvu | ||
Sindhi فوٽ بال | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පාපන්දු | ||
Slovak futbal | ||
Slovenian nogomet | ||
Somali kubada cagta | ||
Spanish fútbol americano | ||
Sundanese maén bal | ||
Swahili mpira wa miguu | ||
Swedish fotboll | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) football | ||
Tajik футбол | ||
Tamil கால்பந்து | ||
Tatar футбол | ||
Telugu ఫుట్బాల్ | ||
Thai ฟุตบอล | ||
Tigrinya እግሪ ኩዕሶ | ||
Tsonga ntlangu wa bolo | ||
Turkish futbol | ||
Turkmen futbol | ||
Twi (Akan) bɔɔl | ||
Ukrainian футбол | ||
Urdu فٹ بال | ||
Uyghur پۇتبول | ||
Uzbek futbol | ||
Vietnamese bóng đá | ||
Welsh pêl-droed | ||
Xhosa ibhola ekhatywayo | ||
Yiddish פוטבאָל | ||
Yoruba bọọlu | ||
Zulu ibhola |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "sokker" in Afrikaans is derived from the English word "soccer" and has the same meaning in South Africa, but elsewhere in Afrikaans-speaking countries it refers to regular football. |
| Albanian | "Futboll" in Albanian is a loanword from English, ultimately derived from the Old English word "fōtball" meaning "ball kicked with the foot". |
| Amharic | The Amharic word 'እግር ኳስ' literally means 'foot ball', referring to the round shape of the ball. |
| Arabic | In Arabic, the term 'كرة القدم' (literally 'foot ball') also refers to the game of table football. |
| Azerbaijani | In Azerbaijani, "futbol" means "football" in English, but also refers to "soccer" or "association football." |
| Basque | The Basque word "futbola" also means "soccer" and "football" in English.} |
| Belarusian | In Belarusian, "футбол" (futbol) can also refer to the board game, checkers. |
| Bengali | In Bengali, the word "ফুটবল" also refers to the game of "soccer". |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, "fudbal" may also refer to a type of bread roll shaped like a football. |
| Bulgarian | "Футбол" means "football" as well as "soccer" in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "futbol" specifically refers to association football, while "rugbi" designates rugby football. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In Chinese, "足球" (football) literally means "foot" + "ball" and also refers to soccer, not American football. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 足球 (soccer) literally means "kick ball" in Chinese, and can also refer to table football (foosball) or hacky sack. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, football is also called "pallò" or "pallò grossu" (literally "big ball"), but it's more commonly known as "ballò". |
| Croatian | The word "nogomet" in Croatian, meaning "football," comes from the English word "soccer" and the Hungarian word "labdarúgás." |
| Czech | In Czech, "fotbal" can also refer to soccer, a version of football played with a smaller ball and different rules. |
| Danish | The Danish word "fodbold" originated from the English term "football" in the 1870s. |
| Dutch | The name 'Amerikaans voetbal' was coined to differentiate the sport from 'voetbal,' which refers to association football in the Netherlands. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "futbalo" derives from the English "football", but in practice is used to refer specifically to association football, while "pilkpiedo" is used for other types of football such as American football. |
| Estonian | "Jalgpall" also means "soccer ball" in Estonian. |
| Finnish | "Jalkapallo" also means "foot game" or "leg game" in Finnish |
| French | The French word "football" can also refer to American football, with the French term for football being "soccer". |
| Frisian | In Frisian, the word fuotbal is composed of the Old Frisian words `foet` meaning 'foot' and `bal` meaning 'ball'. |
| Galician | In Galician, "fútbol" can also refer to a board game known as "futbolín" or "table football". |
| Georgian | The word 'ფეხბურთი' in Georgian literally means 'foot ball', but it is also used to refer to the sport of association football. |
| German | While "Fußball" in German translates to "football" in English, "ball" means "balloon" in German whereas "ball" in English can also mean "dance" in German. |
| Greek | In Greek, "ποδόσφαιρο" means "foot"+"ball," and also refers to a leather bag containing air, water, or sand that doctors used in ancient times to treat various diseases. |
| Gujarati | "ફૂટબ .લ" is derived from the English word "football" and can also refer to "soccer" in Gujarati. |
| Haitian Creole | Haitian Creole 'foutbòl' comes from English 'football' via French 'football', but does not have the second meaning of 'American football'. |
| Hausa | "Kwallon kafa" literally means "head ball" in Hausa, referring to the common method of playing soccer using the head. |
| Hawaiian | Pôpeku also refers to 'kickball,' 'foot-soccer,' or 'the sport of kicking' in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "כדורגל" literally translates to "ball-foot", referring to the gameplay. |
| Hindi | The word फ़ुटबॉल in Hindi is originally derived from the English word 'football', but in Hindi it is commonly used to refer specifically to association football (soccer). |
| Hmong | 'Ncaws pob' is a compound word that literally means 'kick ball' in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, "futball" also refers to "soccer" as opposed to American football. |
| Icelandic | "Fótbolti" is an Icelandic word that comes from the English word "football" and means "soccer" or "football" in a more general sense. |
| Igbo | Igbo word 'bọọlụ' derives from the English word 'football', but can also refer to any type of team ball game. |
| Indonesian | The word "sepak bola" derives from the Javanese word "sepak" (to kick) rather than the English word "ball". |
| Irish | The word peil derives from the Irish words "peil" or "peile" meaning "a ball" or "a game played with a ball". |
| Italian | Calcio is the Italian word for "football" and is derived from the Latin "calx", meaning "heel". |
| Japanese | Originally a verb meaning "to kick" in English, today "football" refers to various ball sports worldwide. |
| Javanese | The word "bal-balan" in Javanese can also refer to a spinning top, a children's game played with a small ball, or a ball made of coconut leaves used for kicking games. |
| Kannada | "ಫುಟ್ಬಾಲ್" is also a popular dish in the North Karnataka region, made from boiled chickpeas and flavored with coconut and coriander. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "футбол" can also mean "soccer" |
| Khmer | In Cambodian, "បាល់ទាត់" can also refer to the ball itself, known in English as a "soccer ball". |
| Korean | 축구 literally means 'foot ball' in Korean, but the word is also used to refer to soccer specifically. |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish, "futbol" shares the same etymology as the word "foot", meaning "lower leg or paw". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "футбол" ("football") in Kyrgyz comes from the Russian word "футбол" with the same meaning. |
| Lao | The Lao word ບານເຕະ (football) can also refer to a ball made of woven reeds or bamboo and used in traditional games. |
| Latin | The Latin word "eu" can also mean "I" or "myself". |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "futbols" is derived from the English word "football". |
| Lithuanian | The etymology of "futbolas" is unclear, but it is possibly related to the French "football" or the English "football". |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Fussball" can also refer to soccer, American football, or even table football. |
| Macedonian | In Macedonian, "фудбал" can also refer to American football, while in the rest of the Balkans it typically refers to soccer. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "baolina kitra" literally means "ball to be kicked". |
| Malay | In Malay, the word "bola sepak" literally means "kicked ball" and is not specifically used for the sport of football |
| Malayalam | The word "ഫുട്ബോൾ" (football) is borrowed from English, and it also refers to "soccer". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "futbol" is derived from the Italian word "football" and originally referred to the game of rugby, while the game of association football was known as "ballun". |
| Maori | The word "whutupaoro" also means "kicked ball" or "game of kicking ball" in Maori. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, "फुटबॉल" can also refer to a "foot" or a "shoe" |
| Mongolian | In Mongolian, "хөл бөмбөг" can refer to either "football" or "soccer," depending on the context. |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "फुटबल" can also mean "soccer" or "football association." |
| Norwegian | Fotball, in Norwegian, can also refer to what is known as soccer in some regions, a team sport played with a ball between two teams of eleven players. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "mpira" also means "ball" in general, such as a playground ball or tennis ball. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "فوټبال" can also refer to the sport of soccer. |
| Persian | The word "فوتبال" can also mean "soccer" in Persian, not just "football". |
| Polish | The Polish word for "football" is "piłka nożna", literally meaning "foot-ball" and referring to the old game of "soccer-football" which is still popular in schools today. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Futebol originated from the English "football", but also relates to the French word "foule" (crowd, group). |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਫੁਟਬਾਲ" ("football") is borrowed from the English word and typically refers to the British game of football (soccer). |
| Romanian | In Romanian the word "fotbal" also means "soccer ball" and is not used to refer to American football, which is known as "fotbal american" or "fotbal cu mingea ovala". |
| Russian | The word «футбол» comes from the English word "football" and originally denoted a game similar to soccer, which is now known in Russian as "классический футбол" |
| Samoan | The word "lakapi" is derived from the English word "rugby" and is also used to refer to other forms of football, such as soccer and American football. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Ball" in Scots Gaelic may also mean a spot/place and "coise" a foot or leg (or a step). |
| Serbian | "Фудбал" ultimately derives from the Old English words "fōt" (foot) and "ball" (ball). |
| Shona | In Zimbabwe, "nhabvu" refers to association football and other sports involving kicking a ball, such as netball and handball. |
| Sindhi | In Sindhi, the word "فوٽ بال" can also refer to the "ball" used in the sport of football. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "futbal" is derived from the English word "football", but can also refer to the sport of soccer. |
| Slovenian | "Nogomet" is derived from the words "noga" (leg) and "met" (throw) and also means "soccer". |
| Somali | The word "kubada cagta" is derived from the Somali words "kubad" (ball) and "cag" (foot), denoting the use of the foot to play the game. |
| Spanish | In Mexican Spanish, the term "fútbol americano" also refers to soccer, and "fútbol" is used only for soccer. |
| Sundanese | The word "maén bal" literally means "play ball" in Sundanese, encompassing all games involving balls. |
| Swahili | Mpira wa miguu, derived from "mpira" for "ball" and "miguu" for "legs", represents the action of kicking the ball with the feet. |
| Swedish | In Swedish, "fotboll" refers specifically to association football, while "amerikansk fotboll" designates American football. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Football" in Filipino can also be used to refer to soccer, or a general match between two teams in sports like basketball and volleyball. |
| Tajik | The word “футбол” comes from English and means “playing with feet”. |
| Tamil | The term 'கால்பந்து' in Tamil can refer to either soccer or American football depending on the context. |
| Telugu | ఫుట్బాల్ is the Telugu equivalent of English "football", and it can refer to either association football, or American football |
| Thai | ฟุตบอล (football) is also used in Thai to refer to the American football style played with an oval-shaped ball. |
| Turkish | In Turkish, "Futbol" is also informally used to refer to a form of lottery or betting on soccer matches. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word “футбол” also refers to table football (“foosball”) and American football. |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "فٹ بال" is derived from the English word "football", but can also refer to the game of soccer or American football. |
| Uzbek | "Futbol" is also used in Uzbek to mean "soccer ball". |
| Vietnamese | In Vietnamese, "bóng đá" literally means "round ball", but it is used to refer to football (soccer). |
| Welsh | In traditional Welsh sports, 'pêl-droed' referred to a game closer to rugby or hockey, rather than modern football. |
| Xhosa | The word 'ibhola ekhatywayo' literally translates to 'the ball that is kicked with the foot'. |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, פוטבאָל can also refer to Association Football, or soccer, as opposed to American football. |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba term "bọọlu" translates to "foot to ball". |
| Zulu | I-Ibhola originated from 'amabhora' meaning balls of crushed paper or leather, rolled up for use in 'igame lezintombi' (game for girls). |
| English | Before the 1860s, the word "football" could refer to any of several ball games resembling modern-day football, rugby, and soccer. |