Learn English Through Football Podcast: Qualify [2026 World Cup]

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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Qualify [2026 World Cup]

In this week’s football-language podcast we look at the word, ‘qualify‘ and how it has been used this week after some of the (2026) World Cup qualifiers. We will also hear from a guest about one of their favourite footballers: Wayne Rooney and of course we will have some predictions.  You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com

Hello

DF: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.

Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills. My name is Damian and I hope you are all  well and enjoying good weather like we are here in London. I wonder what the weather is like in Tokyo where the other member of the Languagecaster team, Damon, is based?

Now, apologies to our listeners as we did not have a podcast last weekend. Unfortunately, I was not feeling so well so we didn’t manage to post a podcast; though Damon did add our regular weekly expression earlier on in the week: he looked at the phrase, ‘to turn the game on its head‘ and this came from the WSL – that’s the Women’s Super League here in England – and he also explained the phrase, ‘to snatch an equaliser‘. Check out both of those in our weekly football expression.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian)

DF: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was in Italian. A nd we are going to have more stingers or messages throughout the show – which languages can you hear? Don’t worry, we’ll let you know what the languages are at the end of the show.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Arsenal fan David)

Now, I wonder how Damon in Tokyo is doing? Damon?

DB: Hi there Damian and hello everyone, I’m doing very well thank you, although the weekend has seen some rain, which might spoil the cherry blossom viewing for many people here in Japan. It won’t spoil the ‘feel good factor’, however, for fans of Japan’s national team, who became the first non-host country to qualify for the World Cup after beating Bahrain 2-0 nine days ago. And followed that with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia, meaning they also sit top of their qualifying table by seven points. Well done to the Samurai Blue.

Qualify

DF: Yes, congratulations to Japan for being the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. They weren’t the only side to do this over the recent international break: New Zealand qualified from Oceania, Argentina qualified from the South American Confederation (that’s CONMEBOL), while Iran also qualified from the Asian Confederation. That means that there are now seven countries who are assured of playing in the 2026 World Cup: the four qualified teams we have just mentioned and of course the three host nations: Canada, Mexico and the USA.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish)

Today’s Show

Now, we have just heard about how four teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup and we’ll be looking at this verb, ‘to qualify‘ and some other similar meaning words later on in today’s show. Did you hear the different words that follow the verb ‘qualify’: ‘qualify for‘ and ‘qualify from‘. Do you know what differences in meaning they have? We’ll talk about that later on and we will also have another part from our interview with Mark Bailey from Hatriqa.com – this time he will be talking about one of his favourite players, Wayne Rooney. Then we also have some predictions – we’ll be hearing from Damon and what he thought about last weekend’s FA Cup games and this is later on in the show.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Bemba (from Zambia))

Qualify for/Qualify from

Now, at the start of the show, we heard how four teams have now qualified for the 2026 World Cup, in addition of course to the three co-hosts. We also asked what the difference is between ‘qualify for’ and ‘qualify from‘. Let’s have a look at the examples again:

1. Congratulations to Japan for being the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup
2. Argentina qualified from the South American confederation (CONMEBOL), while Iran also qualified from the Asian Confederation.

So, in the first example we use ‘for’ to show that Japan will take part in the upcoming tournament or finals (the 2026 World Cup), while in the second example we can see how (or more accurately, from where) they have managed to do this. So, Argentina have qualified for the next World Cup as they have qualified from the South American group.

Right, let’s have a look at some other phrases to do with the verb, ‘to qualify’. Here’s an example from FIFA.com:

• Uzbekhistan will secure their first-ever World Cup finals place with a victory in either of their two remaining qualifiers.

So, here the verb ‘to secure‘ is followed by ‘place’ or ‘spot’ (or sometimes ‘berth’) and this means that they have made certain of their place at the finals next year; they have secured it.

Here are a couple of examples from the BBC:

• Japan booked their ticket to the 48-team tournament with a 2-0 win over Bahrain…
• Japan have become the first nation to book their place in the 2026 World Cup through qualifiers by beating Bahrain 2-0 in Saitama (BBC.co.uk March 25 2025)

So, another way of saying that a team will play in a tournament after qualifying is to say that they have ‘booked their ticket‘ – this is similar to secure a spot but the idea is that there will be some form of travel overseas involved. To book their place also can be used and this means that the team has reserved their place in the next stage of qualification.

Here’s another phrase that we use for ‘qualify’:

• Holders Argentina have reached next year’s FIFA World Cup thanks to Bolivia’s 0-0 draw at home to Uruguay on Matchday 14 of South American qualifying (FIFA.com)

The verb ‘to reach‘ is sometimes used to describe a team getting to the finals and in this example we can see that Argentina have made it or qualified for the World Cup – they’ve reached the finals. Can you think of any other ways of saying this phrase, ‘qualify for the finals‘? How about in a language that you know? What would you say?

More Examples

• Japan have become the first team to join co-hosts Canada, Mexico and USA in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup (FIFA.com March 2025)
• …as the Japanese progressed with three games to spare in the third round of the qualification campaign in Asia (FIFA.com March 2025)
• Iran have become the sixth team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup thanks to their 2-2 draw with Uzbekistan (Guardian.co.uk March 25 2025)

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (from a Brazilian fan)

Wayne Rooney

Embed from Getty Images

DF: Now, you might remember that we spoke to Mark Bailey a couple of weeks ago from Hatriqa – he spoke to us about his football language work. And here is another part of that interview. You might remember that Mark is a Manchester United fan and one of the players he mentioned was Wayne Rooney. So, here he is describing the type of player that Rooney was.

DF: You, you mentioned Wayne Rooney. How… for those people who might not know Wayne Rooney as a player, one or two words to describe Wayne Rooney?

MB: Er…very physical. So, he’s not the tallest player, but he was very physical, very strong. And he was pretty fast as well. I mean not like, say, Mbappe fast, but he was…he was pretty fast. So, for defenders it was very hard for them to play against him with his… just with his strength. But also… he had really, really good technique as well. I mean, you know, if you ever look on YouTube and look at some of his goals, I mean, he’s got all kind of goals. Quite a lot of goals from outside the box that whether its his free kicks, volleys. I think there’s one he did in America, isn’t there; where he did one from the halfway line; a big long-range shot from there. But yeah, really, really good technique.

And as well I think another strength of Wayne Rooney was probably the mental side. He had very, very good vision. So he was really, really good at picking a pass. But also as well, he was very good at scoring important goals. So again, if you look on YouTube, there’s his famous overhead kick for Manchester United against Manchester City. But a goal.. .that’s a match-winning goal. You know, he scored that near the end of the game. But, I think the great players have that ability to score important goals at important times. So Wayne Rooney wouldn’t have, like, the numbers… say the numbers, the number of goals that someone, say, like Ronaldo would have had or certainly Messi. You know, they they got so many goals, but Wayne Rooney scored a lot of important goals at important times in matches.

DF: Thanks a lot again to Mark for that. We heard that Rooney was strong, both physically and mentally and he was also fast and that he had good technique and vision. This word ‘vision’ is an interesting way to describe a footballer – it suggests that the player can see lots of things around the pitch – maybe more than other players. They know where other players (both team mates and opponents) are on the pitch and can make decisions quite quickly compared to others. Mark also used the phrase, ‘to pick a pass‘ which means that a player passes the ball very well and suggests that a player has good technique (that’s good control and skill) and they can make accurate passes over various distances to team mates. Another phrase we have looked at in the past is ‘to pick out’ – pick out a team mate; while we also have lots of expressions connected to good passing such as: an inch-perfect pass, through balls and a slide rule pass, that’s a really, really accurate pass).

Now, can you think of other players who, like Rooney, have good vision? Or maybe can you think of any players who are physically strong? How about sending us some words to describe your favourite footballer? Drop us a line here at Languagecaster.com or maybe add it to our forum.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)

Predictions

DF: OK, next up we have our predictions section with Damon. Now, of course these games have already taken place last weekend so we can see how well (or not) Damon’s predictions were! Let’s start with the first FA Cup quarter-final which involved Manchester City who travelled to Bournemouth.

Bournemouth v Manchester City: FA Cup (Quarter Final)

DB: OK, we’re going to start with two FA Cup quarter finals in England, and this year’s competition has seen most of the recent winners knocked out: Manchester United, Liverpool, Leicester, Arsenal, Chelsea… so there may be a less-fancied team lifting the trophy in May. That will be more likely if Bournemouth can dump Manchester City out of the competition. City are the favourites to win the trophy. I think they might do it, but only via penalties. I think this quarter final will be a 1-1 draw.

DF: Not bad Damon! You went for City but after penalties when in fact they won this 2-1 in the 90 minutes.

Fulham v Crystal Palace: FA Cup  (Quarter Final)

DB: The next quarter final is an all London affair, so a London derby with Fulham hosting Crystal Palace. Palace are one of the form teams in the league – they’ve won three out of their last four matches –  and although Fulham have home advantage, I think the Eagles, Crystal Palace, will advance to the semi finals with a 2-1 win.

DF: Well done again Damon – you predicted a Palace win and they did win although they did so more comfortably than you thought: they won 3-0.

Betis v Sevilla: La Liga

DB: And to finish, let’s have another derby. This is the Seville derby between Betis and Sevilla in La Liga, El Gran Derbi. This is one of the most passionate derbies in Spain. Betis are pushing for a berth in Europe next season and I think this will give them the edge in this match. A home 1-0 win to Betis.

DF: Oh my days! Well done again Damon! You went for a Betis win and they did win – the first time they have defeated their neighbours Sevilla in seven years to end their derby drought! They did win 2-1 but you managed to get a point for the right result. Well done!

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)

Manchester United vs Manchester City

DF: Right, let’s have a look at a couple of the big games from this weekend including the Manchester derby on Sunday. United host City – I think the Red Devils will lose again at home – maybe 2-1 to City.

Barcelona vs Betis

DF: So, we have already mentioned Betis after their wonderful victory over Sevilla last weekend but I don’t think they will get anything from their visit to La Liga leaders Barcelona. I think this will be an easy victory for in-form Barca – maybe 3-0.

What do you think of those predictions? Let us know what you think might happen in those or indeed any other games over the weekend. And how do you think your team will do this weekend?

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Japanese)

Contact

DB: Right, remember to contact us via email at admin@languagecaster.com if you have any questions about the language of football or if you have some feedback on our podcast. Checkout our website at languagecaster.com and explore our Football Language Forum, where you can ask and answer questions about all kinds of football language. There is also our huge glossary of football terms, with hundreds of expressions, phrases, and clichés about the beautiful game. And finally, please help us by spreading the word about our podcast and our site. Give us a like and follow us on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky, YouTube, and more.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Vietnamese)

Goodbye

DF:  Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message or stinger was in Vietnamese. We have also heard stingers in Dutch, Japanese, Bemba from Zambia, French, Spanish and Portuguese from Brazil. So well done if you were able to recognise any of those languages.

And thanks everyone for listening today. Remember that we looked at phrases around the verb to ‘qualify‘, including ‘to reach‘ and ‘to book’ or ‘to secure a place in the finals’. Let us know if you hear these phrases while watching any football this week, in any language of course!

DF: Congratulations again to the four qualifiers – we’d love to hear from fans from Iran, Argentina, Japan and New Zealand – maybe you could record us a stinger for the show!

Enjoy all the football this week – there are some huge Champions League matches taking place and of course my fingers will be crossed when my favourite team Spurs face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday – I’m not too confident. And we’ll be back soon with a new football expression early next week. Bye bye.

DB: Enjoy all the football this week – Ta-ra.

Related Terms

Football Language Glossary