Reference tool

Football glossary

34 common words and phrases you may hear on commentary or in the stands, explained in plain English.

Added time: Time the referee adds at the end of each half to make up for time lost to substitutions, injuries, goal celebrations, VAR checks and similar stoppages.
Advantage: When the referee lets play continue after a foul because stopping it would help the team that committed the offence. A caution can still be given at the next stoppage.
Aggregate: The combined score across two matches between the same teams, often used in knockout ties played home and away.
Assist: The final pass or action that sets up a goal. Competitions and data companies sometimes define assists slightly differently.
Back four: A defence made up of four players: usually two centre-backs and two full-backs.
Box-to-box midfielder: A midfielder who helps both in defence and attack, covering ground between both penalty areas.
Brace: Two goals scored by one player in a single match.
Caution: The official term for a yellow card. Two cautions in the same match lead to a sending-off.
Clean sheet: A match in which a team does not concede a goal.
Corner kick: A restart awarded to the attacking team when the ball wholly crosses the goal line, without a goal being scored, after last touching a defender.
Counter-attack: A quick attack launched immediately after winning the ball, aimed at exploiting an opponent before it can reorganise.
Cross: A pass played from a wide area into the penalty area, usually aimed at a teammate's head or feet.
Derby: A match between two rival teams, usually from the same city or region.
Direct free kick: A free kick from which a goal can be scored directly against the opponents, awarded for offences such as tripping, pushing or handball.
Extra time: Two additional periods, usually of 15 minutes each, played in some knockout matches when the score is level after normal time.
False nine: A centre-forward who drops deep into midfield instead of staying high, pulling defenders out of position.
Formation: The basic arrangement of outfield players, written from defence to attack, such as 4-3-3 or 3-5-2.
Full-back: A defender who plays on the right or left side of the defence.
Goal difference: Goals scored minus goals conceded. It is a common way to separate teams level on points in a league table.
Hat-trick: Three goals scored by one player in a single match.
Indirect free kick: A free kick from which a goal can only be scored if another player touches the ball first. The referee signals it by raising an arm.
Kick-off: The restart used to begin each half, each period of extra time, and play after a goal.
Man-marking: A defensive approach in which a player is responsible for tracking a specific opponent.
Offside: An offence under Law 11 when a player in an offside position becomes involved in active play at the moment a teammate plays or touches the ball.
Own goal: A goal a player accidentally scores into their own team's net.
Penalty kick: A direct free kick taken from the penalty mark, awarded for a direct free kick offence committed by a defender inside their own penalty area.
Pressing: Applying coordinated pressure to opponents to win the ball back quickly, often high up the pitch.
Promotion and relegation: The system in which teams finishing at the top of a league move up a division and those at the bottom move down.
Set piece: A planned routine from a restart such as a corner kick, free kick or throw-in.
Sending-off: The official term for a red card. The player must leave the field and cannot be replaced.
Stoppage: Any moment when play is stopped by the referee or because the ball leaves the field.
Throw-in: The restart awarded when the ball wholly crosses a touchline. It is taken with both hands, from behind and over the head.
VAR: Video Assistant Referee. A match official who reviews footage to help correct clear and obvious errors in specific match-changing situations.
Zonal marking: A defensive approach in which players guard areas of the pitch instead of specific opponents.