General Football Vocabulary in Chinese  

Let’s start with the most essential words related to football in Chinese. We’ve included Pinyin Romanization alongside the Chinese characters to help you pronounce the words.

English
Chinese
Pinyin

football (soccer)
足球
zúqiú

play football
踢足球
tī zúqiú

football training
足球训练
zúqiú xùnliàn

football game/match
足球比赛
zúqiú bǐsài

football team
足球队
zúqiú duì

football club
足球俱乐部
zúqiú jùlèbù

national team
国家队
guójiā duì

league
联赛
liánsài

players
球员
qiúyuán

coach
教练
jiàoliàn

referee
裁判
cáipàn

fans
球迷
qiúmí

stadium/pitch
球场
qiúchǎng

FIFA
国际足联
guójì zúlián

World Cup
世界杯
shìjiè bēi

Now we’ll delve deeper into these basic Chinese football terms to help you get started on the road to footballing fluency.  

1. Football (Soccer) in Chinese: 足球 (zúqiú)

The Chinese word for football, as a term for the sport, is 足球 (zúqiú). If you break it into characters, 足 (zú) stands for “foot”, and 球 (qiú) means “ball”. This same word may also be used in reference to the ball itself.

To refer to American football, you may say 美式足球 (měishì zúqiú) – “American-style football”. But a more common way of saying it is 橄榄球 (gǎnlǎnqiú), literally “olive ball”. (The ball does look like an olive, doesn’t it?)

2. Play Football in Chinese: 踢足球 (tī zúqiú)

“Play football” in Chinese is 踢足球 (tī zúqiú), literally “kick football”.

You’ll want to use the verb “kick” – 踢 (tī) here to talk about playing football in Chinese. 打 (dǎ), which is the Chinese word for “play”, on the other hand, is only used for sports that are played with hands (e.g. basketball, volleyball, tennis).

3. Football Training in Chinese: 足球训练 (zúqiú xùnliàn)

To play football, a high level of training is required. “Football training” is called 足球训练 (zúqiú xùnliàn) in Chinese. We’ll get to the Chinese terms for various football skills in a moment.  

4. Football Game/Match in Chinese: 足球比赛 (zúqiú bǐsài)

A football game or match would be called 足球比赛 (zúqiú bǐsài) in Chinese. It may also be possible to shorten it as 球赛 (qiúsài) or 比赛 (bǐsài) in daily conversation and people would understand what you mean as long as the context is clear.

The measure word for football matches is 场 (chǎng), which is also the most common Chinese measure word used for games, performances, and events.

Example:

还有两场比赛。
Háiyǒu liǎng chǎng bǐsài.
Two more games to go.

5. Football Team in Chinese: 足球队 (zúqiú duì)

“Football team” in Chinese is called 足球队 (zúqiú duì) since 队 (duì) means “team”.

You may also simply say 球队 (qiúduì) if you’d like, although without the specifications this word can mean other types of ball sports teams as well.  

The corresponding measure word for “team” in Chinese is 支 (zhī). For example, a football team is 一支球队 (yì zhī qiúduì).

6. Football Club in Chinese: 足球俱乐部 (zúqiú jùlèbù)

Football clubs are called 足球俱乐部 (zúqiú jùlèbù) in Chinese. A professional football club would be called 职业足球俱乐部 (zhíyè zúqiú jùlèbù) while an amateur one would be called 业余足球俱乐部 (yèyú zúqiú jùlèbù).

7. National Team in Chinese: 国家队 (guójiā duì)

The term for “national team” in Chinese is 国家队 (guójiā duì). The word 国家 (guójiā) can be used to talk about nations or countries in general. For the specific nation, you just add 队 (duì) onto the end of the nation’s name. For example, 巴西队 (Bāxī duì) – Team Brazil.

For a comprehensive list of the nation names in Chinese, check this post out.

8. Football League in Chinese: 联赛 (liánsài)

“Football league” is called 联赛 (liánsài) in Chinese, literally “joined matches”. Here are some of the best football leagues in the world, along with their Chinese terms.

UEFA Champions League – 欧冠 (ōu guàn)

English Premier League – 英超 (yīng chāo)

La Liga – 西甲 (xī jiǎ)

Bundesliga – 德甲 (dé jiǎ)

Serie A – 意甲 (yì jiǎ)

Ligue 1- 法甲 (fǎ jiǎ)

MLS – 美职联 (měi zhí lián)

Chinese Super League – 中超 (zhōng chāo)

9. Football Players in Chinese: 球员 (qiúyuán)

The word for footballers in Chinese is 球员 (qiúyuán) – literally, “ball staff”. This is the word you’ll use also when you are talking about other ball sports players. To be more specific, you can say 足球运动员 (zúqiú yùndòngyuán) – “football athletes”.

You may call football stars 球星 (qiú xīng) in Chinese. Do you have a favorite football player? Check out this section for the Chinese names of some of the greatest football players in the world.

10. Coach in Chinese: 教练 (jiàoliàn)

A football coach or manager is referred to as 足球教练 (zúqiú jiàoliàn) in Chinese. The word 教练 (jiàoliàn) literally means “teach (how to) practice” – that’s what coaches are for.

11. Referee in Chinese: 裁判 (cáipàn)

The referee is the decision-making authority during a football match. In Chinese, this person is called 裁判 (cáipàn), while “to referee a game” in Chinese is 执法 (zhí fǎ) – “enforce laws”, or more colloquially, 吹 (chuī) – meaning “blow (the whistle)”.

Examples:

本场比赛的裁判来自波兰。
Běn chǎng bǐsài de cáipàn láizì Bōlán.
The referee for the match comes from Poland.



他执法/吹过世界杯决赛。
Tā zhí fǎ /chuī guò shìjiè bēi juésài.
He has refereed the World Cup final.

12. Football Fans in Chinese: 球迷 (qiúmí)

The word for “fan” in Chinese is 球迷 (qiúmí). It can be used to talk about any type of field game played with a ball.

You may also add some modifications if you want to be more specific. For instance, you can say 足球迷 (zúqiúmí) when talking about football. And with basketball, you can say 篮球迷 (lánqiúmí). However, in both cases, you can also simply say 球迷 (qiúmí).

13. Football Stadium/Pitch in Chinese: 球场 (qiúchǎng)

Similarly, 球场 (qiúchǎng) – literally “ball field” can be used to refer to any place where a ball game is played, regardless of the type. Add some specifications if you’d like.

Examples:

football field – 足球场 (zúqiúchǎng)

basketball court – 篮球场 (lánqiúchǎng)

tennis court – 网球场 (wǎngqiúchǎng)

14. FIFA in Chinese: 国际足联 (guójì zúlián)

FIFA, the international governing body of football is called 国际足联 (guójì zúlián) in Chinese, while the FIFA president is called 国家足联主席 (guójì zúlián zhǔxí).

15. World Cup in Chinese: 世界杯 (shìjiè bēi)

World Cup, the biggest sporting tournament on our planet, is called 世界杯 (shìjiè bēi) in Chinese.

If you want to talk about the World Cup specifically, we also have a dedicated post on Chinese World Cup vocabulary.