Going to a football match in Spanish: tickets, stands, the words for the game and what the crowd shouts in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
At a football match you need vocabulary you never learned in your Spanish course, and a good deal of it changes between one country and the next. This page has buying the ticket, finding the stand, the words for what is happening on the pitch, what the crowd is shouting, and the conversation afterwards, with Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina named wherever they differ.
The ticket
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The ticket | el boleto | la entrada | la boleta | la entrada |
| Season ticket | el abono | el abono, el carnet | el abono | el abono, el carnet de socio |
| Club member | el socio | el socio | el socio | el socio |
| Ticket office | la taquilla | la taquilla | la taquilla | la boletería |
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Are there any tickets left? | ¿Quedan entradas? / ¿Quedan boletos? (Mexico) / ¿Quedan boletas? (Colombia) | |
| Two for Saturday, please | Dos para el sábado, por favor. | |
| How much is the cheapest? | ¿Cuánto vale la más barata? | |
| Where can I buy them? | ¿Dónde se compran? | |
| Can I buy at the ground? | ¿Se puede comprar en el estadio? | en la cancha in Latin America, en el campo in Spain |
| Is it sold out? | ¿Está agotado? | |
| Do I have to be a member? | ¿Hay que ser socio? | Ask this in Argentina before anything else |
| Can I get in with this on my phone? | ¿Entro con esto en el celular? / en el móvil (Spain) | |
| Which gate? | ¿Por qué puerta entro? | |
| What time do the gates open? | ¿A qué hora abren? |
In Argentina many league matches are for socios only, and the ticket goes on a membership card rather than on sale to the public. If you are visiting, ask a local to take you or check whether the club sells to non-members for that particular game. ¿Hay entradas para no socios? is the question.
The stands
Stadium sections have local names, and from the name you know what kind of afternoon you are buying.
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main seated stand | preferente | tribuna | occidental | platea |
| The side opposite | preferente | lateral | oriental | platea |
| Behind the goal | cabecera norte, cabecera sur | fondo | norte, sur | popular |
| Boxes | los palcos | los palcos | los palcos | los palcos |
La popular in Argentina is the terrace behind the goal where the hinchada stands and sings for the whole match. It is the cheap ticket and there is nowhere to sit. La platea is seated and more expensive. Argentine grounds count their tiers as bandejas, so the top deck is la bandeja alta.
In Colombia, stands are named by compass point. Occidental is the covered main side, oriental the other, and norte and sur are behind the goals where the organised groups go, and alta and baja are the upper and lower decks, as in occidental alta. In Spain, tribuna is the main stand, fondo is behind the goal, and grada de animación is the singing section some clubs have set aside. In Mexico, cabecera is behind the goal and preferente is the seated side.
Club, country and the people who follow them
| Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The fans, collectively | la afición | la afición | la hinchada | la hinchada |
| One fan | un aficionado | un aficionado, un forofo | un hincha | un hincha |
| Organised supporters’ group | la porra | la peña, el grupo de animación | la barra | la barra |
| The national team | la selección, el Tri | la selección, la Roja | la selección, la Tricolor | la selección, la Albiceleste |
| The league | la Liga MX | LaLiga | la Liga BetPlay | la Liga Profesional |
| A big derby | el clásico | el clásico, el derbi | el clásico | el clásico, el superclásico |
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Who do you support? | ¿De qué equipo eres? (Mexico, Spain, Colombia) / ¿De qué cuadro sos? or ¿De qué equipo sos? (Argentina) | The opening question of a hundred conversations |
| I support… | Le voy a… (Mexico, Colombia) / Soy de… (Argentina) / Soy del… (Spain) | |
| I don’t follow football | No sigo mucho el fútbol. | |
| Who’s playing? | ¿Quién juega? | |
| Who are they playing? | ¿Contra quién juegan? | |
| Home | de local (Latin America) / en casa (Spain) | |
| Away | de visitante (Latin America) / fuera (Spain) | |
| It’s on TV | Lo pasan por la tele. | |
| What channel? | ¿Por qué canal lo dan? |
Fútbol, stressed on the first syllable, in Spain and most of Latin America. In Mexico it is written futbol, without the accent.
The words for the game
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The pitch | la cancha (Latin America) / el campo (Spain) | In Argentina la cancha also means the stadium: vamos a la cancha |
| The goalkeeper | el arquero (Argentina, Colombia) / el portero (Spain, Mexico) | Guardameta in commentary everywhere |
| The goal (the structure) | el arco (Latin America) / la portería (Spain) | |
| A goal (scored) | un gol | |
| To score | meter un gol, marcar (Spain) / anotar (Mexico) / convertir (Argentina) | |
| Penalty | el penal (Latin America) / el penalti (Spain) | |
| Free kick | el tiro libre / la falta | |
| Corner | el córner / el tiro de esquina / el saque de esquina (Spain) | |
| Offside | fuera de lugar (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina) / fuera de juego (Spain) / offside and orsai in Argentine speech | |
| Foul | la falta | |
| Yellow card | la tarjeta amarilla | |
| Red card, sent off | la roja, lo expulsaron | |
| The referee | el árbitro | |
| The linesman | el juez de línea, el asistente | |
| VAR | el VAR | Said “el var” |
| Half time | el descanso (Spain) / el medio tiempo (Mexico) / el entretiempo (Colombia, Argentina) | |
| Added time | el descuento, el tiempo añadido (Spain) / los descuentos (Argentina) / el tiempo agregado (Mexico, Colombia) | |
| Extra time | la prórroga (Spain) / el alargue (Argentina) / el tiempo extra (Mexico) | |
| Penalty shootout | los penales / la tanda de penaltis (Spain) | |
| A draw | el empate | |
| To win, lose | ganar, perder | |
| The kit, the shirt | la camiseta | |
| The crossbar, the post | el travesaño, el palo | |
| A save | la atajada (Latin America) / la parada (Spain) | |
| A header | el cabezazo | |
| The manager | el técnico, el DT (Argentina, Colombia) / el entrenador (Spain) | DT is director técnico |
What you will hear from the crowd
Singing is constant and organised. Each club has its own songs, usually set to a tune everybody in the country already knows, so you will not learn them in advance. These are the shouts common to everyone.
| What you hear | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ¡Gooool! | Everywhere | Goal, held as long as the breath lasts |
| ¡Vamos, vamos! | Everywhere | Come on |
| ¡Dale! | Argentina, Colombia | Go on, come on. Argentina’s all-purpose word |
| ¡Aguante Boca! | Argentina | Roughly “Boca forever”. Aguante plus the club name |
| ¡Arriba el Tri! | Mexico | Come on Mexico |
| ¡Sí se puede! | Mexico | We can do it, chanted when behind |
| ¡Vamos, mi Colombia! | Colombia | Come on Colombia |
| ¡Uy! | Everywhere | The collective groan at a near miss |
| ¡Árbitro! | Everywhere | Said with feeling, rarely alone |
| ¡Cobrala! | Argentina | Give the foul, referee |
| ¡Es penal! | Latin America | It’s a penalty |
| ¡Fuera de lugar! | Latin America | Offside |
| ¡Ya está! | Everywhere | That’s it, it’s over |
| ¡Qué robo! | Everywhere | What a robbery |
Two things worth knowing before you join in. Chants aimed at the referee run to real obscenity in all four countries and are part of the furniture, and nobody expects a visitor to take part. Mexico’s shout at the opposing goalkeeper’s goal kick has been sanctioned repeatedly by FIFA and is an ongoing argument inside Mexican football, so leave that one alone.
Getting in, and what surprises visitors
Arrive early. Bag checks are thorough and the queue at the gate is slow.
Alcohol in the ground is not a given. Argentine stadiums do not sell it. In Spain it is illegal to sell alcohol inside, and what you find at the concourse is usually alcohol free. In Mexico beer is sold in the stands, and plenty of it, and Colombian matches are often played under a local ley seca, a temporary ban on selling alcohol around the ground.
Away colours are the one thing to get right. Argentine league matches have been played without visiting fans for years, so there is no away end to sit in and an away shirt in the wrong neighbourhood is a bad idea. In Colombian cities away supporters are restricted for high-risk fixtures too, and the police close streets around the stadium. In Spain and Mexico there is a visitors’ section, and arriving in away colours is normal as long as you are in it. When in doubt, carry the shirt and put it on inside.
Kick-off times run late in Argentina and Mexico, and a midweek match starting at nine in the evening is ordinary.
Talking about it afterwards
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Did you see the match? | ¿Viste el partido? | |
| What was the score? | ¿Cómo quedó? / ¿Cómo salió? (Argentina) | |
| They drew 1-1 | Quedaron uno a uno. / Empataron uno a uno. | Say the numbers with a |
| We won 2-0 | Ganamos dos a cero. | |
| We lost | Perdimos. | |
| We played badly | Jugamos mal. | |
| We were robbed | Nos robaron. | Heard after most defeats |
| The referee was terrible | El árbitro estuvo pésimo. | |
| They deserved it | Se lo merecían. | |
| It was a great match | Fue un partidazo. | |
| It was dull | Fue un partido aburrido. | |
| He scored in the last minute | Metió el gol en el último minuto. | |
| We’re top | Vamos primeros. | |
| They went down | Se fueron al descenso. | Relegation |
| When do they play again? | ¿Cuándo vuelven a jugar? |
Partidazo means a great match, and the -azo ending means the same in golazo, a wonderful goal.
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- ¿Quedan entradas para el sábado? Are there any tickets left for Saturday? (Spain, Argentina)
- ¿Dónde compro las boletas? Where do I buy the tickets? (Colombia)
- Dos boletos en cabecera sur, por favor. Two tickets behind the south goal, please. (Mexico)
- ¿Hay entradas para no socios? Are there tickets for non-members? (Argentina)
- ¿De qué equipo sos? Who do you support? (Argentina)
- Le voy al América desde chico. I’ve supported América since I was a kid. (Mexico)
- ¡Eso es penal, árbitro! That’s a penalty, ref!
- ¿Por qué canal dan el partido? What channel is the match on?
- ¿Cómo quedó? Empataron dos a dos. What was the score? They drew 2-2.
- Fue un partidazo, el segundo gol fue un golazo. It was a great match, the second goal was superb.
Questions people ask
Is it “fútbol” or “futbol”? Both. In Spain and most of Latin America it is written fútbol, stressed on the first syllable. In Mexico it is futbol, without the accent. Balompié survives in club names and nobody uses it in conversation.
Penal or penalti? Penal in Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. Penalti in Spain, plural penaltis. Both are understood everywhere.
Arquero or portero? Arquero in Argentina and Colombia, portero in Spain and Mexico. The goal itself is el arco in Latin America and la portería in Spain.
What is “la popular”? The standing terrace behind the goal in an Argentine stadium, where the hinchada sings for the whole match. It is the cheapest ticket and there is no seat.
Can I wear the away team’s shirt? In Spain and Mexico, yes, inside the visitors’ section. In Argentina, away fans are not admitted to league matches, so there is nowhere to wear it. In Colombia it depends on the fixture and the city, and locals will tell you straight if it is a bad idea.
What does “hincha” mean? A fan, in Argentina and Colombia. The collective is la hinchada. In Spain and Mexico people say aficionado and la afición, and in Mexico an organised supporters’ group is la porra.
How do I say a score? With a: dos a uno, tres a cero. To say who won, ganó el Madrid dos a uno. A draw is empataron.
What does “aguante” mean? In Argentina it is the shout of loyalty, ¡aguante River!, and the noun for a crowd that never stops singing. It has no clean English equivalent and no equivalent use in Spain.
Practise these words
partido, entrada, cancha, equipo, hincha, gol, arquero, árbitro, falta, empate, ganar, perder, camiseta. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.