World Cup in Chinese 世界杯
Shìjièbēi
World Cup in Chinese is 世界杯 (shì jiè bēi).
Also searched for as: fifa world cup, football world cup.
Four years of waiting for one month of football. 15 words and phrases for The World Cup in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The World Cup is 世界杯 (Shì jiè bēi), literally 'world cup', and for fans in Asia it often means late nights: when the tournament is held in Europe or the Americas, 熬夜看球 (áo yè kàn qiú), staying up to watch football, becomes part of the experience. These words take you from the 小组赛 (xiǎo zǔ sài), group stage, through the 淘汰赛 (táo tài sài), knockouts, to a nail-biting 点球大战 (diǎn qiú dà zhàn), penalty shoot-out.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 世界杯 | Shì jiè bēi | the World Cup |
| 小组赛 | xiǎo zǔ sài | group stage |
| 淘汰赛 | táo tài sài | knockout stage |
| 八强 | bā qiáng | quarter-finals (last eight) |
| 半决赛 | bàn jué sài | semi-final |
| 决赛 | jué sài | final |
| 加时赛 | jiā shí sài | extra time |
| 点球大战 | diǎn qiú dà zhàn | penalty shoot-out |
| 国家队 | guó jiā duì | national team |
| 冠军 | guàn jūn | champion |
| 大力神杯 | dà lì shén bēi | the World Cup trophy |
| 越位 | yuè wèi | offside |
| 红牌 | hóng pái | red card |
| 熬夜看球 | áo yè kàn qiú | to stay up to watch football |
| 东道主 | dōng dào zhǔ | host country |
Usage tips
- Knockout rounds are named by how many teams are left: 十六强 (shí liù qiáng), last 16, 八强 (bā qiáng), quarter-finals, and 四强 (sì qiáng), the last four, so 进八强 (jìn bā qiáng) means reaching the quarter-finals.
- 'Watch football' is 看球 (kàn qiú), with 'ball' standing in for the match; a fan is a 球迷 (qiú mí), and 'score a goal' is 进球 (jìn qiú).
- Cards are 'eaten': 吃红牌 (chī hóng pái) means to get a red card and 吃黄牌 (chī huáng pái) a yellow one.
Common mistakes
- Using 最后 (zuì hòu), last, for the final; the final is 决赛 (jué sài) and the semi-final is 半决赛 (bàn jué sài).
- Mixing up 加时赛 (jiā shí sài), extra time, with stoppage time; the minutes added at the end of normal time are 补时 (bǔ shí) or 伤停补时 (shāng tíng bǔ shí).
Mini dialogue
- A昨晚的半决赛你看了吗？Zuó wǎn de bàn jué sài nǐ kàn le ma?Did you see last night's semi-final?
- B看了，我熬夜看球看到三点。Kàn le, wǒ áo yè kàn qiú kàn dào sān diǎn.Yes, I stayed up till three watching it.
- A进了加时赛，对吧？Jìn le jiā shí sài, duì ba?It went to extra time, didn't it?
- B对，最后还是点球大战，太紧张了。Duì, zuì hòu hái shì diǎn qiú dà zhàn, tài jǐn zhāng le.Yes, and then it went to penalties. So tense.
- A决赛你觉得谁会拿冠军？Jué sài nǐ jué de shéi huì ná guàn jūn?Who do you think will win the final?
- B不好说，反正我还得熬夜！Bù hǎo shuō, fǎn zhèng wǒ hái děi áo yè!Hard to say, but either way I'll be staying up again!
Example sentences
- 世界杯四年一次。The World Cup is every four years.
- 我们队小组赛就出局了。Our team went out in the group stage.
- 淘汰赛一场都不能输。You can't lose a single game in the knockout stage.
- 英格兰进了八强。England made the quarter-finals.
- 半决赛明天晚上开始。The semi-final kicks off tomorrow night.
- 你看世界杯决赛了吗？Did you watch the World Cup final?
- 比赛进入了加时赛。The match went to extra time.
- 最后靠点球大战赢了。They won it on penalties in the end.
- 他第一次代表国家队比赛。He's playing for the national team for the first time.
- 阿根廷是2022年世界杯的冠军。Argentina won the 2022 World Cup.
- 每个球员都想举起大力神杯。Every player dreams of lifting the trophy.
- 这个球越位了！That's offside!
- 他吃了一张红牌。He got a red card.
- 世界杯期间我天天熬夜看球。I stayed up every night to watch the World Cup.
- 东道主自动进入决赛圈。The host nation qualifies automatically.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The The World Cup speaking island has 8 everyday questions about The World Cup to prepare your own answers to.