This post will break down everything you need to know about what language soccer players speak. Soccer is a worldwide sport and brings in superstars from every corner of the globe, with a variety of different languages too!
Soccer clubs at the highest level are mixing a pot of cultures and nationalities, which can prove difficult if players do not speak the same language.
And for this reason, It is becoming increasingly common for football players to speak two or more languages.
So what language do soccer players speak?
Languages that were spoken in the Premier League 2017 season
Arguably one of the most popular soccer leagues in the world, the EPL, has an incredible amount of homegrown and overseas talent.
Below were the most commonly spoken languages in the English Premier League during the 2017 season:
- English (254 Players)
- French (73 Players)
- Spanish (65 players)
Naturally English was the most common language spoken by some margin, with French and Spanish being the 2nd and 3rd most popular language retrospectively.
Reference: 90min.com
The language players speak will vary depending on which league they are playing in, with players expected to learn the language of the country they are playing in.
The languages soccer players speak at PSG
But this is not always the case and can vary from club to club.
An example of this would be PSG in the French Ligue 1, a report that came out in 2021 that most of the common languages used during the training sessions and games were either Spanish or English.
This is mostly down to their manager Mauricio Pochettino not being comfortable with his knowledge of the French language to deliver sessions in the native tongue of the country.
However, the players of PSG are able to speak French but find it easier to communicate with each other in either Spanish or English.
There are benefits for soccer players to learn the native language of the league they are playing in, such as helping them integrate into the team more quickly.
However, to effectively communicate with their teammates and coaches players do not need to be fluent in the language.
As long as non-native speakers are able to pick up keywords and phrases, body language, and hand signals of the team they are playing in, they will excel.
This post goes over in more detail how soccer players communicate.
What language do soccer refs speak?
As well as soccer players speaking multiple languages, refs also need to communicate in different languages too.
FIFA has also listed the official languages that they use too, they operate in 4 languages:
- English
- French
- Spanish
- German
However, when officiating European games refs will often officiate in English.
This is because, across Europe, English is the most common language that players can speak and understand.
This is the language that soccer players speak
From the video shown above, soccer players can be incredibly talented in linguistics and can learn to speak and understand multiple languages, whether they can speak them fluently or not.
This is how they learn languages so quickly.
The language that soccer players will speak will largely depend on the league they are playing in, the language preferences of the coach, and the majority of the language spoken by the players.
However, the language that is most commonly used by soccer players, coaches, and refs is English.
This is because English is the language that the majority of players will be able to speak and understand, partially across Europe.
When I coach my players these are the soccer drills I use to help improve communication.
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Thank you,
Toby
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