Goal!!!!!!! We're gonna win the World Cup!

Today, in this episode...

I'm gonna talk about the World Cup. Every four years, it's held in a different country and is an exciting conversation topic.

After that, you'll enjoy an exclusive mini-story that will help you improve your fluency easily.

Remember that you can get the text of the episode at SpeakEnglishPodcast.com

Do you like soccer? I don't actually like it very much because I find it a little dull. Besides, I never understood the rules; when I watch a soccer match, I see a lot of men with attractive legs running for about 90 minutes.

Another problem I also see is that there are too many matches and too many competitions. For example, if you follow only one team, you can watch two games a week, and from my point of view, that's a lot.

But since some followers of mine from Brazil have suggested this topic to me and I will listen to them. Hi, everyone from Brazil!

On the other hand, my brother is crazy about football.

However, he can also get very disappointed if his favorite team doesn't win. What I think is that soccer brings out the best and the worst in people sometimes. It all depends on which team wins 🙂

Well, every four years there's a World Cup. The participating teams are a selection of the best players from several teams in each country.

There are two main phases. First, the qualifying process involving more than 200 teams and the final round involving the best 32 teams.

This year's World Cup is being held in Russia. So let the best team win!

By the way, let's see if you know this question... Which country has won most World Cups?

The country that has won the most World Cups is Brazil. They have won 5 World Cups! The second is Germany, with four world cups. The third, tied with Germany, is Italy. Then Argentina and Uruguay with two and Spain, France, and England with only one.

As we have seen, Brazil is the country with the most World Cup titles. They live the passion of soccer like no one else. It's unbelievable. If the Brazilian national team players return home with the cup, they are treated almost like gods. There are many parties and celebrations. On the other hand, if they do not win, well, they better not go out in public for a while, just in case. Or at least that's what I've been told.

This passion is not only experienced in Brazil but also in other Latin American countries. In countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, etc., soccer is also experienced with great enthusiasm.

Okay, well, now you know a little more about soccer and the World Cup. It's funny because in American English, it's called soccer, and in British English, it's called football. If you have the opportunity to practice English with a native speaker, you'll need to know the difference between soccer and American football.

So, what's the difference between soccer and American football?

Well, soccer and American football are two entirely different games. Football is played with a round ball that can be kicked and headed. American football, however, is more of a rugby type game in which the oblong-shaped ball is thrown and passed as well as kicked.