How to express amazement this World Cup season

The World Cup season is well and truly upon us.

When it comes to describing the beautiful game of football, creativity is your friend in French, and listening to the commentary can be a really useful tool for improving your language.

If you can tune your ear to the increased speed used by commentators, especially in the run up to a goal, you should feel comfortable in most situations in French, as not many people can speak faster than an overexcited football commentator!

Here are some phrases to look out for or use during your own watching of the World Cup, whichever team you are supporting.

C’est du génie

If France or a certain player is performing extraordinarily well on the pitch, c’est du génie means “it is genius!”

Watch out for such comments when Rayan Cherki, Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise or Ousmane Dembélé dribble the ball.

Un but venu d’ailleurs !

This literally translates as “a goal from elsewhere/another world”. It is used to describe an exceptional goal, one that should never have gone in but somehow miraculously has.

J’hallucine !

If the play is so good that you cannot quite believe your eyes, you can use j’hallucine (I’m hallucinating) to express your wonder or say c’est hallucinant.

Dis donc !

Dis donc can have lots of different meanings depending on the context. If you hear it being used during this World Cup season, it will most likely be to express surprise at a really good shot or amazing goal, like a translation for Wow!

Il a sorti une bicyclette !

Une bicyclette is otherwise known as a scissor or overhead kick in English. It is a particularly acrobatic play which is always a fairly spectacular sight and is definitely worth an exclamation of amazement.

Un renard des surfaces

Un renard des surfaces is a technical term that characterises an attacker who knows exactly how to position themselves to receive a pass and efficiently mark opponents.

In English, it translates to fox in the box, or goal scorer, with the idea that they are sly and quiet enough to pop up in the right place and the right time, like a sleuth fox.

Scotcher

In this context, scotcher means to blow away or to amaze.

Quel but, on est scotché ! (What a goal, we are blown away)

Nettoyer la lucarne

In English, this translates as “to find the top corner”. It is a good expression when a striker perfectly places the shot in the top corner, la lucarne in French football vocabulary.

Une raclée

If a team gets beaten particularly hard, it can be described as une raclée, which means a thrashing.

Hopefully France (or whichever team you are supporting) will not prendre une raclée (take a thrashing).

Describing an amazing player…

There are many ways to describe an amazing player. French commentators in particular are sure to come up with some flamboyant ways to describe any magic they see on the pitch, so the commentary is well worth a listen.

Some commonly heard compliments include:

• L’artiste - the artist

• Le poète - the poet

• Le maestro - the maestro

• Un tueur - a killer

• Un braqueur - a robber

Try to spot the next cult comment

Cult phrases that have been expressed over the years by famous commentators include 'après avoir vu ça, on peut mourir tranquille' (after having seen that we can die peacefully), which was used by Thierry Roland after France’s historic home victory in 1998.

Christian Jeanpierre and Jean-Michel Larqué uttered ‘et si il allait marquer?’ (what if he scores?) and ‘au bout’ (to the end), commenting on Zinédine Zidane’s counterattack against Spain in the 2006 World Cup 2006.

In the 2018 edition against Argentina, Grégoire Margotton shouted 'second poteau, Pavard!' (far post, Pavard!) as player Benjamin Pavard volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

It is not unusual to hear shots or technical moves described as un café crême, un caviar or un cassage de rein (ankle breaker).

The world is your oyster when it comes to ways to describe beautiful shots, so get creative with it - and familiarise yourself with French football songs so you can get fully immersed in the celebrations.