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2026 World Cup Language Podcast 3: Lob (over the keeper)
Day three of the 2026 World Cup saw Brazil enter the tournament and on today’s World Cup language podcast we take a look at a phrase from Brazil’s game against Morocco: to lob over the keeper. We’ll also talk a little about our predictions competition. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions about the phrase or our podcast then you can contact us here.
Hello
DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Learn English through Football team and I hope you are all well. Welcome to day three of our World Cup language posts in which we explain some of the words and phrases from the 2026 World Cup. Now I am based in London, of course Damon is based in Tokyo, which means kick off times for some of the games are at all times of the day and night. So, last night for example, I watched Scotland against Haiti which kicked off at 2:00 in the morning. How about for you listener, what time are the kick offs where you are?
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (from a Canadian fan)
DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English through Football podcast and that message was from a football fan from one of the hosts, Canada. I think they will be relatively happy with a point from their opening match against Bosnia-Herzogovina as it is their first ever World Cup point – well done to them. Of course, Mexico won their first game of the tournament and the USA also won their opener – 4-1 against Paraguay – which means the co-hosts have had a very successful few days at the 2026 World Cup.
Now, one of the big names at any World Cup is Brazil who have won more World Cups than any other country – they have five – though they have not won one since 2002 in Japan. Their first match of the 2026 tournament was against Morocco and we are going to look at some language from this game.
Lob (over the keeper)
… a sensational pass fell perfectly into Saibari’s stride and he casually lobbed over the stranded Alisson. (Guardian.co.uk, June 14 2026)
This is how the Guardian newspaper described the opening goal of the Morocco versus Brazil game in the New York-New Jersey Stadium. The Moroccan striker, Saibari, was through on goal after a fantastic pass from Diaz (the Real Madrid midfielder) and he lifted the ball over the Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson and into the net to score.
There are different words and phrases to describe a shot in which a player tries to lift the ball over the keeper such as chip and dink but a lob is when the ball bounces up and the attacker then hits the ball before it hits the ground and lifts it over the defender or keeper and into the net.
The shot or strike is a skilful one and a player needs lots of vision and technique to score this kind of goal – the player needs to lift the ball over the goalkeeper but not too high in case the ball goes over the bar; and not too low in case the keeper can save it. We sometimes hear the phrase, ‘a deft touch’ to also describe a shot like this. A deft touch of the ball is a light touch and in this case, a light touch that enables the ball to go over the keeper and into the net.
Interestingly, in this description of the goal, the goalkeeper, Alisson, is described as being ‘stranded‘ and this means that the keeper is completely out of position; although the lob over the keeper makes it look a lot worse for them.
Brazil did equalise through their superstar Vinicius Junior – his goal was not a lob but rather a strong shot into the corner of the net; he used pace to curl the ball around the keeper. Two great goal and the points were shared between Morocco and Brazil.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com
2026 World Cup Predictions
DF: Now, just before we go we’d like to remind you that we are running a predictions competition for the 2026 World Cup. Simply come along to our site – you will need to register with your email and then choose the 2026 World Cup league to play and then simply add your predictions and click save. And don’t worry if you are joining late – at the moment the MightyToft and Cherki Chappie are leading with nine points so you can easily catch up! Remember, it’s three points for a perfect score, while it is one point for the right result.
We’ll be back tomorrow with some more expressions from the World Cup. Until then, bye bye.
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