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Learn English Through Football Podcast: 2026 World Cup – Favourites, Dark Horses and Flops
The men’s World Cup starts this week and in this week’s football-language podcast we look at some language to describe the favourites, the dark horses and the flops from the 2026 World Cup tournament. We will also offer some predictions for the tournament and invite you to predict with us. We also have an online worksheet for this listening. 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: You’re listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.
Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well and looking forward to the 2026 World Cup. I’m Damian, and I am one half of the Learn English through Football Podcast team and I am based in London where it’s raining! Of course, the other member of the Learn English through Football team is Damon and he is in Tokyo, Japan. Damon how are you getting on?
DB: Pretty good, thank you Damian. Sun has returned after a few days of rain, but more rain is forecast in the next few days. And… in the next few days, the World Cup is about to kick off and that’s what we’ll be talking about on this show. Damian, have you packed your suitcase for Mexico yet?
DF: Not yet but I am getting a little more excited now about the tournament. How about you?
DB: Well, I’ve got to admit, World Cup fever hasn’t hit me yet. I think it’s a combination of factors. One, it’s a long way away in terms of time difference. Japan is about 13 to 15 hours ahead of the kick-off times in the US, Mexico and Canada, so realistically, I won’t be watching games live, except maybe for one or two at the weekend in the morning. Also, the issues with ticket pricing, visa difficulties, and the general nervousness many people have about it being hosted in the US with Donald Trump as president makes me a little less than enthusiastic. However, I know when the opening match is played and I start seeing the match-ups and stories about players and teams I’ll get into it.
DF: Yes, I think many people share your views. I think many people have been upset with FIFA and how it seems to be motivated by profit rather than the good of the game; and of course the US in the way it has treated some participants, including the Iranian team, some fans and the Somalian referee.
But like you Damon, I am ready for the football 2and, as we saw in our previous podcast on the World Cup in numbers, there are a lot of games indeed!
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in French)
DF: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster, or as we are now known, Learn English through Football and that message was in French. So French of course is the national language of France but there are other participating nations in this World Cup who also use French as an official language. Can you think of any? Well, Canada has French as one of its two official languages, while Switzerland also uses French along with three other languages. Belgium uses French (as well as Dutch and German), while Haiti also has French along with its Haitian creole. There are also three countries from Africa in this World Cup that have French as an official language: DR Congo; Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. That’s a total of eight countries in this World Cup who have French as their official language.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in French from Canada)
DB: And that was another stinger or message. What language do you think that was? We’ll have the answers at the end of the show. What else do we have on today’s show? Damian?
Today’s Show
DF: On today’s show we are going to look at some language that can help us to predict what might happen in the World Cup tournament: And to do this we are going to hear a short interview with a couple of Spanish fans, followed by both Damon and myself talking about the favourites, the dark horses and the possible flops of the tournament. Before that Damon and myself are also going to talk a little about how we think the hosts will get on in this tournament. Remember that three countries – Mexico; USA and Canada – are co-hosting this World Cup.
Vocabulary Preparation
DB: Before we start let’s look at some of the key words that appear in the listening sections to help you prepare.
- Dark horse: A team that is not a favourite to win the tournament but many people still feel they will do well.
- Home advantage: When a team plays in their home stadium they are used to the conditions and have lots of home supporters so generally they have more chance of winning.
- To get out of the group: This means to qualify from the group
- Flop: If a team does really badly at a tournament we can say that they have flopped or that they are a flop – a failure.
- To bomb: To do badly at a tournament (similar to ‘flop’)
- Runners-up: To finish second – maybe in the tournament or in the group.
- To retain the trophy: To win the trophy again the next time the competition is played.
- To tip a team: To predict that a team will do well (they are tipped to do well).
So, listen out for these words and phrases to help you understand this listening a little more.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in German)
2026 World Cup Listening: Hosts
DF: Right, let’s start our World Cup preview by looking at the three co-hosts’ chances. Damon, what do you think?
DB: OK, I’m going on shirt design for this one. That means the USA are going to do well – love their kit; not retro hoops exactly, but very cool. Mexico will also do well and may win their first knockout-round game. Their kit is more on the classic, traditional side of things. Canada? They won’t get out their group.
DF: Interesting Damon but I disagree with you. I think that all three hosts have a really good chance of getting out of their groups; or qualifying for the knock-out stages. I also think that of the three, Mexico might go furthest as they have a wonderful home advantage in the early part of the tournament. There is talk that they may face England in the last-16 in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City which would be amazing. I remember talking to our friends at Multilingua FC at the last World Cup and they talked about the ‘fifth match’ (El quinto partido‘) which refers to the fact that Mexico had not reached a fifth match for so long. But this time I think el Tri (the nickname of Mexico) might be one of the surprise packages and possibly play a sixth game at the World Cup!
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Turkish)
2026 World Cup Listening: Favourites, Dark Horses and Flops
DF: So it’s time to think about which teams are going to do well, which teams might surprise us and which teams will fail badly at this World Cup. Four years ago, I don’t think we predicted Morocco would do so well – remember that they finished fourth after knocking out Portugal and Spain. I also don’t think that I predicted Germany would be so poor and fail to get out of the group for the second tournament in a row but that’s exactly what happened after they lost to Japan. So, what about this time? Which teams do we think are the favourites? How about the dark horses? And which teams will be the flops of the tournament?
So, to help Damon and myself we have asked a couple of football fans to tell us what they think might happen. So, here’s Fran and his son Gael who tell us about Spain’s chances.
DF: How do you think Spain will do in this World Cup?
Fran: Obviously, Spain is one of the favourites. I mean, I mean, in our opinion, and I think it will all depend… I mean, it’s a World Cup, Damian, and it will be difficult to predict this one with so many teams. But I think we have to, obviously, we are Spanish, we got a strong team, we got the champions of Europe, we got the runners-up of the Nations League. So…I think Spain now is ranked number one in the FIFA. So obviously, it’s just, you know, what can we say? I mean, we’re going to support our country. We are going to support our team. But obviously, I mean, it’s one of our favourites. So we think that they are going to do well. We hope that they are going to do well.
DF: When Fran asked Gael about Spain’s chances in the World Cup he replied:
G: I think it’s going to win the World Cup, yes.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Japanese)
Favourites
DF: Let me ask you another question then. So you mentioned Spain have a good chance of winning. What other countries do you think are favourites to win the…the World Cup?
Fran: Okay, I will…I will probably choose three or four. All right? Obviously Spain being one of them. Argentina. I think France and Portugal. I think those are the four.
Dark Horses
DF: What about a dark horse? So a team that, you know, is not among the favourites but still might do well?
Fran: I think one of the ones that I… that I…we have to watch out for are Belgium. I mean, those are the ones that… that I mean, this is… I’m going to say only one, and I think Gael has another one, but I mean, but let’s see if you think you agree with our… with our pick.
G: So, I think Netherlands.
F: …Netherlands…
G: …yes, it ‘s a great team too.
Flops
DF: Okay, so the opposite. Which team do you think will be the biggest failure in the World Cup? Which team will ‘bomb’ during the World Cup?
Gael: I think it’s going to be Brazil.
F: Again, you know, I have to agree with Gael that Brazil might be a big flop. But I think Brazil. And possibly, I would say that possibly Germany.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Uzbek language)
DF: So, Damon what did you think of those predictions from our Spanish friends? They seem to be confident that Spain will do well. And they think that Brazil will flop!
DB: Well, I don’t think Brazil will flop, but I do think they will fall short of expectations. Spain are always strong, so I agree that they may be one of the favourites, but I am not sure they have the physicality to go all the way.
Damian and Damon’s Favourites
DF: Well, I kind of agree with Fran about the favourites: France, Spain and Portugal though I am not sure about Argentina – is their team a little too old? We also know that it is so difficult to retain the trophy – the last team to win the World Cup twice in succession (in a row) was Brazil back in 1962! I think England have a really good chance too, especially as they have a really good manager. How about you?
DB: France and Portugal were mentioned by our guests, along with Belgium and the Netherlands – but of course, England are going to win and bring the trophy home!
Damian and Damon’s Dark Horses
DF: As for dark horse, well, Turkey have been picked as dark horses in the past couple of tournaments but they have always disappointed – maybe this time? I think Norway will be strong and so will Morocco. Lots of people here in the UK are also tipping Japan to do well, while Colombia will have huge support which will be important. And of course I have already mentioned Mexico. But for me a real dark horse is Ecuador. They are physically strong, they have lots of players playing in big teams across Europe and they do not concede many goals. They are my dark horses for the tournament.
DB: I agree with your Ecuador shout, they could be the ‘Morocco’ this time round and get to the quarters or semis, and then who knows? But I’m going to go for Morocco. They have experience recently of going all the way, well, kind of, in the African Cup of Nations… and i think they will surprise a few people.
Damian and Damon’s Flops
DF: Yes, Morocco – a good shout! Well, I have already said that Argentina might struggle, while I reckon Germany might also find it difficult in the knock-out stages. How about you Damon?
DB: I think it will be the Netherlands. They have such talent, always, in these competitions, but never really seem to gel as a team.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Persian)
DB: How about you listener? What do you think of our choices? What teams will be the dark horses or the flops of the tournament? Let us know by adding a comment or a prediction to our World Cup forum.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (from a Ghanaian fan)
2026 World Cup Predictions
DB: Regular listeners to our show will know that in the big tournaments, such as The Euros; the Women’s and Men’s World Cups, we usually run a predictions competition and this year we are also doing the same. There are no prizes just the glory for being the winner!
You will need to register with your email and then choose the 2026 World Cup game to play and then simply add your predictions and click save – remember that you can change your scores right up to kick-off time.
It’s three points for a perfect score; so, for example, if you think Mexico will beat South Africa 2-0 in the opening game and this is the exact final score then you receive three points, while it is one point for the right result. For example, if the game between England and Croatia finishes 1-1 and you chose a different score but the right result (e.g. 0-0; 2-2 or 3-3) then you will receive 1 point.
Tell your friends to join – it is always fun to see what people predict in the World Cup! We’ll be keeping up with the predictions competition throughout the World Cup – we are hoping to have a short podcast with an expression from the day on all of the World Cup days!
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (an Australian and West Ham fan)
DF: We’ll be back on Friday with the first of our daily World Cup expressions. Until then, bye bye.
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