Watching World Cup Soccer In Spanish

The World Cup Finals are currently taking place in Russia. For those who do not follow soccer at all, the World Cup Finals take place every four years among the national teams of various countries. The quadrennial event is actually the culmination of a complex qualifying system that starts with 216 national teams (more countries than in the UN) and is winnowed down over the four years between tournaments. Given the worldwide popularity of soccer (futbol to the rest of the world), it is probably not surprising that the World Cup Finals are the most-watched soccer event in the world. The final, which takes place on July 15 will be watched by over 1 billion people.

Although the system is set up such that countries from all regions of the world qualify for the tournament, the World Cup Finals is decidedly non-egalitarian. Since its introduction in 1930 (there was no tournament in 1942 or 1946), only eight countries have actually won: Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina from South America, and Germany, France, England, Spain and Italy from Europe. This year, once again, the winner will come from Europe or South America (although Russia is part of both Europe and Asia) as the final eight teams are Brazil, Uruguay, Belgium, France, England, Croatia, Sweden, and Russia. At least there is a chance there will be a new winner.

My viewing of the World Cup began in 1994 when the tournament took place in the United States for the first time (it will return to the US, along with Mexico and Canada, in 2026). That summer, Shana and I were studying for the California Bar exam and for the month of the tournament I did nothing but study and watch soccer. I vividly recall that the US played Brazil on July 4th and there was a lot of talk about the US beating the world's biggest soccer power on Independence Day. They didn't, and Brazil went on to win the tournament that year.

At times, when we lived in the US, I would watch matches on the Spanish-language channel Univision, but, of course, this year I am watching the entire tournament in Spanish. So, how has it been going? Well, I definitely feel like all our weeks of studying Spanish have improved my ability to follow what the announces are talking about. However, they talk so fast that I find if I don't concentrate very hard on what they are saying, I quickly get lost. All-in-all, watching in Spanish is good practice for improving our language skills, but it involves a relatively limited vocabulary. And, I admit, at times I read English-language articles about a game to better understand some of what I may have missed.

The tournament so far has been fun, with hopefully some good games to come. The times are not too bad in the US (games are at 10 am and 2 pm EDT). I recommend checking it out.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff