HOW TO ENSURE THE LOCALS PASS TO YOU: SPANISH VOCABULARY FOR PLAYING FOOTBALL IN PERU
Don’t be that teammate that no one passes to! Learn how to communicate on the pitch with football vocabulary specific to Peru.
30th March 2026 | 7-min read
Play football and learn Spanish at the same time: Kinesthetic learning
¡Aquí! ¡Aquí!
Admittedly, you only need to be a beginner in Spanish to be able to communicate with local Peruvians on the football pitch. And if you already speak Spanish well, you’re going to be able to express yourself pretty easily on a football pitch.
But if you’re like me and want to fully incorporate Spanish into your social life, it’s best you learn how to communicate on the football pitch like the locals. What’s more, having all that football vocabulary might facilitate your Spanish conversations after games or in bars whilst watching el deporte rey.
Spring the offside trap straight to Spanish football vocabulary
As someone who studied languages in the formal settings of school and university, I always enjoyed discovering aspects of a language that were never part of any curriculum. So, the kind of language that you end up using on a daily basis to order food and drink like a local would, for example. Or, take football. No one will have formally taught you how to tell your teammate to cross the ball to you. You learn that kind of thing by doing: by playing football with locals and listening to what others are saying around you. Or, better yet, applying what Spanish you already possess to a match situation. That’s what they call kinesthetic learning. It’s much more fun to learn a language that way, and to learn things you can only really learn from being there in person.
Spanish football vocabulary to play football in Peru
That being said, before you cross the white line onto a football pitch in Lima, you may want to prepare yourself. In amidst a game, you’ll quickly appreciate that, unsurprisingly, “Man on!” doesn’t have a literal Spanish translation!
With that in mind, here’s a list of football vocabulary to kick off your football life in Lima and ensure your new friends pass to you! I’ve broken this list down into categories.
The more football you play in Lima, the more football-specific vocabulary you’ll pick up, not to mention Peruvian slang. Hopefully, you don’t learn something like a nutmeg (una huacha) or an own goal (un autogol) the hard way, but the words below are the basics to start communicating with your teammates and understanding what is being said around you.
For expat football leagues and casual games, head over to the Lima football page
Football pitch and in-game terminology
Understand what post your team wants you to mark at a corner, or what to shout when the ball hits someone’s arm.
una cancha de fulbito a five-a-side pitch
una cancha sintética an astroturf/artificial pitch
una cancha de césped a grass pitch
una cancha de losa* a concrete pitch
el arco the goal
un palo a goalpost
el primer palo near post
el segundo palo far post
el área de penal penalty area
la linea touchline
un saque de meta a goal kick
un saque de esquina a corner kick
un saque de banda a throw in
una falta a foul
una mano a handball
fuera de lugar offside
un tiro libre a free kick
un penal a penalty
*Concrete pitches are very common in Peru
Football kit and equipment
Know what you need to ask for in shops if you don’t have all the correct football gear with you in Peru.
una camiseta a shirt
los shorts shorts
las medias socks
las canilleras shin pads
un chaleco a bib
los guantes de arquero goalkeeper gloves
los chimpunes (un chimpún) football boots
las zapatillas de cancha/grass astroturf shoes
Football positions
It might only be a casual kickabout, but you still need to explain where you prefer to play.
un arquero a goalkeeper
un defensor/defensa a defender
un defensor/defensa central a central defender
un lateral a full-back
un lateral derecho/izquierdo a right-/left-back
un mediocampista a midfielder
un extremo a winger
un extremo derecho/izquierdo a right/left winger
un delatero a striker
un delantero central a centre forward
un puntero derecho/izquierdo a right/left forward
On-pitch commands to players
Start communicating with your teammates.
¡Ahora! Now!
¡Aquí!/Acá! Here!
¡Patea!/¡Tira! Shoot!
¡Pasa! Pass!
¡Cámbiala! Switch it!
¡Atrás! (Pass) Back!
¡Céntrala!/¡Centro! Cross it!
¡Pared! (hacer una pared) 1-2! (to play a 1-2)
¡Presiona! Press!
¡Regresa! Get back!
¡Sácala! Clear it!
¡Cabeza!/¡Cabecea! (cabecear) Head it! (to head)
¡Mía!/¡Tuya! Mine!/Yours!
¡Te llega! Man on!
¡Estoy solo! I’m free!
¡Márcalo! (¿A quién tienes/marcas?) Mark him! (Who have you got/are you marking?)
¡Sigue! Play on!
¡Silba! Whistle! (The whistle has gone!)
¡Buena!/¡Bien! Good ball/pass! Well played! Nice! etc
Buen partido Good game, Well played
On-pitch commands to the referee
Because no one ever shouts at the ref when they’re playing football…
¡Pitala! Blow your whistle!
¡La hora! Time! (It’s time to blow your whistle to end the game)
¡Salió! Out! (The ball’s gone out!)
¡Nuestra! Ours!
Other football-related vocabulary
Get talking about football in Peru with locals.
- ¿A qué equipo le vas?/¿De qué equipo eres?/¿Eres hincha de qué equipo?
- Who do you support?
- Yo soy del ___
- I support ___
una hincha a fan (deep connection to a team)
un aficionado a fan (general meaning)
la Blanquirroja Peruvian national football team (the “white-and-red” - a reference to Peru’s home colours)
la Selección (Peruvian) national team
la Liga 1 League 1 (Peru’s top football league)
la Apertura | la Clausura Opening | Closing (Liga 1 is split into two leagues across the season)
la Champions Champions League
el Mundial (la Copa del Mundo/Mundial) World Cup
la Premier Premier League
el fulbito* five-a-side football
una pichanga*/una peloteada a casual game, a kickabout
un cupo a spot (an available spot to play in a game)
el VAR VAR
un crack a top player
¡Golazo! What a goal!
¡Cabezazo! What a header!
¡Partidazo! What a game!
*Very specific to Peru
Newcastle United cult hero Nolberto “Nobby” Solano
These lists could be more exhaustive, and I found myself thinking of more and more words as I was compiling them, but as I wrote above, you have the basics here. What other football vocabulary is worth including? What have you heard whilst playing football in Lima? Drop it in the comments section.
Final thoughts whistle: What is Sports and Suitcases?
Start playing sport in Lima
I put Sports and Suitcases together to act as a resource for sporty people looking to play sport or exercise in Lima. I want to show that it’s possible to play the kinds of sports you would play back home, as well as how you can make sport and exercise part of your routine to help you establish a new life in Lima. Be sure to browse the site and find out how you can keep active in Lima!
