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2026 World Cup Language Day 31: (to) Overturn

by grell14 July 2026Add comment

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2026 World Cup Language Podcast Day 31: (to) Overturn

Day thirty one at the 2026 World Cup and on this World Cup language podcast we look at the phrase ‘to overturn‘ and how it was used in the England v Norway quarter-final match. 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.

Welcome

DB: Hello there and welcome to the Learn English Through Football podcast. This is a short podcast in our series of World Cup 2026 football language – a phrase from each day. My name’s Damon and I’m based in Japan and I’ve been trying to keep up with the matches at the World Cup despite the early kick off times here. How is it where you are? Are you getting enough sleep?

Contact

DB: Before we take a look at day thirty one’s football phrase, remember that you can get in touch with us at contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com. If you want to send a message or suggest a piece of football language you’d like us to discuss, we’d love to hear from you. And, as always, your support means a lot—tell a friend about the podcast, leave us a positive review, and spread the word. We really appreciate it!

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (from an England fan)

DB: Thank you for that message, which was from a fan of England. He must be pretty happy after they got through to the semi finals after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Norway. And it’s from the semi finals between England and Norway and Argentina and Switzerland that we get today’s phrase ‘to overturn‘.

(to) Overturn

DB: In football, to overturn means to reverse a refereeing decision. Since the introduction of VAR, we hear this word more and more. This is because referees are asked to go to the monitor, the pitch side TV, to watch replays of decisions they made. They almost always then change their minds.
 
We can use this phrase to talk about incidents in day thirty one’s World Cup quarter-finals.
 
In England’s 2-1 extra-time win over Norway, Norway’s Heggem scored from a corner to take a 2-1 lead, or thought he had. However, after a VAR review, referee Clément Turpin overturned the goal. His final decision was that Haaland had fouled Elliot Anderson, pushing him to the floor in the build-up to the corner. Later, England were awarded a penalty when Djed Spence went down in the box, but VAR again intervened and the referee was sent to the pitch-side monitor. He overturned the penalty decision, deciding Spence had initiated the contact.
http://gty.im/2285690332
 

In Argentina’s victory over Switzerland, another VAR review led to a massive decision when Swiss striker Breel Embolo was shown a red card following VAR’s intervention. The referee saw Argentinian player Pereda and Embolo challenge for the ball. He showed a yellow card to Paredes for the challenge. But VAR sent him to the pitch-side monitor, he overturned the yellow for Paredes and instead gave a yellow to Embolo for simulation, diving – the player’s second, so he was shown a red and sent off.  

Embed from Getty Images

So when you hear to overturn, think of a referee changing an original decision after new evidence is provided by VAR. In the past, the referee’s decision was final, but in modern football increasingly referee’s, after VAR’s intervention, are overturning their decisions.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Dutch)

DB: Thank you for that message which was in Dutch.

Goodbye

DB: OK, and with that we have reached the end of this short World Cup language podcast. Today, we looked at the verb ‘to overturn‘, meaning to reverse a refereeing decison, and how it was used in two of the semi-finals on day thirty one. Remember to contact us and share any football language that you find interesting and tell us how to say the expressions we have talked about today in your language too. We’ll be back tomorrow with more football language from the World Cup. Until then, ta-ra!

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grell

I was born and brought up near Chester in the north west of England. I have always loved playing and talking about sport, especially football!
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2026 World Cup Language Day 31: (to) Overturn