2026 World Cup Language Podcast 2: Brace
Day two at the 2026 World Cup with matches in Canada and the US. On this World Cup language post we look at the noun ‘a brace’, a word used to talk about scoring. 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
DB: Hi there everyone. This is Damon from the Learn English through Football team. How are you doing and more importantly, are you enjoying the World Cup football?
Two more matches today, which saw the other two hosts of the tournament kick off their campaigns. Yesterday Mexico, the third host country got off to a winning start, and they were joined on the pitch by the USA and Canada. Canada secured their first even World Cup point with a late leveller, or equalizer, in the 78th minute against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Those late equalizers can feel like wins sometimes.
However, by far the most impressive performance so far was by the United States, who secured an impressive 4-1 win over Paraguay. And it is from this match that have today’s language focus – a brace
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (from a French fan)
DB: Yes, you are listening to Learn English through Football and that message was from a football fan in France, one of the tournaments fancied teams – a fancied team is a favourite to win.
A Brace
DB: Now, while the US were not one of the fancied teams, they have certainly laid down a marker in their group, helped by a brace from striker, Balogun. He scored twice in the victory; he scored a brace. One more goal and he would have got a hat trick, the phrase for scoring three goals.
Verbs with Brace
DB: Now, we can use a variety of verbs with ‘brace’. You can get a brace, score a brace, and also ‘bag a brace’. This last pattern is connected with a common use of brace outside football, which is the number of birds shot on a hunt: a brace of ducks is two ducks, and the hunter would put them in a bag to take home – he or she bagged a brace. Balogun bagged his brace by first scoring in the 31st minute and then smashing a second into the top corner in added time at the end of the first half. He bagged a first half brace.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more football language from the World Cup. Until then, ta-ra!
Related Links
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
Welcome to the website that helps students interested in football improve their English language skills. Football fans can practise with lots of free language resources, including football-language podcasts and our huge football-language glossary.