- You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.
Football Language: (to/be) Level
The word ‘level‘ means ‘even’ or ‘flat’, and in football when used as a verb ‘to level’, it means that a goal is scored equalling the other team’s score. The scores were levelled means, perhaps, that a team were losing one-nil but scored, bringing the scores to 1-1 – even, equal. So to level means to score and also bring the scores equal. It can also be used as an adjective – the scores are level, meaning equal. It is also used when talking about the rankings of teams in the league – team A and team B are level on points.
Example: Having dominated the first period, PSG scored two minutes into the second-half before a terrible own-goal by Berger levelled the tie. (The Guardian, 28 March 2019)
Example: Football news – Rangers beat Celtic to go level on points at top of table. (Headline from eurosport.co.uk, 29 December 2018)
See also
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here If you have any suggestions, contact us at admin@languagecaster.com
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.