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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Reach the final
In this week’s football-language podcast we look at some football phrases from the 2026 World Cup play-off games, including, ‘reach the final‘. We will also try to predict some of the play-off finals for the World Cup. 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
DF: You’re listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast.
DF: Hello everyone. I hope you are all doing well and that you are enjoying the football. My name is Damian and I am one half of the Learn English Through Football team. And I am based in London where the weather is as dark and grey as I am feeling at the moment. It’s just after the 2026 World Cup play-off semi-finals and my team Ireland were beaten on penalties against Czechia and we are out. After victories against Portugal and Hungary in the group stage and then being 2-0 up in the first half yesterday, I was starting to dream about Ireland making the finals this summer. Unfortunately they didn’t make it and we’ll have to wait another four years…
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (from a Wrexham fan)
It’s just me today as Damon, the other member of the Learn English Through Football Podcast team, is busy in Tokyo, Japan. I wonder if he will be watching the upcoming friendly between England and Japan this week?
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (from a Hull City fan)
Today’s Show
DF: Right, apologies for the delay in sending out this podcast – it has been a big family weekend for me here in London! On today’s show we are going to look at some of the language from those 2026 World Cup play-off games and look at the phrases, ‘reach the final‘ and ‘move closer to the final‘. We will also try and predict some of those finals in our predictions. And we will also be looking at some new entries on our football-language forum.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Czech)
DF: Thank you for that message, which was in Czech. And you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast, or as we used to be known, languagecaster.com. We are going to have several more of these messages (or stingers) throughout the show, so see how many you can recognise. And if you can, send us on a message saying, ‘You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast‘ in your language, or maybe you could add your name and which team you support, for example – we’d be really grateful to hear from you. Just record your short message and send it to contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com.
Right, here’s the next message. Do you know what language this is?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Danish)
Reach the final
DF: OK, so today I am looking at some more phrases to describe when a team qualifying for the next round of a competition or maybe even a final. First of all, let’s take a look at ‘to reach a final‘.
Ireland will not be playing in the 2026 World Cup final after losing to Czechia in the semi-final of the World Cup play-offs. At one stage, Ireland were leading 2-0 but were then pegged back by the home team before losing out on penalties. So, we can say that Ireland did not reach the final play-off game; they failed to make it to the final. Of course, the Czech Republic did reach the final where they will play against (or face) Denmark.
So, to reach a final (or to reach the next round) means that a team has made it to the next round or qualified for the next round. A team has defeated another team to progress to the next round – they have knocked them out to do that. Here’s an example from the Wales defeat to Bosnia in their World Cup play-off semi-final.
- …more agony from 12 yards for Wales, this time to deny them a shot at reaching this summer’s World Cup. (Guardian.co.uk, 2026)
And in this example, we can see that Wales were denied (or stopped) from going to the finals; they did not reach the finals this summer.
Here’s another example that describes Bolivia defeating Suriname to progress (or to reach) to the next round of play-offs.
- Bolivia rally past Suriname to reach World Cup playoff final (ESPN, 2026)
Now, the headline also used the term ‘rally past‘ which shows that Bolivia were losing but still went on to win. They were one down but came from behind with two goals in seven minutes, to rally past Suriname; to defeat Suriname.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Turkish)
To send them into the final
We can also hear the phrase, ‘to send them into the final’ as another way of saying ‘to reach’ the final. Here’s an example from the BBC about that Czechia versus Ireland game:
- Jan Kliment converted the fifth and final spot-kick to send the Czech Republic into a home final against Denmark on Tuesday.
And this means that this penalty was the one that won the shoot out and therefore meant that the Czech Republic won the semi-final and reached the final. The penalty sent the Czechs into the final.
Move closer to
Of course, these play-off matches were only semi-finals so nothing has still to be decided but after these victories the teams are closer to the finals – they are one game away from securing a spot in the World Cup finals. Here’s another example from the BBC about Italy’s win over Northern Ireland in their semi-final.
- Four-time winners Italy moved one game closer to a first World Cup since 2014 with victory to end Northern Ireland’s dream in their play-off semi-final in Bergamo.
So, ‘move closer to the finals‘; ‘send them into the final‘; ‘reach the final‘ and ‘secure a spot‘ are all related to this idea of qualifying for a final or a tournament.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian)
DF: Do you know any other phrases connected to the expressions we have used today? Or maybe you know some in other languages? And if you do, then drop us a line at contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com.
Predictions
DF: Right, next up we have our predictions. And we have two matches this week – both from the 2026 World Cup play-off finals. The first match is from Europe and sees Italy travel to Bosnia.
World Cup Qualifying: Play-off final – Bosnia & Herzogovina vs Italy
DF: OK, so the big question is whether Italy can reach a World Cup final tournament for the first time since 2014. It seems incredible that the Azzurri have failed to make (or reach) the finals in the past two tournaments. They travel to Bosnia & Herzogovina to decide which team will qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The Bosnians defeated Wales on penalties in their semi-final, while Italy comfortably defeated Northern Ireland 2-0. It will be tough and no doubt they will be nervous but I think the Italians should make it. Maybe 2-1.
World Cup Qualifying: Play-off final – Congo DR & Jamaica
DF: There are other World Cup play-offs taking place in Mexico and the game we will focus on is Congo DR from Africa against Jamaica from the CONCACAF region. This will be a tight game but I think that DR Congo will reach the finals – maybe winning 2-1 also. Now, this game takes place in Guadalajara in Mexico, where I will be going to in the World Cup, so I might be able to see them in the finals where they will play in Group K along with Colombia, Portugal and Uzbekistan.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish)
DF: What do you think of our predictions? Which teams do you think will reach the finals? Let us know by coming along to the forum on our site. We have also recently had questions and comments on phrases there such as ‘open up a team‘ and ‘sit down a keeper‘. So, go along and find out more about these and many more phrases there. It’s a really good place to practise using football words and phrases. Oh, and don’t forget to come along to any of our social media sites – you can find us on Facebook; YouTube; Instagram and many more.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Polish)
Contact
DF: And remember, our website also has a huge glossary with hundreds and hundreds of football terms, expressions, phrases and clichés about the beautiful game of football. Please tell all your friends about us and give us ‘a like’ or a recommendation on your favourite podcast or social media platforms!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (French from Canada)
DF: Yes, that message was in French from Canada. We have also heard messages in Czech, Danish, Turkish, Italian, Swedish and Polish – all languages from six of the eight teams left in the UEFA play-offs! We also heard from a Spanish fan and a speaker of Bemba from Zambia.
Well done if you recognised any of those languages and we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to record a message in any language that you know.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast (in Bemba from Zambia)
Goodbye
DF: Thank you everyone for listening. This week we have looked at the phrases, ‘rally past‘; ‘reach the final‘ and ‘move closer to‘ when describing teams’ chances of qualifying or progressing to a tournament or a final. You can get in contact with us if you hear or see any of these phrases or maybe you have another football phrase or term you’d like us to explain – drop us a line and say hello!
Enjoy all the football. I will be watching a couple of the 2026 World Cup play-off finals – even though Ireland are not there! What about you? What will you be watching this week?
And we’ll be back with another football expression very soon. Bye bye!
