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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Stripped of their title
In this week’s football-language podcast we look at a football phrase from AFCON 2025: ‘stripped of their title‘ after what happened in the Senegal versus Morocco final. We will also try to predict the English League Cup final and the Madrid derby. 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 a sunny London which is lovely, particularly as my favourite team Tottenham picked up an away point at Liverpool last weekend and then defeated Atlético Madrid in the Champions League last 16. The other half of the team is of course Damon who is in Tokyo, Japan. And Damon, how are you?
DB: Hi Damian. I’m well thank you, and the weather over here is cloudy and wet, which is quite refreshing. The plants on my balcony needed a spot of water! And, yes, well done on getting a point in the Learn English Through Football derby. That’s the 8th time this season my team Liverpool have let in a goal in the 90th minute or later! Awful game for The Reds, but better mid-week in the Champions League. Anyway, what have we got on the show today Damian?
Today’s Show
DF: Well, on today’s show we are going to talk about some of the language around the big controversy in African football after Senegal were stripped of their title this week. We’ll be looking at that phrase as well as, ‘awarded the title‘ and ‘overturn a decision‘. After that we’ll have our predictions section in which we look ahead to the Carabao Cup final (or the League Cup final) here in England between Arsenal and Manchester City and then we will look at the big game in Spain this weekend as it is the Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Tagalog)
DB: Thank you for that message, which was in Tagalog. 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 recognise. And if you can send us a message saying, ‘You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast’ in your language, or any other message – your name and which team you support, for example – we’d be really grateful. Just record your short message and send it to contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com.
Right, here’s the next message. Do you know what language it’s in?
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Swahili)
Stripped of their title
DF: In our weekly football expression earlier this week, we looked at the phrase, ‘defend their title‘. And on today’s podcast we are looking at another phrase about titles and this one comes from the big news from African football this week: stripped of their title.
What does this phrase mean? Well, to strip something from someone or something is to take away or to remove something that they previously had. So, to strip a title from someone means to take away that title. Maybe a team has won a title but then afterwards something wrong or illegal has emerged so that team has the title taken away from them. So, for example, French side Marseille won the French title in 1993 but then had it taken away after it was discovered that they had paid another team to not try so hard against them. And this is how the BBC reported on this scandal – remember that Marseille were also European champions after defeating AC Milan 1-0 in the final that season.
- Marseille were stripped of the Ligue 1 title, relegated and denied the right to defend their Champions League title.
This means that Marseille lost their Ligue 1 title, had to play in the second division and were not allowed to play in the Champions League the following season – three big punishments indeed!
Another famous European club that had a league title stripped was Juventus who in 2006 lost their Serie A title and were relegated after it was discovered they had pressured referees in some of their Serie A games. Again, here is the BBC report:
2. [Juventus had] two first-place finishes stripped from them – including the 2006 Serie A title, which was handed to Inter Milan…
We can also hear the phrase, ‘strip the captaincy from…‘ which is when a manager or maybe even the club itself takes away the captaincy from a player. So, for example, former Arsenal striker Aubameyang was the club captain but his manager Arteta took the captain’s armband away from him as it seemed he was not trying so much. Here is how the Guardian newspaper reported this story:
3. ‘Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been stripped of Arsenal’s captaincy and dropped from the squad after failing to demonstrate the “commitment and passion” to play for the club, according to Mikel Arteta.’
This means that Aubameyang lost the captaincy and then was not chosen to play for the team – he had been dropped.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in French)
So, what about the big story from AFCON this week? Well, as we know, Senegal won the AFCON 2025 title in January after a controversial 1-0 win over hosts Morocco; remember that they walked off the pitch after the referee awarded a penalty to Morocco. They eventually came back on to the pitch 17 minutes later, continued the game and then went on to win 1-0. Straight after the game, the Moroccan federation made an official complaint to the African football organisation CAF and this week we have finally heard the result. Senegal have been stripped of their title and Morocco have been given, or awarded, the title instead. Let’s look at some more reports on this:
- Senegal stripped of Africa Cup of Nations title over walkout protest in final (Guardian.com)
- ‘…Senegal were stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations that they — and most of the world — thought they had won in January (ESPN)
Let’s have a look at some more language around this story.
- Walk off the pitch: And this is when a team (or a player) leaves the field before the end of the half or the end of the game and is usually done as a protest. Teams are not supposed to walk off the pitch and can be punished if they do.
- Forfeit the match: If a team does walk off the pitch then one of the punishments it can receive is to forfeit the match and this means they automatically lose the game. In most competitions this is usually 3-0.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Bemba)
Overturn a decision/To award the title to
DF: Now, two other expressions that have emerged from this story are ‘to overturn the decision’ and ‘to award the title’. To overturn a decision is to change the original decision, so for example a referee can award (or give) a penalty but then, maybe with VAR, they can change their decision. If a team is awarded a title it means that the organisers have changed the original decision and given the title to another team instead and this is what has happened with the CAF decision. Senegal were stripped of the title as CAF overturned the decision and then awarded the AFCON title to Morocco.
- Morocco awarded AFCON title after CAF overturns result (BBC.co.uk)
- Senegal’s AFCON final win overturned as Morocco declared winners (ESPN.com)
Of course, there will be more appeals and this story is not over just yet so there may be more overturned decisions and awarding of titles in the future.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Arabic)
DF: Do you know any other phrases connected to the expressions we have used today? Or maybe you know some in other languages? If you do, then drop us a line at contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com. And we have also started a forum post on these expressions if you’d like to find out more and maybe practise using them, then go along to our football-language forum.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (a fan of Palermo)
Predictions
DB: Right, next up we have our predictions. And we have two matches this week.
DB: Now, the first match is the League Cup final between Arsenal, who are chasing a quadruple, and Manchester City who can still win a treble. Last week we had the women’s version, which saw Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-0; I wonder if we will see the London side beat the side from Manchester again?
League Cup Final: Arsenal vs Manchester City
DB: Well, it looks like this is Manchester City’s best chance at some silverware, and I’m going to back them to win this final 1-0. I don’t think it will be pretty, but as long as City can avoid leaving too much space behind their high line, I think they will sneak the win! Damian?
DF: Well, as a Spurs fan I am hoping that Arsenal don’t win the quadruple this season! But they are looking very strong indeed. I think City will bounce back and defeat the Gunners this weekend – maybe 3-2 after extra time.
La Liga: Real Madrid v Atlético Madrid
DB: And our second game is the big Madrid derby between Real Madrid and Atlético In the reverse fixture Atlético spanked Real 5-2, so revenge will be on the minds of the home team. I think home advantage will be key and Real will win this 2-0, maybe more comfortably than most people expect. Damian, how about you?
DF: Yes, I think Real Madrid will win this one as I think Atlético are focusing on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. Maybe 1-0 to Real Madrid.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Spanish)
DF: OK, those are our predictions. Now, listener, Damon used the phrase ‘Atlético spanked Real’, to spank a team, means to beat them by scoring lots goals? How would you say this in your language? Let us know by coming along to the forum on our site. We have also recently had questions and comments on phrases such as ‘defend their title‘ and ‘condemn to a defeat‘; so go along and find out more about these and many more phrases there. As I mentioned, it’s a really good place to practise using football words and phrases. 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 Korean)
Contact
DB: 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. Tell all your friends about us and give us ‘a like’ or a recommendation on your favourite podcast and social media platforms!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Catalan)
DF: Yes, that message was in Catalan. We have also heard messages in Tagalog at the start of the show, followed by Swahili, French, Bemba from Zambia, Arabic, Spanish, Korean and a fan from Palermo in Italy. And 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
Goodbye
DF: Thank you everyone for listening. This week we have looked at the phrases, ‘stripped of the title‘; ‘overturn the decision‘; ‘forfeit the match‘; ‘walk off the pitch‘ and ‘award the title‘ which all came from the big story about the 2025 AFCON final. We also explained the phrase, ‘to spank another team‘ – to thrash another team. 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 this weekend, I will be hoping my team Spurs can defeat Nottingham Forest in a relegation six pointer on Sunday. Let us know how your team gets on this weekend.
And we’ll be back with another football expression early next week. Bye bye!
DB: Ta-ra!
