The country that holds the tournament is known as the host – to host a tournament. It also sometimes describes the home team (the hosts).
What does it mean?
Host has a few different meanings in football. It refers to the team or the country that is organising or holding the game or the competition. So, in 2002 Japan and South Korea hosted the World Cup. We also use the word ‘hosts‘ to describe the home team in a football match – the hosts were winning at half team means that the home side was winning. Another meaning is when we want to show that there is a lot of something – a host of chances were missed, for example.
Examples
- Holding the tournament/competition
- Canada, Mexico and the USA are co-hosting the 2026 World Cup
- The FIFA World Cup 2026™ has three host countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States (FIFA.com)
- Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be co-hosting the 2030 tournament with three matches played in South America, while Saudi Arabia will be hosting in 2034 (ESPN.com, June 2026)
- The home team
- The hosts went 1-0 up after a wonderful goal from Grealish.
- Leeds shocked the hosts with two well-taken goals in the first half.
- However, that was a rare blip for Wolves who repeatedly carved the hosts open and on another day may have claimed all three points (BBC.co.uk, 2019)
- …while Raul Jimenez dragged wide and Diogo Jota saw an attempt blocked following a swift counter as the hosts began to pick their way through the Tottenham defence. (BBC.co.uk, 2019)
- A lot/Large number of
- Tottenham had a host of injuries during the season which meant they played a lot of young players.
- If there is a worry for Brighton manager Graham Potter, it is that as easily as his side passed and moved, they did not create a host of chances. (Telegraph.co.uk, 2019)
Similar Words/Phrases
- Home advantage
- Co-host
- Home team
Learn More
- Read more about the different meanings of host from one of our posts from 2016
- Listen to a podcast on the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar and Russia.
