⚽ Sports - Deportes

Aa ⏱ ≈ 14 minutes

Beginner Spanish · Playing and watching sports

Talking About Sports in Spanish

Sports Spanish becomes practical when you can name the sport you play, talk about a favorite team, ask about a match, check the score, and react to what is happening in the game.

Your next small win: talk about sports you play, ask someone about their favorite sport or team, follow a match, and understand basic score and result language.

Start with common sports

Core Sports Vocabulary

These sport names give you a useful base for talking about what you play and what you like to watch.

fútbol
Soccer / football
baloncesto
Basketball
béisbol
Baseball
tenis
Tennis
voleibol
Volleyball
fútbol americano
American football

Name four sports

Say “soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis” in Spanish.

People and match vocabulary
equipo
Team
jugador / jugadora
Player
partido
Game / match
gol
Goal
punto
Point
marcador
Score

Talk about playing

Using Jugar a + Sport

Use jugar a + sport with many sports. When the sport uses el, a + el becomes al.

Juego al fútbol.
I play soccer.
Juego al baloncesto.
I play basketball.
Jugamos al tenis los sábados.
We play tennis on Saturdays.
Juego al fútbol los fines de semana.
I play soccer on weekends.
¿Juegas al tenis?
Do you play tennis?
¿Practicas algún deporte?
Do you play or practice any sports?

Pattern: jugar al fútbol, jugar al tenis, jugar al baloncesto. Learn these as useful chunks.

Talking about a favorite sport

A
¿Cuál es tu deporte favorito?
What is your favorite sport?
B
Mi deporte favorito es el fútbol.
My favorite sport is soccer.
A
¿Juegas al fútbol?
Do you play soccer?
B
Sí, juego los fines de semana.
Yes, I play on weekends.

Talk about playing sports

Say that you play soccer and that you play tennis on Saturdays.

Other sports activities
correr
To run
natación
Swimming
ciclismo
Cycling
hacer ejercicio
To exercise

Lesson boundary: these activities are included for recognition. Workout routines, training frequency, and fitness goals belong in the separate Fitness lesson.

Follow the action

Watching a Match and Checking the Score

These phrases help you follow a game that is happening now.

Estoy viendo el partido.
I'm watching the game.
¿Estás viendo el partido?
Are you watching the game?
Mi equipo está jugando.
My team is playing.
¿Cuál es el marcador?
What's the score?
Estamos ganando dos a uno.
We're winning two to one.
¿Quién está ganando?
Who is winning?

Action happening now: phrases such as está jugando and estamos ganando describe what is happening during the match.

Watching a game

A
¿Estás viendo el partido?
Are you watching the game?
B
Sí. Mi equipo está jugando.
Yes. My team is playing.
A
¿Cuál es el marcador?
What's the score?
B
Estamos ganando dos a uno.
We're winning two to one.

Follow the match

Ask whether someone is watching the game, then ask for the score.

Talk about teams and results

Favorites, Winning, and Losing

Use these phrases to talk about teams you follow and simple match results.

¿Cuál es tu equipo favorito?
What is your favorite team?
Este es mi equipo favorito.
This is my favorite team.
ganar
To win
perder
To lose
¿Quién ganó el partido?
Who won the game?
¡Ganamos!
We won!
¡Qué buen gol!
What a great goal!

Useful contrast: ganar means “to win,” while perder means “to lose.” For a match happening now, use estar ganando or estar perdiendo.

Talk about a team

Ask for someone's favorite team, ask who is winning, and react to a great goal.

Your turn · 8 quick questions

Practice: Sports in Spanish

Choose the answer that best fits each situation. Focus on playing sports, favorite teams, matches, scores, and results.

Audio uses your device's Spanish text-to-speech voice. Listen to each phrase, then practice talking about the sports you play, the teams you follow, and what is happening in a match.