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Learn English Through Football Podcast: (to) Mark a Debut
In this week’s football-language podcast we look at the phrase, ‘to mark a debut’, and how it is used in football. We also look ahead to some of the big international matches this weekend including games from the World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Europe and South America. 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 then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Hello
DB: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. Hi there listener, my name is Damon and I’m recording this show in Japan, where spring has finally come. There was snow a few days ago in Tokyo but now everyone is looking forward to the cherry blossoms and warmer weather. What’s the weather like where you are? I hope it is good.
I wonder how Damian in London is doing? Damian?
DF: Hello Damon and hello everyone, I hope we are all doing well and enjoying all the international football. I am in a pretty good mood as my team Ireland managed to win a game away from home this time in Bulgaria in the first leg of a play-off in the Nations League. I know some people don’t really like the international break but I think this one is really interesting as there are 2026 World Cup qualifiers taking place around the world and also some big Nations League games too. I know that we will be looking at some of the big games from those tournaments in our predictions later on but Damon what else do we have on today’s show?
Today’s Show
DB: Yes, a lot of people don’t like these international breaks when the domestic football season is in full swing, but you’ve got to play qualifiers sometime. I’m always worried that one of my team’s players will get injured on international duty, so fingers crossed this time!
On the show today, I’m going to start by looking at some football language from one of the international matches, England versus Albania. The phrase is ‘to mark a debut‘. After that, we will have Damian and his predictions for some of the other matches taking place around the world, and we’ll finish with some details on how you can contact us, ask questions, or give us feedback – we also have an apology and a correction for Newcastle United fans!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Italian)
DB: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster.com and that message, or stinger, was in Italian. We’ll have more of these messages in different languages throughout the show – can you guess which languages they are? We’ll have the answers at the end of the show. Here’s one to get you started.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Persian)
(To) Mark a debut
DB: OK, let’s start with today’s football language phrase, which is to mark a debut. In football, a debut is someone’s first appearance for a team, or their first game played for a team. We usually use the verb ‘make‘ – make a debut – to say a player is making their first start for the team.
When we talk about a player, we usually put the pronoun ‘his‘ or ‘her‘ after the verb, so ‘make her debut‘. Here is an example from mancity.com: ‘Laura Blindkilde Brown made her senior England debut in Tuesday’s international friendly against Switzerland.’
This example also gives more detail about what kind of debut it is; it was her senior English debut.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Uzbek)
DB: Thank you for that message – what language was it listener?
OK, back to debut. If a player scores on their debut, or does something particularly impressive, we can change the verb make to mark, to mark a debut: to mark a debut with a goal. Notice with follows debut to explain what was special: eg. to mark a debut with a penalty save; to mark a debut with a red card.
In England’s World Cup qualifier against Albania, Arsenal full-back Lewis-Skelly made his first appearance and he scored England’s opening goal. This is what the BBC wrote in the match report: ‘One player to impress was Arsenal’s gifted teenage full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly, who marked a dream debut by scoring the first goal.’
‘Dream Debut’
Here, we have ‘marked a dream debut‘ meaning it was a perfect first game for the player. The sentence also has the structure by doing something, so by scoring the first goal. We could change this to marked a dream debut with the first goal.
The manager, Thomas Tuchel also had his first match in charge of the England team, so the German marked his debut with a win. What debuts can you remember, maybe from your team. For me, I remember Luis Suarez marking his debut for Liverpool with a goal against Stoke City! It wasn’t the best goal, but it was good to see a new signing score with his first chance.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in German)
Predictions
DB: Right, next up is predictions with Damian.
England v Albania: World Cup Qualifier (UEFA)
DF: So, England kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a home game against Albania at Wembley. It will also be the first game under new manager Thomas Tuchel. Even though Albania qualified for the last Euros, I don’t see them causing too many problems for England. So maybe a 3-1 home victory for me.
Spain v Netherlands: Nations League (Quarter-final 2nd Leg)
So, Spain drew 2-2 in the Netherlands on Thursday in the first leg and this gives them a slight advantage in the return leg (the second game) of their Nations League quarter-final match on Sunday. I think they should qualify for the semi-finals with a win here…maybe 2-1.
Japan v Saudi Arabia: World Cup Qualifier (AFC)
So, Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after beating Bahrain 2-0 on Thursday – so, well done to them. They take on Saudi Arabia who need points as only the top two teams in the group qualify directly for the finals next year. And I think the Saudis are currently third. I think this game will finish 1-0 to the Japanese side.
Argentina v Brazil: World Cup Qualifier (CONMEBOL)
And finally we look at the big game in South America as Argentina host Brazil. Despite the fact that both sides will almost certainly qualify for the finals (remember, the top six sides go through directly), this is still a game that neither side wants to lose. And so, with this in mind, I think it will end up as a draw: 1-1.
Those are my predictions. What do you think will happen in these (and any of the other) qualifiers going on around the world?
DB: Thanks for that Damian. I agree with your predictions except for the last game, Argentina vs Brazil. I think the home team, Argentina, will win this one 2-1 and have bragging rights in this big rivalry. And, I also think Japan will win against Saudi Arabia, but with a more comfortable 2-0 scoreline.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Chinese)
Contact
DF: OK, so, if you have any questions about football words or phrases that you hear or read or have some feedback on our podcast, please contact us via email at admin@languagecaster.com. Visit our website to explore our Football Language Forum, where you can ask and answer questions about all kinds of football language. And don’t forget to check out our really, really large glossary of football terms, filled with expressions, phrases, and clichés about the beautiful game. And please help us by spreading the word about our podcast and our site. Maybe give us a like and follow us on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky, YouTube, and more.
Apologies to Newcastle United Fans
DF: Now, one listener who did contact us recently was François Tixier who wrote to us about our weekly football expression ‘end a trophy drought‘ earlier on in the week in which I mistakenly suggested that Newcastle had won the European’s Fairs Cup in 1971 when it was of course 1969. Apologies for that mistake and thank you so much for the correction François who then went to add: ‘Newcastle ended their trophy drought since 1969 with the Carabao Cup!’ Great stuff Francois!
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Dutch)
Goodbye
DB: Yes, thank you Francois. As Damian said, drop us a line if you have anything you want to share with us. Thanks everyone for listening today – we looked at the phrases ‘to make a debut‘ and ‘to mark a debut‘. Let us know if you hear these phrases while watching football this week, in any language of course! We’d love to hear from. And we would like to find out what you think of the show and what we do. So, we have posted a link in this post and on our site for a short survey – if you get a few minutes then that would be great.
And before we go, what about those stingers and languages? Well we started with Italian, followed by Persian, Uzbek, German, Chinese and finally Dutch.
DF: Enjoy all the football this week – I’m really looking forward to the international matches, especially Ireland’s return leg game against Bulgaria on Sunday! Bye bye.
DB: We’ll be back with a weekly football expression early next week. And tune in again to next week’s Learn English Through Football Podcast. Ta-ra!
Related Terms
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
