Football & the World Cup: How to Cheer in Serbian & Croatian

Few things bring people in Serbia and Croatia together like football. Cafés empty into the streets after a win, flags hang from every other balcony, and during the World Cup the whole region runs on ninety-minute cycles of hope and heartbreak. If you're learning the language, there's no faster way into the culture than being able to follow a match and cheer along.

Here's your kit bag: the words, the phrases, and the chants.

First things first: what do you even call it?

This is the one that catches everyone out. The sport has two completely different names depending on which side you're on:

• fudbal — football (Serbian)
• nogomet — football (Croatian)

Croatian built its word from noga (leg/foot) + met (throw/put), while Serbian borrowed the English "football" phonetically. Both are correct — just make sure you match the room you're in. A few more that split the same way:

• golman (SR) / vratar (HR) — goalkeeper
• penal (SR) / jedanaesterac (HR) — penalty (the Croatian word literally means "the eleven-metre")

The essential match vocabulary

Get these down and you can follow the commentary:

• utakmica — the match
• gol — goal
• igrač — player
• sudija (SR) / sudac (HR) — referee
• navijač — fan / supporter
• reprezentacija — the national team
• poluvreme (SR) / poluvrijeme (HR) — half-time
• produžeci — extra time
• pobeda (SR) / pobjeda (HR) — victory
• poraz — defeat
• nerešeno (SR) / neriješeno (HR) — a draw

You'll notice a pattern: Serbian often drops the -j- that Croatian keeps (pobeda vs pobjeda). Spot that once and you'll predict dozens of word pairs.

On the pitch

• napadač — striker / forward
• odbrana (SR) / obrana (HR) — defence
• dodavanje — a pass
• šut — a shot
• prekršaj — a foul
• žuti karton — yellow card
• crveni karton — red card
• kutni udarac (HR) / korner — corner kick

How to actually cheer

This is the fun part. When the ball's in play and your team is pushing forward, the whole stadium is shouting:

Ajmo! — "Come on! / Let's go!"

It's the single most useful word at any Balkan match — short, loud, and endlessly repeatable. Build on it:

• Ajmo, Srbijo! — "Come on, Serbia!"
• Ajmo, Hrvatska! — "Come on, Croatia!"
• Napred! (SR) / Naprijed! (HR) — "Forward!"
• Bravo! — "Well done!" (shouted after anything good)

And when it finally goes in, there's only one thing to yell — dragging it out as long as your lungs allow:

GOOOL!

When it's not going well

Football is suffering, too. You'll hear plenty of:

• Sudija, lopov! — "Referee, thief!" (a regional classic)
• Ma daj! — "Oh, come on!"
• Šteta — "What a shame"

Bring it to the café

Half the football in the Balkans is watched — and re-played — over coffee. A few phrases to join in:

• Ko igra večeras? (SR) / Tko igra večeras? (HR) — "Who's playing tonight?"
• Koliko je bilo? — "What was the score?"
• Ko je pobedio? (SR) / Tko je pobijedio? (HR) — "Who won?"
• Kakva utakmica! — "What a match!"

Learn a handful of these and the next time the reprezentacija takes the pitch, you won't just be watching — you'll be part of the crowd. Ajmo!