Cristiano Ronaldo International Retirement: Learn English Through Football Podcast

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In this week’s football-language podcast we look at some language around the international retirement of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo. We will also look at predictions from some of the big games this weekend including Manchester United at home to Aston Villa. You can read the transcript below, read some teaching tips on how to use these materials, check out our glossary here, or browse all our previous posts and podcasts.

 

For Teachers ▸ how to use this episode in class

• • Pre-Listening: Ask the students what they know about Cristiano Ronaldo.
  • General Listening: What numbers were mentioned in the report about Ronaldo? What other main ideas did you hear?
  • Listening for meaning: Create a gap-fill activity that focuses on some of the numbers that were mentioned in the report. What do they refer to?
  • Using listening information: From their initial listening (and maybe notes) ask students to explain the main points to their classmates (spoken and / or written).
  • Predictions: What are the students’ predictions for the matches we covered in this week’s show? (language of predictions here).
  • Discussion activity: What do you think of Cristiano Ronaldo? How would you describe his style of football? Ronaldo or Messi?

Hello

DF: You’re listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.

Hello everyone this is Damian from the Learn English Through Football team and I hope you are all doing well. I am in a chilly and rather foggy London and I have just come back from playing five-a-side this morning where I think we won! How about you? Have you been playing any football this week? And how did your favourite team get on this week? I wonder how the other member of the Learn English Through Football team Damon is doing in Tokyo? Hi Damon, how are things?

DB: Hi Damian. Good to hear that you won your five-a-side game, maybe! No playing football for me since I hung up my boots a few years ago with knackered knees – bad knees. Now, my team Liverpool, are up against Crystal Palace this weekend. You went to watch Tottenham v Palace last week. How was it?

DF: Well, I enjoyed the Crystal Palace game last week in which we won easily 2-0 but earlier today I saw Spurs lose 1-0 in a very scrappy game away at Leeds. Our winning run of three games is over which is a disappointment.

DB: Well, a 2-0 win for Liverpool would cheer me up after the Red’s two defeats on the bounce.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast (in French from a Canadian football fan)

Today’s Show

DF: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast and that message was in French from a Canadian football fan. Damon, what’s on the show today?

DB: Well, earlier I mentioned I stopped playing football a few years ago and our main focus today is on a slightly more famous football player than me and that’s Christiano Ronaldo, who retired from international football this week. So, we’ll take at his career through numbers.

After that we’ll review our last predictions and have a go at trying to guess the results of two big matches, one from the Premier League and one from La Liga.

Cristiano Ronaldo in Numbers

DF: So this week saw Cristiano Ronaldo finally retiring from international football. The striker called time after a career that lasted a remarkable 23 years – he made his debut back in 2003! And so on this week’s podcast we look at the international career of Cristiano Ronaldo by looking at some of the key numbers. 

234

Right, this number is all about appearances or caps. We have already mentioned that Ronaldo made his debut in 2003 and since then he has played 234 times for his country which is not only a national record but a world one as he has won more caps than anyone else in men’s football. 

146 

This is the number of goals the Portuguese striker has managed to score for his country and yet again this is the most goals for a men’s international player. The player that is second on the list is of course Leo Messi who has 126 goals for Argentina but Ronaldo has over 50 goals more than recent Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane. He has also scored against 49 different countries and has ten hat-tricks at international level which unsurprisingly is yet another record. 

30

He has also played 30 times at European Championship finals which is another record. And he is the only male player to score at five different Euro finals. He has also scored 14 times at the Euros which is more than any other player. 

27

Cristiano Ronaldo also played a remarkable 27 times at World Cups which again is a Portuguese record but also a record for the most appearances at the finals without actually winning the trophy. 

6

Ronaldo has scored at six different World Cups and he is the only player to have done that. He scored a in the last one (2026) against Uzbekistan at the age of 41. 

3

Of course, Ronaldo has also won three major trophies with Portugal. He was part of the winning 2016 European Championship team and has also won two Nations League titles – in 2019 and again in 2025. 

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast (in Mongolian )

Contact

DF: Remember, if you have any questions or comments about this week’s football podcast or indeed any other football language then you can drop us an email at [email protected]. And you can also find us on Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram and YouTube.  

Predictions Review: Liverpool v Arsenal

Listen to our previous podcast on the language of predictions here.

DF: Right, let’s take a look back at our predictions from last week before we look at this week’s predictions. So, in the big game from the Premier League I thought Liverpool would continue their good run of form and beat Arsenal 1-0 but the Gunners ran out 1-0 winners after a strong defensive performance. In the other big game from last week I thought Bayern Munich would beat Dortmund 2-1 but a last-minute equaliser from Dortmund meant I was wrong again!

DB: Yep, I was equally as bad, thinking Liverpool might draw with Arsenal and, like you, believing that Bayern would win their clash against Dortmund. We’re not very good at this are we!

Let’s see if we can do better this time and let’s kick off with the Premier League and Manchester United who host Aston Villa.

Predictions: Manchester United v Aston Villa 

DF: OK, the big game this weekend in the Premier league sees Manchester United take on Aston Villa. The Red Devils  are in the bottom three – the relegation zone – going in to this match but they have also just won a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Roma in the Champions League. I think this weekend has seen teams breaking their winless runs so I’m going to go for a United 2-1 win. 

DB: I disagree. I think the comeback win against Roma was a one off and that Villa will be a much trickier opponent. I’m going for a 1-1 draw, with maybe Man United taking the lead and Villa pulling one back late in the game.

Predictions: Atlético Madrid v Barcelona (La Liga)

DF: The big game in Spain this weekend sees Barcelona travel to Atlético Madrid in a real top-of-the-table clash. Barca are top on 30 points along with Real Madrid while Atlético are in third place only two points behind so a home win would see them go top. I see this one as defence versus attack and I think it will end in a draw. 

DB: I’m going to go for an away win for Barcelona. I agree the game will basically see a defensive Atlético try and grind out a result against a more attacking Barcelona, but I’ll go for a few goals for the Catalans and a 2-1 win.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast (from an England fan)

DB: Thank you for that message, which was from an England fan and yes, you are listening to the Learn English through Football podcast. If you would like to send in a message like this; we’d love to hear from you. Maybe mention your name, where you are from and which team you support. Or simply say, ‘You’re listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast’ in any language that you wish! Just drop us a line at [email protected].

Language Review

DF: OK, so let’s look back at some of the language from today’s show which was all about Cristiano Ronaldo. We looked at phrases to describe his international career including appearances and caps. How would you say those words in a language that you know? Do you know any other words or expressions similar to these? Also, if you come along to this post on our site you will see lots of our previous posts and podcasts in which we talk about Ronaldo. 

DB: And remember, if you come along to our site and open this post, you’ll see some teaching ideas at the top of the page in which we suggest a few ways to possibly use these materials with your students or even when you’re learning by yourself. We also have a thread for teaching ideas on our forum so again come along and take a look and maybe share some of the ways you might use these with your learners.

Goodbye

DB: Right, that’s the end of the show for this week. Listen out for the shorter Weekly Football Phrase episode coming mid-week. Until then, enjoy the football. Bye!

DF: Bye

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