2022 World Cup – Languages of the World Cup

We are only a matter of hours away from the start of the 2022 World Cup! As football fever hits nations across the world, fans are descending on the state of Qatar for this international sporting extravaganza. With countries from across the world taking part, it is no wonder that the amount of languages spoken by the teams taking part is incredibly varied. Find out what are the languages of the world cup with Cactus.

English Speaking Teams – 8

There are 8 countries taking part in 2022 World Cup who consider English to be their official language. England, USA, Canada, Australia and Wales are the five obvious participants who fall into this group. Tunisia, Ghana and Cameroon also class English as an official language of their nations. Cameroon and Tunisia however also list other languages as their official languages and so you may see them appear later on in this article.

Australia

World Cup Appearances – 6

Cameroon

World Cup Appearances – 8

Canada

World Cup Appearances – 2

England

World Cup Appearances – 16
World Cup Titles – 1 (1966)

Ghana

World Cup Appearances – 4

Tunisia

World Cup Appearances – 6

USA

World Cup Appearances – 11

Wales

World Cup Appearances – 2

Spanish Speaking Teams – 6

The 2022 World Cup is made up of teams from countries across the world. South America is famous for its successful footballing nations and it is probably no surprise that a number of the teams taking part in this years World Cup are Spanish speaking nations.

There a 6 Spanish speaking nations in the tournament this year and 5 of these are from the South American continent! Only Spain itself is one of the Spanish speaking countries located outside of South America. Interestingly all 6 of these nations consider Spanish to be their only national language as well.

Argentina

World Cup Appearances – 18
World Cup Titles – 2 (1978, 1986)

Costa Rica

World Cup Appearances – 6

Ecuador

World Cup Appearances – 4

Mexico

World Cup Appearances – 17

Spain

World Cup Appearances – 16
World Cup Titles – 1 (2010)

Uruguay

World Cup Appearances – 14
World Cup Titles – 2 (1930, 1950)

French Speaking Teams – 6

Joining Spanish with 6 teams in the tournament is French. 3 teams from Europe, 2 from Africa and 1 from North America make up the French speaking nations at the 2022 World Cup. This is the second time we have seen Cameroon and Canada on this list as they both class French as an official language alongside English.

Belgium

World Cup Appearances – 14

France

World Cup Appearances – 16
World Cup Titles – 2 (1998, 2018)

Senegal

World Cup Appearances – 3

Switzerland

World Cup Appearances – 12

Arabic Speaking Teams – 4

Due to the fact that the 2022 World Cup is being hosted in Qatar it means that the Qatar national team automatically qualify to take part. This will be the first time the country take part in a World Cup and also adds an Arabic speaking nation to the list.

Other than Tunisia, who also class English as an official language, all other Arabic speaking nations in the tournament have no other official languages. These remaining 4 teams don’t have the best track record with footballing event success. However, due to the fact this years event is taking place in the Middle East it may suit them better than other teams taking part.

Qatar

World Cup Appearances – 1 (Debut year)

Morocco

World Cup Appearances – 6

Saudi Arabis

World Cup Appearances – 6

Other Languages of The World Cup

With teams from all over the world taking part there are a variety of other languages spoken during the World Cup. German is spoken by 3 teams in the tournament (Germany, Belgium and Switzerland) and Portuguese by 2 (Portugal and Brazil).

Other countries such as Poland, Japan and Denmark speak their own dedicated languages. Wales players will no doubt be communicating in English, but there is always the chance they may slip into Welsh to try and confuse their opponents.