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Best Football quotes

Football is the most popular sport in the world. Over the years, this beautiful game has witnessed countless memorable moments, breathtaking goals, remarkable victories, and legendary football Quotes. The best football players and coaches have shared their wisdom through their words.

We will kick off this list of the best Football quotes in the world with a quote from the FIFA.

FIFA

“Football is the world’s greatest drama, with billions of people watching and dreaming.”

Time to read < 1 min
Best Football quotes
Johan Cruyff

”Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.”

”Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1,000 times. Anyone can do that by practising. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your teammate.”

“Before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake.”

“Football is a game you play with your brain.”

“Football is not just about winning. It’s about playing beautiful.”

“Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality are boring.”

“There’s only one moment in which you can arrive in time. If you’re not there, you’re either too early or too late.”

“I look at Messi, and he makes me laugh. A beautiful footballer who is still like a kid. A world superstar, but still a kid. Innocent, you know. He just plays.”

“After you’ve won something, you’re no longer 100 per cent, but 90 per cent. It’s like a bottle of carbonated water where the cap is removed for a short while. Afterwards, there’s a little less gas inside.”

There is a lot more where that came from
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“Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal.”

“I’m not religious. In Spain, all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works, all matches must therefore end in a draw.”

“I’m ex-player, ex-technical director, ex-coach, ex-manager, ex-honorary president. A nice list that once again shows that everything comes to an end.”

“You can’t score a goal if you don’t take a shot.”

”In a way, I’m probably immortal.”

Xavi

“Football is not about one or two or three-star players. It’s about the team.”

“Football is a team game, and it’s important to play with players who understand your way of playing.”

“In football, the result is an impostor. You can do things really, really well but not win. There’s something greater than the result, more lasting – a legacy.”

“I spend the entire 90 minutes looking for space on the pitch. I’m always between the opposition’s two holding midfielders and thinking, ‘The defence is here, so I get the ball, and I go there to where space is.”

Gary Lineker

“Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans win.”

Romario

“I never thought about the records I was breaking. I just wanted to score goals and help my team win.”

“Will I become a coach in the future? No way, I’d never be able to put up with someone like me.”

George Halas

“Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.”

Zinedine Zidane

“Football is the only thing that can bring together an entire country, regardless of political or religious differences.”

“I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet.”

Claudio Ranieri

“Dilly ding dilly dong.”

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Nigel Pearson

“I think you are an ostrich.”

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Andres Iniesta

“I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it.”

Tim Howard

“When you’re a goalkeeper, it doesn’t matter how well you play; if you make one mistake and it costs the game, it’s a bad day.”

“I’ve worked too hard and long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down.”

Lukas Podolski

“Football is like chess, only without the dice.”

Ivan Rakitic

“The smartest thing I did is I never gave up.”

Sarina Wiegman

“Inclusivity is not something that can be achieved simply by saying the right things. It requires meaningful actions and a strong commitment to making it a reality.”

“I boldly cut off my hair and joined anyway.”

“Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid of making mistakes because mistakes are part of your growth. Mistakes don’t mean you’re not good enough. It means you’re evolving. You will become the best version of yourself.”

Ronaldinho

“Football is not just a game; it’s an art form. You have to be creative, think outside the box, and always be one step ahead of your opponent.”

“It is not just about the money. It is about what you achieve on the pitch.”

“I learned all about life with a ball at my feet.”

“My heroes were always soccer players.”

Pelé

“Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player but how to be like a man.”

“Everything is practice.”

“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”

“The ball is my best friend.”

“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.”

“Football is a game that is played with the brain. We have to use our heads.”

“Football is a universal language, a passport to adventure.”

“I think that France, Germany, Spain, Holland and England will join Brazil in the semi-finals.”

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.”

Andrea Pirlo

“Football is played with your head. Your feet are just the tools.”

Sir Alex Ferguson

“That lad must have been born offside.”
Ferguson talking about Filippo Inzaghi.

“I’ve never played for a draw in my life.”

Lawrie McMenemy

“When you are 4-0 up, you should never lose 7-1.”

Ruud Gullit

“We must have had 99 per cent of the game. It was the other three per cent that cost us the match.”

Aad de Mos

“What are five points in this competition?”

Jens Lehmann

“To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny.”

Diego Simeone

“I’m a believer that emotions can move mountains, that spirit alone can trump budgets.”

Alex Morgan

“Keep working even when no one is watching.”

Bear Bryant

“It’s not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.”

Sepp Herberger

“The ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory.”

Francisco Maturana García

“Every defeat is a victory in itself.”

Roy Keane

“I don’t believe skill was, or ever will be, the result of coaches. It is a result of a love affair between the child and the ball.”

“Aggression is what I do. I go to war. You don’t contest football matches in a reasonable state of mind.”

“Hopefully kids will look at me and see that your dreams can come true.”

“I don’t think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell football, never mind understand it.”

Ian Holloway

“To put it in gentleman’s terms, if you’ve been out for a night and you’re looking for a young lady, and you pull one, some weeks they’re good-looking, and some weeks they’re not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best-looking bird, but at least we got her in the taxi.”

“Managing a league club is like making love to a mermaid… you should always be aiming for a top-half finish.”

“Every dog has its day – and today is woof day! Today, I just want to bark.”

“I love Blackpool. We’re very similar. We both look better in the dark.”

“It was lucky that the linesman wasn’t stood in front of me, as I would have poked him with a stick to make sure he was awake.”

“Apparently, it’s my fault that the Titanic sank.”

“Sometimes, when you aim for the stars, you hit the moon.”

“If I fell into a barrel of boobs, I’d come out sucking my thumb.”

Sepp Herberger

“The ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory.”

Lucy Bronze

“Football is something I would never give up on, whether I ended up playing professional or in a Sunday league team.”

“I don’t feel like congratulating myself, because I know there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

“You cannot win a game of football on your own; it’s about the entire squad working together to achieve something. That’s how football works: it has always been about the group, not the individual.”

Francisco Maturana García

“Every defeat is a victory in itself.”

Dmitri Shostakovich

“Football is the ballet of the masses.”

Mario Balotelli

“When I score, I don’t celebrate because it’s my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?”

Arsene Wenger

Football is an art, like dancing is an art – but only when it’s well done does it become an art.”

“The game of football has never been so quick, never been so technical. The demands on players have never been greater.”

“I take pride in the fact that people go home having felt that for 90 minutes today, life is beautiful – and that’s it, basically. That’s why professional football exists.”

“If you eat caviar every day it is difficult to return to sausages.”

“Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players. They should be encouraged to try skills with our fear of failure.”

Ray Hudson

“I’ve got nothing to say. Any questions?”

Berti Vogts

“If people had seen me walking on water, you can be sure someone, somewhere would have complained ‘look at that Berti Vogts, he can’t even swim’.”

Mark Viduka

 “I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.”

Steve Lomas

“Germany are a very difficult team to play. They had 11 internationals out there today.”

Lionel Messi

“The most important thing in football is what happens on the pitch.”

“I have many years to get better and better, and that has to be my ambition. The day you think there are no improvements to be made is a sad one for any player.”

“I always thought I wanted to play professionally, and I always knew that to do that, I’d have to make a lot of sacrifices. I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina and leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.”

“I always want more. Whether it’s a goal or winning a game, I’m never satisfied.”

“There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.”

“I am more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world.”

Sydney Leroux

“I worked on my weaknesses and made them my strengths.”

Paul Pogba

“I have to keep working hard and playing well because I don’t like to be second or third: they’re the worst places to be. You would be proud, of course, because it means you’re on the way, but you want to finish first.”

Didier Drogba

“Football is more than just a game. It can bring hope and joy to people’s lives.”

Robert Lewandowski

“In football, the greatest satisfaction is winning when they say you can’t.”

Paul Gascoigne

“I’ve had 14 bookings this season—eight of which were my fault, but seven of which were disputable.”

Sebastijan Cimerotic

“Me, Zahovic and Karic are the best duo.”

“My knee hurts, the one on the leg.”

“I am often self criticising, sometimes even to myself.”

Bill Belichick

“There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together.”

Lou Holtz

No one has ever drowned in sweat

Lee Bowyer

“I’m 30 now, but back when I was 19…that’s seven years ago.”

Michael Owen

“I don’t believe in superstitions. I just do certain things because I’m scared in case something will happen if I don’t do them.”

Abby Wambach

“I’ve never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else.”

“Forget me. Forget my number. Forget my name. Forget I ever existed. Forget the medals won, the records broken and the sacrifices made. I want to leave a legacy where the ball keeps rolling forward, where the next generation accomplishes things so great that I am no longer remembered. So forget me, because the day I’m forgotten is the day we will succeed.”

“I’ve never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else.”

Cristiano Ronaldo

“If you don’t believe you’re the best, then you will never achieve all that you are capable of.”

“I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans but also to feel satisfied with myself.”

“Maybe they hate me because I’m too good.”

“Your Love makes me Strong, Your Hate makes me Unstoppable!”

“I’ve never tried to hide the fact that it is my intention to become the best.”

Ron Atkinson

“Well, Clive, it’s all about the two M’s—movement and positioning.”

Didier Deschamps

“The players are writing a beautiful page of French football history.”

Sam Kerr

“No one is bigger than the team, you win together, and you can certainly lose together.”

Julie Ertz

“If they thing your dreams are crazy, show them what crazy dreams can do.”

Kevin Keegan

“They’re the second-best team in the world, and there’s no higher praise than that.”

Bill Shankly

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”

“The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.”

Jean-Paul Sartre

“In football, everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.”

George Weah

“Football is a universal language. It brings people together. irrespective of their nationalities, cultures or beliefs.”

Jürgen Klopp

“Football is a game you cannot play without making mistakes.”

“I am not a dreamer. I am a football romantic.”

“Anyone can have a good day, but you have to be able to perform on a bad day.”

“Life is too short not to celebrate nice moments!.”

“The best word I can say to describe this is: Boom!

“If you had Wikipedia or Google and put in European nights’, the answer must be: Anfield.”

“I’m one of you now; I love you to bits. On my jumper is ‘Thank you Luv’ and ‘I will never walk alone again’. Thank you for that! You are the best people in the world. Thank you!”

“I have only one understanding of development and of making success, and that’s by going step by step.”

“I am the normal one.”

Gary Lineker

“Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans always win.”

Vince Lombardi

“Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.”

Nelson Flcāo Rodrigues

“In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball.”

Sir Bobby Charlton

“Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.”

Yaya Touré

“I think football is more than a game; it is a passion. It is something that comes from inside and touches people’s hearts.”

Paulo Maldini

“If I had to make a tackle, I have already made a mistake.”

Carlo Ancelotti

“Football is the most important of the less important things in the world.”

“My philosophy? Well, I think it’s pretty simple. You work hard, you play hard, and you control your emotions. That’s it.”

Philipp Lahm

“The beauty of football is that everyone can contribute in their own way, no matter how big or small their role may be.”

Neymar Jr.

“If you’re not going to work hard, there’s no point in waking up.”

“There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true.”

“My family is my motivation. I want to make them proud, and football has given me the opportunity to do that.”

“I’m not a superhero; I’m not invincible.”

“I only want to be the best that I can be.”

Rodri

“When you give everything, there is nothing to regret.”

Franz Beckenbauer

“As someone who loves football, I want to give something back to the game and help it develop further.”

Terry Pratchett

“The thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.”

Wayne Rooney

“I just hate losing, and that gives you an extra determination to work harder.”

“I love football. Football is my life.”

Alan Shearer

“Football’s not just about scoring goals; it’s about winning.”

“I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on the screen that George (Ndah) had scored in the first minute at Birmingham. My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he had been out there playing.”

Francesco Totti

“Playing football with your feet is one thing, but playing football with your heart is another.”

Marcus Rashford

“Always train hard, work harder, never give up.”

Mia Hamm

“Take your victories, whatever they might be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.”

“I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.”

“The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking.”

“True champions aren’t always the ones that win, but those with the most guts.”

Dennis Bergkamp

“Behind every kick of a ball, there has to be a thought.”

Romelu Lukaku

“People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet.”

Samuel Eto’o

“The greatest happiness in my life is to see people happy because of me, because of football.”

Paulo Dybala

“The beauty of football is that anyone can beat anyone.”

Jose Mourinho

“Look, I’m a coach, and I’m not Harry Potter. He is magical, but in reality, there is no magic. Magic is fiction, and football is real.”

“I Prefer not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble, and I don’t want to be in big trouble.

“I think a footballer can have all the qualities in the world, but if he doesn’t have the attitude and hunger, then he’ll never reach the top.”

“We are a little horse. A horse that still needs milk and to learn how to jump.”

“You may as well put a cow in the middle of the pitch, walking. And then stop the game because there was a cow.”

“Losers complain; winners train.”

“I think I’m a special one.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“If you are too nice, you will just get eaten alive. The football world is not always a nice place.”

“I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am.”

“Arsene Wenger asked me to have a trial with Arsenal when I was 17. I turned it down. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”

“Only God knows… You’re talking to him now”

“A World Cup without me is nothing to watch, so it is not worth waiting for the World Cup.”

“I won’t be the King of Manchester; I will be the God of Manchester.”

“When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari.”

“No way. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”

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“What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”

*When asked if he got his wife a present:

“What do you mean, ‘present?’ She got Zlatan.”

“I like Balotelli; he’s even crazier than me. He can score a winner, then set fire to the hotel.”

“When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari, you put premium fuel in the tank, drive onto the motorway, and floor the accelerator. Guardiola filled up with diesel and went for a spin in the countryside. If that’s what he wanted, he should have bought himself a Fiat from the start.”

Brian Clough

“We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right.”

Peter Jones

“We go into the second half with United 1 – 0 up, so the game is perfectly balanced.”

Martin Tyler

“Oh, he had an eternity to play that ball, but he took too long about it”.

Chris Kamara

“Sending off? I must have missed that, Jeff.”

“For Burnley to win, they will have to score.”

“Well done to the lady lineswoman.”

“Giroud scored an unbelievable header with the last kick of the game.”

David Beckham

“I don’t have time for hobbies. At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby. It’s something I love doing.”

Ian Slatter

“I love football, and you love football, and arguing about it is just a waste of time.”

Alcurtis Turner

“To be a professional, you have to act like one as well.”

Marcelo Bielsa

“A man with new ideas is a madman until his ideas triumph.”

Mohamed Salah

“I’m just a simple guy playing football.”

“Always believe in your ability and in your goals. This is the only way you will be able to reach them.”

Javier Hernandez (Chicharito)

“Words can come and go. Your acts are going to speak for themselves.”

Javier Hernandez

“Soccer is a game in which everyone does a lot of running around. Twenty-one guys stand around, and one guy does a tap dance with the ball.”

Diego Maradona

“Even if there was a hand, it was the hand of God.”

“When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.”

“I’ve seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football, and his name is Messi… He’s a leader and is offering classes in beautiful football.”

Gianluigi Buffon

“I don’t want to be remembered as a good goalkeeper. I want to be remembered as a great person.”

Michelle Akers

“Soccer isn’t brain surgery, have fun.”

Kyle Rote Jr.

“If you’re attacking, you don’t get as tired as when you’re chasing.”

Ali Daei

“Football is a simple game. You need a ball and a place to play. But what makes it great is the passion and skill of the players.”

Dion Dublin

“Sandro’s holding his face. You can tell from that it’s a knee injury.”

Luis Suarez

“I’m a warrior on the field and a true friend off it.”

“Look, there’s no rule in soccer against biting your opponent. There’s not even a rule against eating your opponent. The only rule in soccer is that you can’t use your hands.”

Shinji Kagawa

“Football is not just a game; it’s a way of life. It teaches you so many lessons that you can apply both on and off the pitch.”

George Best

“If you’d given me the choice of going out and beating four men and smashing a goal in from thirty yards against Liverpool or going to bed with Miss World, it would have been a difficult choice. Luckily, I had both.”

“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”

“I’ve stopped drinking, but only while I’m asleep.”

“In 1969, I gave up women and alcohol – it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.”

“There are good players, there are great players, and there are those few at the pinnacle – the Peles, Cruyffs and Maradonas.”

“I used to go missing a lot… Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World.”

“I don’t have any regrets. I made all my own decisions.”

Tony Adams

“Play for the name on the front of the shirt, and they will remember the name on the back.”

Pep Guardiola

“The most important thing? To win, playing good football. That’s the most beautiful thing.”

“I will forgive if the players cannot get it right, but not if they do not try hard.”

Ian Rush

“Djimi Traore had to adapt to the English game, and he did that by going out on loan to Lens last season.”

Bob Marley

“Football is a part of I. When I play, the world wakes up around me.”

Eduardo Galeano

“When good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle, and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”

Billy Eberhart

“Those who say it can’t be done shouldn’t interfere with those who are doing it.”

Thomas Muller

“Anyone who sacrifices his dreams to reality is forever beaten.”

Louis van Gaal

“I’ve signed a contract with the Dutch national team until 2006, so I can win the World Cup not once but twice.”
After taking over as Holland’s boss in 2000, he resigned after failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2002.

“Am I the one who’s so smart, or are you so stupid?”

“Guardiola follows the Van Gaal Philosophy. So, I’m not surprised Bayern has hired Guardiola. Bayern always hire the best managers.”

“I’ve never worn leggings like Robben does. I’m never cold because I am blooded. My wife says so, too. We always sleep spooning.”

“I have the body of a God. Lederhosen suits me. But I also have a belly.”

“We have to keep the ball better and move the ball quicker – that’s always what we have to do. Desire… it is a great word. I often use the word “horny” with my players.”

Bonus Van Gaal

“The three points are inside.”

“It’s a question of time.”

“We are running after the facts.”

“One swallow does not make a summer.”

“After that we are looking at upstairs or downstairs.”

“It’s again the same song.”

“That’s another cook.”

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Written by Jordy Post

Jordy Post is a seasoned football data and marketing expert with over 3 years of industry experience. With an in-depth understanding of Football Data, he stands out as a leading authority in delivering comprehensive insights. Jordy specializes in uncovering new stats, tracking market trends, and identifying emerging patterns, consistently providing innovative analyses that offer invaluable insights to Sports Data lovers.

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