Hi there soccer lover, or as the Europeans say, football lover!
Soccer is definitely a type of game that teaches not only some cool tricks and ways to score a goal, but some very important life lessons.
It teaches patience, setting goals, gathering and working together for the same cause, teamwork, and many other valuable things.
Therefore, let’s dive into my collection of the best soccer quotes that I could find online, and let’s unleash the spirit of the emotions that soccer can ignite!
10 Best Soccer Quotes For Aspiring Soccer Players
1. “Football is like life – it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.” ― Vince Lombardi
2. “Many people say I’m the best women’s soccer player in the world. I don’t think so. And because of that, someday I just might be.” ― Mia Hamm
3. “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. It is my conviction that here are no limits to learning, and that it can never stop, no matter what our age.” ― Cristiano Ronaldo
4. “A penalty is a cowardly way to score.” ― Pelé, Pele: The Autobiography
5. “The smell of the sweat is not sweet, but the fruit of the sweat is very sweet.” ― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words
6. “It seems that soccer tournaments create those relationships: people gathered together in pubs and living rooms, a whole country suddenly caring about the same event. A World Cup is the sort of common project that otherwise barely exists in modern societies.” ― Simon Kuper, Soccernomics
7. “In soccer, scoring a goal or saving one owes as much to skill as to luck.” ― BS Murthy
8. “Football is an art players paint with their feet.” ― Maswood Alam Khan
9. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” ― Pele, Pelé: The Autobiography
10. “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” ― Lionel Messi
See also: 130 Words Of Encouragement For Men To Empower And Uplift
30 Inspirational Soccer Quotes
1. “To win, you have to score one more goal than your opponent.” ― Johan Cruyff
2. “Soccer isn’t the same as Bach or Buddhism. But it is often more deeply felt than religion, and just as much a part of the community’s fabric, a repository of traditions.” ― Franklin Foer, How Soccer Explains the World
3. “My father used to say, ‘If you want to know the artist, look at the art’. He was usually talking about Stanley Matthews or Don Bradman when he said it.” ― David Peace, Nineteen Seventy Four
4. “Our country has been through difficult experiences in terms of unity. Sport – football in particular – has the power to help that. It is a special feeling.” – Gareth Southgate
5. “The secret is to believe in your dreams; in your potential that you can be like your star, keep searching, keep believing and don’t lose faith in yourself.” ― Neymar
6. “We dominated the game physically and mentally, in all aspects. We should have killed the game before extra-time.” ― Luka Modric
7. “All goal scorers go on droughts. It is how you cope with that. And it is not just about scoring, it is about what you bring to the team, bringing others into play and getting assists.” ― Harry Kane
8. “Outside football, I just love life, you know. We’re lucky to play football, to have all this body. Everyone’s watching us.” ― Paul Pogba
9. “If you weren’t with me when I had nothing, then you can’t really understand me,” ― Romelu Lukaku
10. “There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true.” ― Neymar
11. “I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet.” ― Zinedine Zidane
12. “It is not just about the money, it is about what you achieve on the pitch.” ― Ronaldinho
13. “Soccer is an art more central to our culture than anything the Arts Council deigns to recognize.” ― Germaine Greer
14. “If you’re in the penalty area and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later.” ― Bob Paisley
15. “I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” ― Mia Hamm
16. “When I’ve done gymnastics, ballet or soccer – I was always trying to be the best. I’m really driven. Really driven.” ― Chloe Grace Moretz
17. “They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I wasn’t on that particular job.” ― Brian Clough
18. “I think there are a lot of things that soccer does in the communities that transcend the soccer field.” ― Brandi Denise Chastain
19. “I’m living a dream I never want to wake up from.” ― Cristiano Ronaldo
20. “The ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory.” ― Josef “Sepp” Herberger
21. “I think sometimes the best training is to rest.” ― Cristiano Ronaldo
22. “What I do is play soccer, which is what I like.” ― Lionel Messi
23. “You can overcome anything, if, and only if, you love something enough.” ― Lionel Messi
24. “There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.” ― Lionel Messi
25. “Every time I went away I was deceiving my mum. I’d tell her I was going to school but I’d be out on the street playing football. I always had a ball on my feet.” ― Ronaldo
26. “Of course, my father was a soccer player. He used to play very well. Then, when I was young, eight or nine years old, ten years old, I just want to be like my father.” – Pelé
27. “Ronaldinho is total class – a very, very great player. He is quick, powerful, and has extraordinary technical qualities. He is a dribbler but is also a player who can make the play for his teammates. He’s not really a No.10, a true organizer. He’s more a second attacker who can score goals and has the vision to make them.” – Zinedine Zidane
28. “The door can never be closed for good to any player.” – Zinedine Zidane
29. “Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.” – Johan Cruyff
30. “Players that aren’t true leaders but try to be, always bash other players after a mistake. True leaders on the pitch already assume others will make mistakes.” – Johan Cruyff
30 Motivational Soccer Quotes
1. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” ― Lou Holtz
2. “Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” ― Lou Holtz
3. “No alaram clock needed. My passion wakes me up.. !” ― Kyrie Irving
4. “Dream big, because dreams do happen.” ― Alex Morgan
5. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”― Pelé
6. “I’ve always been working hard on my speed for the last few years. Obviously, I’m not slow, but as a striker, the more speed you have, the better you are.” ― Harry Kane
7. “I only think about the pitch. I want to do great. I want to be one of the best. I want to win titles. I want to achieve things.” ― Paul Pogba
8. “I want to win and always have done since I was small. I don’t know if it’s in my blood or just my personality.” ― Diego Costa
9. “But it’s cool. Those people weren’t with me when we were pouring water in our cereal.” ― Romelu Lukaku
10. “People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet.” ― Romelu Lukaku
11. “I worry when I can’t help the team with everything I have to offer.” ― Luis Suarez
12. “Like Zidane, I want to inspire the kids.” ― Eden Hazard
13. “It is a unique and special feeling when the fans sing my name. It’s incredible when I hear the song, and it’s touching that there are people who connect with you.” ― Philippe Coutinho
14. “Nobody has enough talent to live on talent alone. Even when you have talent, a life without work goes nowhere.” ― Arsene Wenger
15. “Everything I know about morality and the obligations of men, I owe it to football (soccer).” ― Albert Camus
16. “To be a professional you have to act like one as well.” ― Alcurtis Turner
17. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” ― Pele
18. “The first 90 minutes are the most important.” ― Sir Robert William “Bobby” Robson
19. “When good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.” ― Eduardo Galeano
20. “I just hate losing and that gives you extra determination to work harder.” ― Wayne Rooney
21. “My only concern is playing. Everything else, my family looks after. In our house, everyone has a job, and my job in our house is to play soccer.” – Ronaldinho
22. “Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. The technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your teammate.” – Johan Cruyff
23. “The greatest feeling in the world is when you’re on that soccer field, and you know that your team is going to succeed because you look around and see your 10 best friends playing beside you.” – Unknown Author
24. “Sometimes I just feel I have moved to a different place and I can make the pass, score the goal or go past my marker at will.” – Zinedine Zidane
25. “I always think about what I missed, and I think that was my driving force – never be satisfied with what I’ve done.” – Thierry Henry
26. “As professional soccer players, we take our bodies to the extreme. We’re the people at the gym that look like we’re breaking the machines. Pushing our bodies to the limits is what makes us so strong and capable and Olympians. It’s not an easy thing to consistently do over and over again to your body.” – Abby Wambach
27. “If you’re a goalkeeper, it doesn’t matter what you save the ball with – if you keep it out, it’s not a goal.” – Mark Lawrenson
28. “As a goalkeeper you need to be good at organizing the people in front of you and motivating them. You need to see what’s going on and react to the threats. Just like a good manager in business.” – Peter Shilton
29. “I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, ‘Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape all the time, with your gift from God no one will stop you, but you must be prepared.” – Pelé
30. “All the people that criticized me should eat their words.” – Diego Maradona
See also: 50 Best David Goggins Quotes To Make A Beast Of Yourself
40 Famous Soccer Quotes From The Best Players, Coaches And Strategists
1. “Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits, and get on with trying to win.” ― Lionel Messi
2. “There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a happy and smiling child. I always help in any way I can, even if it’s just by signing an autograph. A child’s smile is worth more than all the money in the world.” ― Lionel Messi
3. “Anson Dorrance … left me a short, encouraging note: “The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when nobody else is watching.” ― Mia Hamm, Go For the Goal: A Champion’s Guide To Winning In Soccer And Life
4. “Before kids can play like a pro, they must enjoy playing the game like a kid.” ― Steve Locker, Playing for the Long Run
5. “I learned all about life with a ball at my feet” ― Ronaldinho
6. “Who said the Arabs are incapable of breaking world records? Qatar has just set a new world record by becoming the first host nation ever to lose an opening World Cup football match.” ― Mouloud Benzadi
7. “Only a good player knows… what it takes to reach there…” ― Bhawna Dehariya
8. “The only time you should think about winning the World Cup is when you’re holding it above your head in celebration once the final is over. Anything else is presumptuous.” ― Stewart Stafford
9. “In football [soccer], 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.” — Xavi
10. “The Moroccan football team has taught us a lot but the greatest lesson is; our mothers are everything” ― Aysha Taryam
11. “All good athletes make mistakes; the great ones learn to make that mistake only once.” ― Raul Lopez
12. “The smartest thing I did is I never gave up.” ― Ivan Rakitic
13. “Surround yourself with good people. Surround yourself with positivity and people who are going to challenge you to make you better. If you just kind of let yourself stay alone and be by yourself, the negative, it is just not going to help you. You can control two things, your work ethic and your attitude about anything.” ― Ali Krieger
14. “Keep dreaming, even when people laugh at your dreams or tell you that they are impossible to achieve. Keep believing in yourself.” ― Tobin Heath
15. “Your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable!”― Cristiano Ronaldo
16. “Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players. They should be encouraged to try skills without fear of failure.” ― Arsene Wenger
17. “Life is full of regrets, but it doesn’t pay to look back.” ― Zinedine Zidane
18. “When you win, you don’t get carried away. But if you go step by step, with confidence, you can go far.” ― Diego Maradona
19. “I always want to become better. If never being satisfied is a problem, then I have it. At least it’s a good problem.”― Zlatan Ibrahimovic
20. “I made many mistakes, but I learn(ed) from everything. I still make mistakes; I still learn from them. Nobody is perfect.” ― Zlatan Ibrahimović
21. “A champion is someone who does not settle for that day’s practice, that day’s competition, that day’s performance. They are always striving to be better. They don’t live in the past.” ― Briana Scurry
22. “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.” ― Paul Pogba
23. “The most important thing for a forward is the speed of thought. Top players read the game.” ― Samuel Eto’o
24. “In football [soccer], the worst blindness is only seeing the ball.”― Nelson Falcão Rodrigues
25. “Play for the name on the front of the shirt, and they will remember the name on the back.” ― Tony Adams
26. “You owe it to yourself to be the best you can be.” ― Christian Pulisic
27. “Soccer is simple. You just need to have the right mentality, fighting in every game, in every practice, and for every ball.” ― Hristo Stoichkov
28. “Good soccer players need not be titans sculpted by Michelangelo. In soccer, your ability is much more important than shape, and in many cases, skill is the art of turning limitations into virtues.” ― Eduardo Galeano
29. “Substitution is a true test of strength. The real performance of a player is seen not only during playing time but also and more especially when the player is substituted.” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
30. “For sports players who want to be champions, the mind can be as important, if not more important, than any other part of the body.” ― Gary Neville
31. “Whatever brings you down will eventually make you stronger.” ― Alex Morgan
32. “Take your victories, whatever they might be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.” ― Mia Hamm
33. “It’s hard to beat somebody that never gives up.” ― Megan Rapinoe
34. “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” ― Lionel Messi
35. “I’ve never tried to hide the fact that it is my intention to become the best.” ― Cristiano Ronaldo
36. “When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.” ― Diego Maradona
37. “Talent without working hard is nothing.” ― Cristiano Ronaldo
38. “Most of us are in this more than just for playing soccer. We’re in it for the bigger goal – to move it along for the next generation.” ― Landon Donovan
39. “God gives gifts to everyone, some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it.” ― Ronaldinho
40. “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.” ― David Beckham
See also: 160 Winning Quotes To Celebrate Your Achievements
20 Girl Soccer Quotes That Will Inspire Women Soccer Players
1. “My coach said I ran like a girl. I said if he tried a little harder he could too. ― Mia Hamm
2. “Forget the glass slippers. This princess wears cleats.” ― Unknown Author
3. “My mindset is to always be ready. I told myself that I wasn’t going to be left off the team for not trying hard enough.” ― Becky Sauerbrunn
4. . “This is my charge to everybody. Do what you can. Do what you have to do. Step outside of yourself. Be more. Be better. Be bigger than you’ve ever been before.” ― Megan Rapinoe
5. “Every single day I wake up and commit myself to becoming a better player.” ― Mia Hamm
6. “I know, firsthand that soccer brings people together- all it takes is a ball and a few people, and the seeds of friendship are planted.” ― Ali Krieger
7. “Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it’s never really over until the whistle blows.” ― Alex Morgan
8. “Everything happens for a reason if you work hard for it.” ― Julie Ertz
9. “Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.” ― Mia Hamm
10. “It’s hard to beat someone that never gives up.” ― Megan Rapinoe
11. “Don’t let anybody work harder than you.” ― Carli Lloyd
12. “When I put on our US kit, I do it for my family and for my country. But I understand now that I also do it for every single American girl out there who wants to see someone who looks like them, and whose story reminds them of their own when they watch their women’s national team.” ― Crystal Dunn
13. “Playmakers are team players. They’re selfless, and their strengths bring out the strengths of their teammates.” ― Tobin Heath
14. “Every champion was once a beginner that didn’t quit.” ― Mia Hamm
15. “If they think your dreams are crazy, show them what crazy dreams can do.” ― Julie Ertz
16. “If you only ever give 90% in training, then you will only ever give 90% when it really matters.” ― Michael Owen
17. “I’ve never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else.” ― Abby Wambach
18. “Every morning, look in the mirror and tell yourself: Do not doubt my motivation, determination, toughness, commitment, perseverance, mental ability, nor my desire. Most of all, do not underestimate what I can achieve.” ― Alex Morgan
19. “It’s not about what you have or what you don’t have. What matters is what you choose to do with what you’ve got.” ― Kelley O’Hara
20. “Behind all of the hours of practice, and all the coaches who pushed you, there’s a little girl who first shot the ball, fell in love with the game, and never looked back…” ― Unknown Author
30 Short Soccer Quotes
1. “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” ― Vince Lombardi
2. “Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.” ― Peyton Manning
3. “Sports benefit the spectators the least.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
4. “I need young people who are ashamed of the current situation of the team.” ― Mustafa Donmez, Red-White Love: The Love of Liverpool FC
5. “Today I will do what other’s won’t, so tomorrow I will do what others can’t.” ― Jerry Rice
6. “I love football, and you love football, and arguing about it is just a waste of time.” ― Ian Slatter, Danny Mann Super Fan
7. “Men spend their time in following a ball or a hare; it is the pleasure even of kings.” ― Blaise Pascal, Pensées
8. “Football is the poetry of a motion.” ― Pubudu Lasal Dissanayake
9. “You can overcome anything if, and only if, you love something enough.” ― Lionel Messi
10. “Embrace the opportunity, no matter what it is. Look at everything in a positive light.” ― Julie Ertz
11. “Injuries can never be used as excuses.” ― Victor Valdes
12. “Only in sport can you live through emotions like this. We knew how to put them in difficulty, we made them run, we prepared well.” ― Samuel Umtiti
13. “Tactically, the coach did a perfect job yesterday, so we know we will be fully prepared.” ― Antoine Griezmann
14. “I always look forward to playing for my national team, especially at major tournaments.” ― Luka Modric
15. “Take the risk, or lose the chance.” ― Eden Hazard
16. “That’s the mentality – don’t just play it, win it”. ― Luis Suarez
17. “My heroes were always soccer players.” ― Ronaldinho
18. “Whatever brings you down will eventually make you stronger.” ― Alex Morgan
19. “Behind every kick of the ball there has to be a thought.” ― Dennis Bergkamp
20. “All I know of morality I learned from football.” ― Albert Camus
21. “If you’re attacking, you don’t get as tired as when you’re chasing.” ― Kyle Rote, Jr.
22. “Since the beginning of the competition he has got it right, and I hope it will be the same for the final.” ― Antoine Griezmann
23. “Soccer is not about justice. It’s a drama, and criminally wrong decisions against you are part and parcel of that.” ― Pete Davies
24. “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” ― Lionel Messi
25. “Everything in my life has happened very early, personally and professionally. I’m always learning: I have to.” ― Neymar Jr.
26. “Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits, and get on with trying to win.” ― Lionel Messi
27. “The objective is to win with all the team, personal records are secondary.” ― Lionel Messi
28. “My ambition is always to get better and better.” ― Lionel Messi
29. “There’s no in-between – you’re either good or bad. We were in-between.” ― Gary Linekar
30. “The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your instinct.” ― Lionel Messi
See also: 80 Trust The Process Quotes To Feed Your Mind With Wisdom
30 Wise Soccer Quotes
1. “Football is the ballet of the masses.” ― Dmitri Shostakovich
2. “The thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.” ― Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals
3. “The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn’t move, kick it until it does.” ― Phil Woosnam
4. “As I get older, the tyranny that football exerts over my life, and therefore over the lives of people around me, is less reasonable and less attractive. Family and friends know, after long years of wearying experience, that the fixture list always has the last word in any arrangement; they understand, or at least accept, that christenings or weddings or any gatherings, which in other families would take unquestioned precedence, can only be plotted after consultation. So football is regarded as a given disability that has to be worked around. If I were wheelchair-bound, nobody close to me would organise anything in a top-floor flat, so why would they plan anything for a winter Saturday afternoon.” ― Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch
5. “If Earth had a soccer team, everyone on Earth would wear the same jersey to support it. There’d be no them, there’d only be us.” ― Peta Kelly, Earth is Hiring: The New way to live, lead, earn and give for millennials and anyone who gives a sh*t
6. “[Books are] vital to learning. Half the population don’t go to football matches but that doesn’t make football any less important.” ― John Sutherland
7. “Complaining about boring football is a little like complaining about the sad ending of King Lear: it misses the point somehow.” ― Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch
8. “Barcelona gave me everything, they took a chance on me when nobody else would. I never have any desire to play for anybody else, I will be here for as long as they want me.” ― Lionel Messi
9. “The questions around us principally come down to character; the essential ability to withstand events that go against you.” ― Gareth Southgate
10. “I have to be scoring goals and playing well to get in the team because, if not, others who are in better form will play.” ― Diego Costa
11. “I’m going to remember to have fun this time. Life is too short for stress and drama.” ― Romelu Lukaku
12. “If you’re not sweating, you’re not working hard enough.” ― Alex Morgan
13. “Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.” ― Mia Hamm
14. “Good soccer players need not be titans sculpted by Michelangelo. In soccer, ability is much more important than shape, and in many cases, skill is the art of turning limitations into virtues.” ― Eduardo Galeano
15. “Those who say it can’t be done, shouldn’t interfere with those who are doing it.” ― Billy Eberhart
16. “Becoming a footballer is only the first half of the silent prayer a kid offers up to the sky or confides to his teacher in a primary school essay. The second part is the name of the team he wants to play for.” ― Andrea Pirlo
17. “And one fine day the goddess of the wind kisses the foot of man, that mistreated, scorned foot, and from that kiss the soccer idol is born. He is born in a straw crib in a tin-roofed shack and he enters the world clinging to a ball.” ― Eduardo Galeano
18. “Some people tell me that professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.” ― Bobby Charlton
19. “The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.” ― Bill Shankly
20. “I’m attracted to soccer’s capacity for beauty. When well played, the game is a dance with a ball.” ― Eduardo Galeano
21. “A lot of people, when a guy scores a lot of goals, think, ‘He’s a great player’ because a goal is very important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field. He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them the confidence to go forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the leaders.” – Pelé
22. “A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are.” – Bill Shankly
23. “A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of the sheep.” – Lionel Messi
24. “If you are determined and confident, there is nothing in this great existence that can stop you from achieving what you want.” – Zinedine Zidane
25. “I worked on my weaknesses and made them my strengths.” – Sydney Leroux
26. “A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing.” – Bill Shankly
27. “All of us at Juventus agreed Manchester United were the best side we met in the Champions League. They have so many talented young players and can only get better and better. Giggs is truly world-class.” – Zinedine Zidane
28. “Football is about joy. It’s about dribbling. I favor every idea that makes the game beautiful. Every good idea has to last.” – Ronaldinho
29. “When I was growing up, you didn’t know there was a women’s national team. Now girls grow up dreaming of playing for Canada.” – Christine Sinclair
30. “After you’ve won something, you’re no longer 100 percent, but 90 percent. It’s like a bottle of carbonated water where the cap is removed for a short while. Afterward, there’s a little less gas inside.” – Johan Cruyff
Final Word
I hope that you have found your inner soccer player motivation while reading these soccer quotes. Or at least, that you have remembered your favorite soccer players and some of their coolest moments in their soccer career.
There are, as we see, many legendary quotes by soccer players that will always be remembered and cherished in certain ways.
I hope that your passion for soccer and soccer quotes will last a lifetime!
Read next: 100 Awesome Sports Captions For All The Proud Sportsmen
