140 Soccer Quotes from the Best Players in the World

Soccer or football is massively popular team sport that is played across the globe. Internationally, association football is globally governed by FIFA. The most senior and prestigious international competitions is the men’s FIFA World Cup.  The thrilling time that only comes once every four years; these World Cup Soccer quotes will have you feeling like a champion.

Soccer Quotes

1. “Everything is practice.” ~ Pele

2. “The smartest thing I did is I never gave up.” ~ Ivan Rakitic

3. “Keep working even when no one is watching.”~ Alex Morgan

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

5. “Your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable!”~ Cristiano Ronaldo

6. “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.” ~ Pele
7. “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
8. “I love football, and you love football, and arguing about it is just a waste of time.” ~ Ian Slatter
9. “Words can come and go. Your acts are going to speak for themselves.” ~ Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez
10. “Every single day I woke up and commit to myself to become a better player.” ~ Mia Hamm

World Cup Soccer Quotes

11. “The players are writing a beautiful page of French football history.” ~ Didier Deschamps
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. “I hope the players benefit from my experience but this is their final. It is something they have worked for and they will be able to enjoy it.” ~ Didier Deschamps
16. “People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet.” ~ Romelu Lukaku
17. “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
18. “We dominated the game physically and mentally, in all aspects. We should have killed the game before extra-time.” ~ Luka Modric 
19. “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
20. “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

Inspirational Soccer Quotes

21. “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
22. “There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true.” ~ Neymar Jr.
23. “If you weren’t with me when I had nothing, then you can’t really understand me,” ~ Romelu Lukaku
24. “Take the risk, or lose the chance.” ~ Eden Hazard
25. “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
26. “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
27. “That’s the mentality – don’t just play it, win it”. ~ Luis Suarez
28. “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
29. “My heroes were always soccer players.” ~ Ronaldinho
30. “Whatever brings you down will eventually make you stronger.” ~ Alex Morgan

Motivation Soccer Quotes

31. “But it’s cool. Those people weren’t with me when we were pouring water in our cereal.” ~ Romelu Lukaku
32. “I worry when I can’t help the team with everything I have to offer.” ~ Luis Suarez
33. “Like Zidane, I want to inspire the kids.” ~ Eden Hazard
34. “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
35. “Nobody has enough talent to live on talent alone. Even when you have talent, a life without work goes nowhere.” ~ Arsene Wenger
36. “Everything I know about morality and the obligations of men, I owe it to football (soccer).” ~ Albert Camus
37. “To be a professional you have to act like one as well.” ~ Alcurtis Turner
38. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” ~ Pele
39. “I just hate losing and that gives you an extra determination to work harder.” ~ Wayne Rooney
40. “The first 90 minutes are the most important.” ~ Sir Robert William “Bobby” Robson

Soccer quotes from world cup heroes

41. “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
42. “I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet.” ~ Zinedine Zidane
43. “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
44. “It is not just about the money, it is about what you achieve on the pitch.” ~ Ronaldinho
45. “Soccer is an art more central to our culture than anything the Arts Council deigns to recognize.” ~ Germaine Greer
46. “All I know of morality I learned from football.” ~ Albert Camus
47. “Behind every kick of the ball there has to be a thought.”~ Dennis Bergkamp
48. “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
49. “I really want to try soccer after I retire because I’ve watched football over the years and I think I could be a good contender.” ~ Usain Bolt
50. “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

Soccer Quotes

51. “They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I wasn’t on that particular job.”~ Brian Clough
52. “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
53. “The ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory.” ~ Josef “Sepp” Herberger
54. “When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.” ~ Diego Maradona
55. “I think there are a lot of things that soccer does in the communities that transcend the soccer field.” ~ Brandi Denise Chastain
56. “If you’re attacking, you don’t get as tired as when you’re chasing.” ~ Kyle Rote, Jr.
57. “I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.” ~ Mia Hamm
58. “Everything in my life has happened very early, personally and professionally. I’m always learning: I have to.” ~ Neymar Jr.
59. “Since the beginning of the competition he has got it right, and I hope it will be the same for the final.” ~ Antoine Griezmann
60. “Soccer is not about justice. It’s a drama, and criminally wrong decisions against you are part and parcel of that.” ~ Pete Davies

Ronaldo Quotes

61. “I’ve never tried to hide the fact that it is my intention to become the best.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
62. “It is my conviction that there are no limits to learning, and that it can never stop, no matter what our age.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
63. “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.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
64. “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
65. “I’m living a dream I never want to wake up from.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
66. “I never tried to hide the fact that my only goal is to be the best” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
67. “Maybe they hate me because I’m too good.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
68. “Talent without working hard is nothing.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
69. “I don’t mind people hating me, because it pushes me.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo
70. “I think sometimes the best training is to rest.” ~ Cristiano Ronaldo

Messi Quotes

71. “What I do is play soccer, which is what I like.” ~ Lionel Messi
72. “You can overcome anything, if, and only if, you love something enough.” ~ Lionel Messi
73. “There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.” ~ Lionel Messi
74. “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.” ~ Lionel Messi
75. “Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits, and get on with trying to win.” ~ Lionel Messi
76. “The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your instinct.” ~ Lionel Messi
77. “The objective is to win with all the team, personal records are secondary.” ~ Lionel Messi
78. “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
79. “My ambition is always to get better and better.” ~ Lionel Messi
80. “You can overcome anything, if and if only you love something enough.” ~ Lionel Messi

Soccer Quotes

81. “The questions around us principally come down to character; the essential ability to withstand events that go against you.” ~ Gareth Southgate
82. “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
83. “I’m going to remember to have fun this time. Life is too short for the stress and the drama.” ~ Romelu Lukaku
84. “There’s no in-between – you’re either good or bad. We were in-between.”~ Gary Linekar
85. “If you’re not sweating, you’re not working hard enough.” ~ Alex Morgan
86. “I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.”~ Mark Viduka
87. “Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.” ~ Mia Hamm
88. “I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right.”~ Lee Hendrie
89. “Men spend their time in following a ball or a hare; it is the pleasure even of kings.” ~ Blaise Pascal
90. “Football is an art, players paint with their feet.” ~ Maswood Alam Khan

Quotes about Soccer

91. “I learned all about life with a ball at my feet.” ~ Ronaldinho
92. “Football is the poetry of a motion.” ~ Pubudu Lasal Dissanayake
93. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” ~ Lou Holtz
94. “If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.” ~ Erma Bombeck
95. “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
96. “Soccer must be played with the heart, not with strength and talent as perceived.” ~ ABC
97. “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.” ~ Gary Lineker
98. “We must have had 99 percent of the game. it was the other three percent that cost us the match.” ~ Ruud Gullit
99. “Some people think football [soccer]is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.” ~ Bill Shankly
100. “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

World Cup Soccer Quotes

101. “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
102. “Those who say it can’t be done, shouldn’t interfere with those who are doing it.” ~ Billy Eberhart
103. “You’ve got to believe you’re going to win, and I believe we’ll win the World Cup until the final whistle blows and we’re knocked out.”~ Peter Shilton
104. “The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.” ~ Bill Shankly
105. “Some people tell me that professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence.” ~ Bobby Charlton
106. “Football is the ballet of the masses.” ~ Dmitri Shostakovich
107. “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
108. “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
109. “I think soccer kept me off the street.” ~ Memphis Depay
110. “Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.” ~ Johan Cruyff

Soccer Inspirational Quotes

111. “I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shish kabobs.” ~ Mitch Hedberg
112. “When I was younger, soccer was my life. I always wanted to play.” ~ Alphonso Davies
113. “I reckoned I could meet more girls being in a band than playing soccer.” ~ Roger Taylor
114. “I believe that a bad Super Bowl halftime show is still better than a soccer game.” ~ Ron White
115. “I’m attracted to soccer’s capacity for beauty. When well played, the game is a dance with a ball.” ~ Eduardo Galeano
116. “I go overseas, and all the soccer players come to me, like, ‘Yeah bro, we always play ‘Mo Bamba.” It’s crazy.” ~ Sheck Wes
117. “Before kids can play like a pro, they must enjoy playing the game like a kid.” ~ Steve Locker
118. “A man with new ideas is a madman, until his ideas triumph.” ~ Marcelo Bielsa
119. “Eight years in the Wolston academy and I knew it all came down to the next 90 minutes.” ~ J. Davitt
120. “One thing you can guarantee as a football fan, maybe the only thing you can guarantee, is that sooner or later someone else is going to have a go at you and your team.” ~ Ian Slatter

Football Quotes

121. “Though the legs of a football coach are never so active on the field of play during playing time, his mind is the best or worst player on the pitch!” ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
122. “Blake looked confused. So footballers were mostly the same the world over. “Football,” Blake said. “Ya know… football?” ~ Lisa Henry
123. “Accepting the eventual certainty of defeat in turn liberates you to take real joy in any small victory, that one good kick.” ~ Adam Gopnik
124. “Basically my whole life revolves around soccer. Everything just gets put on the back burner because of my training. But at the end of the day, I’m sitting here as a world champion, and it feels pretty good.” ~ Carli Lloyd
125. “For me, practice and discipline are the magic words to become big in any sport, especially soccer.” ~ Gabriel Batistuta
126. “To be the ultimate team, you must use your body and your mind. Draw up on the resources of your teammates. Remember, only teams succeed.” ~ Jose Mourinho
127. “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.” ~ Roy Keane
128. “The person that said winning isn’t everything, never won anything.” ~ Mia Hamm
129. “I will forgive if the players cannot get it right, but not if they do not try hard.” ~ Pep Guardiola
130. “A great soccer player is never content with their performance.” ~ Alex Morgan

Soccer Motivation Quotes

131. “Play for the name on the front of the shirt, and they will remember the name on the back.” ~ Tony Adams
132. “Always believe in your ability and in your goals. This is the only way you will be able to reach them.” ~ Mohamed Salah
133. “Complaining about boring football is a little like complaining about the sad ending of King Lear: it misses the point somehow.” ~ Nick Hornby
134. “A penalty is a cowardly way to score.” ~ Pele
135. “I worked on my weaknesses and made them my strengths.” ~Sydney Leroux
136. “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
137. “In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team.” ~ Jean-Paul Sartre
138. “The thing about football ~ the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football.” ~ Terry Pratchett
139. “What I learned from directing, I learned from soccer, where it’s like a coach-player relationship.” ~ Sean Durkin
140. “Football is all about sentiment; if it weren’t then we’d all support Manchester United.” ~ Mark O’Brien

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