With the Fifa World Cup being hosted this year in Qatar, soccer aka football has been on a lot of people’s minds. It is one of the most famous men’s soccer tournaments in the world! If you are one of the soccer fans, perhaps you may want to add in the festive celebration for your students to enjoy.
It can be a time to teach your students about the World Cup, get students to find the love of the game, and of course, those that already love it will be excited to be a part of it! You may even score ‘Best Teacher’ for it!
There are many different subjects that can be taught with the FIFA World Cup theme, ranging from history, geography, art, science, English, and, don’t forget, physical education. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting activities we found!
Science activities for students based on the World Cup
Who knew that it would be important for soccer players to know physics when playing the game? We came across this short video explaining the formula to know how hard to hit the ball to try and get it over players, known as the wall, during a free kick. Principals of Soccer also explain the science behind penalty kicks.
Your students will learn about gravity, the different types of energy, and momentum. Knowing about these different equations may even help them to score a goal. To add to this class, there is another video explaining the amazing goal done by Brazilian football player Roberto Carlos. It features the Magnus Effect and why it is important to know, especially in soccer.
If you want to give your class an interesting project to work on, you can get them to do an experiment to see if the amount of air inside a soccer ball will affect how far it goes. Students will use different materials and equipment to test if their hypothesis is correct. There is also a guideline of different questions they will need to address before starting the experiment. This is a great project to get your students not only excited about physics but also made aware of how important it is in anything we do.
English World Cup themed activities for the classroom
For English class, there are a number of lists that features reading lists that are soccer related. Words for Life created a wonderful list of different books depending on the age group you teach.
If you teach KS1 and KS2, Teachwire has a special list of 15 books for your students. Ranging from the Official FIFA World Cup 2022 Handbook to even Frank Lampard’s (Chelsea legend) own books series, Frankie’s Magic Football.
You can also have a class to teach your students the different words used in the World Cup to enhance their vocabulary. Words like trophy, qualify, host country, fever pitch etc. If you dare, you can also teach them all about the most confusing word of all. Offside!
World Cup activities for history students
This will be the first time the World Cup has been held in the Middle East in Qatar, making it a historical event for the books. This will be a good time for your older students to learn the full history of FIFA, how it started, and the World Cup’s previous hosts.
Founded in 1930, there are 32 teams that compete in the actual World Cup games. The earlier games were even played before World War II. There is a lot of history your students can learn about and how 2 games were canceled because of the war and the boycotts that came after. There have been a total of 16 different hosts for the games.
Not to forget, there is also the creation of the FIFA world cup women’s games in 1991. The first of its kind held in China. It is fairly new with also 32 teams that play.
They can also learn about the future of the games, with the 2026 World Cup games now introducing 48 teams. It will even be the first time that 3 countries host the games at the same time. Mexico, Canada, and United States. Can your students imagine the amount of traveling both the players and the spectators will be doing?
Technically that subject can be linked to geography class too!
World Cup activities for geography class
Rebecca the Irish Teacher has a fantastic list of different activities your students can do. One of the easiest activities they can do is get to know each flag from the different groups. This will help your students to learn about the different countries in the world and also where they are located on the map. Plus if you have a student that has family in that country, they can explain what it is like and the cultures they have. It would be a great way for the students to connect.
Rebecca also suggests another activity that is similar whereby it can be a good group project. Each group is given a country to research and then they have to give a creative presentation outlining information about that particular country.
World Cup activities for art class
With all the different hosts and World Cups that have happened in the past, your art students can either recreate some of the logos that we have had over the years or perhaps make up their own if they were hosting the games. There are even YouTube videos showing you how to draw the World Cup trophy.
Perhaps for your younger art students, there are some nice World Cup design packs that they can follow or color. It features different designs such as the players’ uniforms, medals, and trophies.
With less than 2 weeks until the World Cup ends, we hope these ideas will help you to bring the World Cup fever into your classroom. If you are teaching physical education, there is a mini-soccer tournament your students can play. Also, be sure to let your students know, not just about the physical side of football, but also the knowledge behind the game that brings the world together.
If you are reading this after the soccer games have ended, fret not as there is always the 2026 FIFA World Cup or other holiday activities and end-of-year activities you can do with your students.