Spain wins the 2026 World Cup
Lesson plan overview
Relive the excitement of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with this breaking news ESL lesson based on the tournament’s biggest stories, unforgettable comebacks, and Spain’s historic triumph. Students develop their speaking, listening, reading, and vocabulary skills while discussing authentic football events and analysing what made the tournament so memorable. Designed for B1–B2 learners, this worksheet is ideal for football fans and anyone looking to practise natural English through current events. Other lessons you might like include “The stadiums of the 2026 World Cup“, “2026 FIFA World Cup predictions“, “The incredible history of the World Cup trophy“, and “Phrasal verbs: football.“
Speaking: Lead-in Discussion
The lesson begins with discussion questions about the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Students share their favourite matches, teams, and moments from the tournament, discuss surprising results, and reflect on the most exciting games.
Vocabulary: World Cup Football
Students learn and practise essential football vocabulary, including comeback, defending champions, dominate, trail, deadlock, and defeat. They match words to their definitions before applying them in context throughout the lesson.
Reading:
Students read an engaging article reviewing the biggest moments of the tournament, including Argentina’s remarkable comeback victories, Cape Verde’s fairy-tale run, the unforgettable third-place match, and Spain’s victory in the final. While reading, they complete a grammar task by using the past simple form of verbs in context, reinforcing both reading comprehension and verb accuracy.
Speaking: memorable combacks
Students analyse why the tournament produced so many dramatic comebacks, looking at different reasons, and use useful expressions to talk about a memorable comeback they have watched.
Listening:
Students watch the video ‘Absolute joy spilling out’ for Spain’s ‘new golden generation‘ of football and complete a note-taking listening comprehension activity.
Speaking: Tournament Review & Awards
Students continue the discussion by sharing their opinions on FIFA’s recent changes to the competition. Finally, they nominate players and teams for awards such as Best Player, Best Goal, Best Match, Biggest Surprise, Best Young Player, and Best Goalkeeper, giving reasons for their choices.
For even more speaking practice, you can use the printable conversation cards.
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Pre-class activities
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In-class activities
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Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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