Vierundzwanzig Mannschaften aus vierundzwanzig Nationen mit fast ebenso vielen Sprachen tragen im Sommer 2024 in Deutschland die Europameisterschaft im Fußball aus. Damit die Reporter aus aller Welt wissen, wie man die Namen der Spieler halbwegs korrekt ausspricht, hat der europäische Fußballverband UEFA eine Liste mit Aussprachehinweisen schwierig auszusprechender Spielernamen erstellt.
Leider wird dafür nicht das internationale phonetische Alphabet (IPA) benutzt, sondern die Verkehrssprache Englisch. So wird die Aussprache des türkischen Namens des deutschen Kapitäns İlkay Gündoğan zum Beispiel mit Eel-kai Gun-do-wan angegeben. Aus Arnautović wird Ar-now-toe-vitch, aus Freuler Froyler, aus Mittelstädt Mit-ulsh-tet usw.
Hilfreich sind die grundsätzlichen Hinweise bei einigen Sprachen:
- Note that the German ‚w‘ sounds like an English ‚v‘.
- The Italian ‚c‘ can cause confusion when paired with an ‚h‘.
- Crucial to remember that Portuguese does not sound like Spanish. Vowels can disappear in pronunciation.
- Some simple rules make light work of Croatian pronunciations: ‚š‘ sounds like ’sh‘, ‚č‘ and ‚ć‘ sound like ‚ch‘ but a Croatian ‚c‘ is more like an English ‚ts‘.
How to pronounce the UEFA EURO 2024 players‘ names correctly
Albania
The Albanian ‚j‘ is soft like an English ‚y‘. The letters ‚x‘ and ‚q‘ do not sound much like their English equivalents.
- Arlind Ajeti – A-yeti
- Naser Aliji – Nas-air Al-ee-hee
- Nedim Bajrami – By-rah-mee
- Iván Balliu – Ba-lee-oo
- Armando Broja – Bro-ya
- Berat Djimsiti – Jim-shee-tee
- Klaus Gjasula – Gya-soo-la
- Arbër Hoxha – Ho-jar
- Elseid Hysaj – El-say-d Hoo-sigh
- Qazim Laçi – Cha-seem Lah-chay
- Rey Manaj – Ray Man-eye
- Enea Mihaj – Mee-high
- Mario Mitaj – Mee-tie
- Ernest Muçi – Moo-chee
Austria
Remember that a German-language ‚w‘ is more like an English ‚v‘.
- Marko Arnautović – Ar-now-toe-vitch
- Marco Grüll – Grool
- Niklas Hedl – Hay-dull
- Konrad Laimer – Lime-ah
- Philipp Lienhart – Leen-hart
- Phillipp Mwene – M-vay-nuh
- Leopold Querfeld – Kvair-feld
- Marcel Sabitzer – Zarbitser
- Matthias Seidl – Side-ul
- Nicolas Seiwald – Zye-vald
- Gernot Trauner – Trow-ner (Trow to rhyme with ‚cow‘)
- Andreas Weimann – Vye-man
- Patrick Wimmer – Vimmer
- Maximilian Wöber – Verber
Belgium
The ‚ee‘ and ‚ae‘ diphthongs are not quite the same as their English counterparts.
- Timothy Castagne – Cast-anya
- Koen Casteels – Cast-ells
- Kevin De Bruyne – De Bruhn
- Maxim De Cuyper – De Kuh-per
- Charles De Ketelaere – De Kettle-ah-ruh
- Wout Faes – Fass
- Orel Mangala – Mon-gala
- Thomas Meunier – Mun-yare
- Arthur Theate – Tay-at
- Aster Vranckx – Vranks
Croatia
Some simple rules make light work of Croatian pronunciations: ‚š‘ sounds like ’sh‘, ‚č‘ and ‚ć‘ sound like ‚ch‘ but a Croatian ‚c‘ is more like an English ‚ts‘.
- Joško Gvardiol – Yosh-ko
- Luka Ivanušec – Iva-noo-shets
- Mateo Kovačić – Kova-chitch
- Nediljko Labrović – Ned-iliko
- Lovro Majer – My-er
- Mario Pašalić – Pasha-litch
- Marin Pongračić – Pongra-chitch
- Marko Pjaca – Pee-atsa
- Josip Stanišić – Stani-shitch
- Josip Šutalo – Shu-tallo
- Nikola Vlašić – Vla-shitch
- Marco Pašalić – Pasha-litch
Czechia
Some helpful tips: ‚č‘ is like ‚ch‘, ‚š‘ is like ’sh‘, ‚c‘ is more like an English ‚ts‘ while ‚ř‘ is something like ‚rz‘. The letter ‚j‘ is soft like an English ‚y‘. A Czech ‚ch‘ is more like a hard English ‚h‘.
- Václav Černý – Cher-nee
- Lukáš Červ – Cherf
- Tomáš Chorý – Hoo-ree
- Mojmír Chytil – Hit-ill
- Vladimír Coufal – Tso-fal
- David Douděra – Do-dyair-a
- Tomáš Holeš – Hollesh
- Robin Hranáč – Haran-arch
- Vítězslav Jaroš – Ya-rosh
- Matěj and David Jurásek – Yoo-raa-sek
- Matěj Kovář – Ma-tay Ko-varz
- Ladislav Krejčí – Kray-chee
- Jan Kuchta – Cookh-ta
- Tomáš Souček – So-check
- Jindřich Staněk – Stan-yek
- Pavel Šulc – Schultz
- Tomáš Vlček – Vul-check
Denmark
In practice, Danish names do not sound like English speakers would like them to. The ‚aa‘ is more like an English ‚o‘ and ‚æ‘ is a challenge.
- Mikkel Damsgaard – Dams-gor
- Kasper Dolberg – Dol-bare
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – Hoy-be-air
- Rasmus Højlund – Hoy-lund
- Morten Hjulmand – Yule-man
- Simon Kjær – Care
- Joakim Mæhle – Male-a
- Christian Nørgaard – Nair-gor
- Yussuf Poulsen – Pole-sen
- Jannik Vestergaard – Vesta-yor
- Jonas Wind – Vind
England
Fans of the Premier League should be familiar with most of the names, but these three tend to get pronounced wrongly.
- Eberechi Eze – Ez-eh (not Ez-ay)
- Marc Guéhi – Gayee
- Kobbie Mainoo – May-noo
France
While French is commonly taught in school in most English-speaking nations, French vowels continue to confound many English speakers.
- Olivier Giroud – Gee-roo
- Antoine Griezmann – Gree-ez-man
- N’Golo Kanté – Con-tay
- Mike Maignan – Main-yon
- Adrien Rabiot – Rab-yo
- Aurélien Tchouameni – Chow-a-may-nee
- Marcus Thuram – Too-ram
- Dayot Upamecano – Dye-oh Oopama-cah-no
Georgia
The Georgian language has its own beautiful script, which is transliterated in our squads. The names can seem long and complicated, but be reassured that they sound just like they look.
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Kva-rats-kay-lee-a
Germany
The English and German languages have plenty in common, but pronunciation is not necessarily the same. Note that the German ‚w‘ sounds like an English ‚v‘.
- Maximilian Beier – Buyer
- Chris Führich – Fyoo-rish
- İlkay Gündoğan – Eel-kai Gun-do-wan
- Robin Koch – Kokh
- Toni Kroos – Crose
- Maximilian Mittelstädt – Mit-ulsh-tet
- Florian Wirtz – Vertss
Hungary
The Hungarian language presents a major challenge to English speakers, with plenty of alien-looking consonant combinations (‚cs‘, ’sz‘, ‚zs‘, etc). Also worth noting that a Hungarian ‚á‘ sounds like an English ‚a‘, but a Hungarian ‚a‘ sounds more like an English ‚o‘.
- Kevin Csoboth – Cho-boat
- Dénes Dibusz – Dee-boo-s
- Dániel Gazdag – Goz-dog
- Péter Gulácsi – Goo-latchy
- Kristofer Horváth – Hor-vat
- Ádám Lang – Long
- Ádám and Zsolt Nagy – Nodj
- Roland Sallai – Shawl-oi
- Péter Szappanos – Sop-on-oh-sh
- Dominik Szoboszlai – So-bo-slaw-ee
Italy
Plenty of English-speaking fans watch Serie A closely, so most of these names are not a mystery, but the Italian ‚c‘ can cause confusion when paired with an ‚h‘.
- Federico Chiesa – Key-ay-za
- Gianluca Mancini – Man-chee-nee
- Mattia Zaccagni – Za-can-yee
Netherlands
Vowel sounds are not necessarily what English speakers expect them to be.
- Steven Bergwijn – Behr-gwine
- Justin Bijlow – Bile-o
- Lutsharel Geertruida – Ghere-try-da
- Matthijs de Ligt – Dull-ikt
- Stefan de Vrij – Duv-rye
- Teun Koopmeiners – Cope-miners
- Tijjani Reijnders – Rinders
- Wout Weghorst – Weck-horst
- Georginio Wijnaldum – Why-mal-dum
Poland
The letters ‚k‘ and ‚z‘ are rare in English but common in Polish, while the combination of ‚zcz‘ in a word seems impossible outside Poland. The Polish ‚ą‘ and ‚ę‘ sound like ‚an‘ and ‚en‘ respectively.
- Bartosz Bereszyński – Bere-shin-skee
- Jakub Kiwior – Kiv-yor
- Robert Lewandowski – Levan-dovski
- Krzysztof Piątek – Pee-on-tek
- Tymoteusz Puchacz – Pu-hatch
- Taras Romanczuk – Row-man-chook
- Bartosz Slisz – Sleesh
- Wojciech Szczęsny – Sh-chens-nee
- Damian and Sebastian Szymański – She-man-ski
- Sebastian Walukiewicz – Val-oo-kay-vitch
- Nicola Zalewski – Za-levski
Portugal
Crucial to remember that Portuguese does not sound like Spanish. Vowels can disappear in pronunciation: note that Pepe does not sound like ‚Pep-ay‘ but ‚Pep‘ in his native language.
João Félix – J-wow Fay-licks
João Palhinha – J-wow Pal-yeen-ya
Pepe – Pep
Rúben Neves – Rooben Nevsh
Rui Patrício – Pat-reets-yo
Romania
Written Romanian has an exciting selection of accents on letters that will mystify English speakers. The most dramatic one is ‚ț‘ which sounds like an English ‚ts‘.
Daniel Bîrligea – Bur-lee-ja
Andrei Burcă – Boor-ka
Alexandru Cicâldău – Chick-al-dow
Valentin Mihăilă – Me-hi-ee-la
Vasile Mogoş – Mo-gosh
Ionuț Nedelcearu – Nedel-cha-ru
Florin Niță – Nitsa
Bogdan Racovițan – Rako-vitsan
Andrei Rațiu – Rats-u
Nicolae Stanciu – Stan-choo
Scotland
Natives of the British Isles will not be too troubled by the names of the Scotland squad, though one may need a bit of extrapolation for fans elsewhere in the world.
- Kieran Tierney – Tee-er-nee
Serbia
A Serbian ‚Đ‘ or ‚đ‘ is approximately the same as an English ‚dj‘ so ‚Đorđe‘ is approximately the same as an English ‚George‘. The letters ‚č’and ‚ć‘ are similar to ‚ch‘ in English (‚ć‘ is actually slightly softer, more like ‚tj‘) while ‚j‘ is soft, like an English ‚y‘.
- Veljko Birmančević – Beer-man-chevitch
- Mijat Gaćinović – Gacheenovitch
- Luka Jović – Yovitch
- Srdjan Mijailović – Me-yay-lo-vitch
- Predrag Rajković – Rye-ko-vitch
- Lazar Vujadin Samardžić – Samar-jitch
- Nemanja Stojić – Stoy-itch
- Andrija Živković – Zhiv-kovitch
Slovakia
The letter ‚Ď‘ is more like ‚Dj‘ in English, while ‚š‘ is ’sh‘ and ‚c‘ is more like ‚ts‘.
- László Bénes – Bay-nesh
- Róbert Boženík – Bozhenik
- Dávid Ďuriš – Joo-reesh
- Norbert Gyömbér – Gyem-bear
- Dávid Hancko – Hantsko
- Lukáš Haraslín – Harass-leen
- Patrik Hrošovský – Hroshovski
- Sebastián Kóša – Ko-sha
- Juraj Kucka – Cootska
- Leo Sauer – Sour
- Milan Škriniar – Shcreen-yar
- David Strelec – Strelets
Slovenia
The letters ‚č‘ (ch), ‚š‘ (sh) and ‚ž‘ (zh) are all common in Slovenian names, but a Slovenian ‚c‘ is more like ‚ts‘ than an English-language ‚c‘. A Slovenian ‚j‘ is similar to an English ‚y‘.
- Jure Balkovec – Balkovets
- Vid Belec – Belets
- Jaka Bijol – Bee-yol
- Miha Blažič – Blah-zheech
- Žan Celar – Tsellar
- Vanja Drkušić – Derkushitch
- Timi Elšnik – Elshnik
- Adam Gnezda Čerin – Gnez-dah Che-reen
- Jon Gorenc Stanković – Gorents Stankovich
- Josip Iličić – Ilichich
- Erik Janža – Yanzha
- Žan Karničnik – Karnichnik
- Benjamin Šeško – Sheshko
- Andraž Šporar – Shporar
- Benjamin Verbič – Verbitch
- Adrian Zeljković – Zel-ko-vitch
- Nino Žugelj – Zhoogel
Spain
Most English-speaking football fans are now familiar with the best players in Spanish football. The following names may be the most challenging pronunciations in the current squad.
- Álex Baena – By-enna
- Dani Carvajal – Car-va-hal
- Marc Cucurella – Coo-coo-ray-a
- Mikel Oyarzabal – Oh-ya-thar-bal
- Fabián Ruiz – Roo-eeth
- Unai Simón – See-mon (with the emphasis on the ‚mon‘)
Switzerland
Switzerland’s multiple local languages make for an exciting patchwork of pronunciations within the squad.
- Michel Aebischer – Ay-bisher
- Remo Freuler – Froyler
- Ardon Jashari – Ya-shah-ree
- Fabian Schär – Share
- Silvan Widmer – Vidmer
- Granit Xhaka – Jacka
Türkiye
Turkish names present a seemingly impossible challenge for many English speakers; we have tried to simplify the following, but it is hard to get them 100% correct on paper. Worth noting that many players have their first names on their shirt.
- Abdülkerim Bardakcı – Bar-dack-cher
- Barış Alper Yılmaz – Yeelmass
- Bertuğ Yıldırım – Bare-too Yildrim
- Ferdi Kadıoğlu – Kadogloo
- Hakan Çalhanoğlu – Chalhanogloo
- İrfan Can Kahveci – Kah-vedger
- Kerem Aktürkoğlu – Act-er-collu
- Mert Günok – Goo-nok
- Mert Müldür – Mooldoor
- Okay Yokuşlu – Yokushler
- Orkun Kökçü – Kerkchu
- Salih Özcan – Erz-jan
- Semih Kılıçsoy – Kilitsoy
- Uğurcan Çakır – Oorjan Chak-r
- Yusuf Yazıcı – Yazidger
- Zeki Çelik – Chellik
Ukraine
Ukrainian players‘ names have been accurately transliterated from the cyrillic script, but English speakers should note thay the letter ‚y‘ in these names is often very close to an English ‚i‘.
- Artem Dovbyk – Dov-bick
- Mykhailo Mudryk – Moo-drick
- Bogdan Mykhaylichenko – Me-high-lee-chenko
- Viktor Tsygankov – Tsigankov
- Oleksandr Tymchyk – Timchick
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