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Euro 24 Football Language Phrase (Day 13):
Day 13, and in this football language post for Euro 24 we look at the phrase, ‘rank outsider‘ as the last games of the group stage were played. Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary and we also have a page full of football cliches. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Outsider
Everyone loves an underdog, a minnow, an outsider! Today’s Euro 24 football phrase describes a team that is not expected to win any games. The team is one of the weakest in the competition according to rankings and form.
A team like this can be called a rank outsider. It comes from horse racing and gambling and means a team that is outside the main teams, the favourites. A team that most people think cannot win.
In this Euro 2024, Georgia was the least fancied side; the side with the lowest FIFA ranking. They are the rank outsider in the tournament. Everyone thought they would finish last in their group. Well, maybe not everyone; the Georgian team and fans probably hoped for more.
The Georgian rank outsiders have just qualified for the knockout stage; the last 16 of the competition. A truly great achievement!
- Example from the BBC before the tournament started: ‘Georgia are rank outsiders for Euro 2024, with some bookmakers offering odds of 750-1 to lift the trophy in Germany.‘ (BBC.co.uk, June 25 2024)
Euro 2024 Football phrases