OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES

This ESL lesson plan on the World Cup offers engaging activities, PDF worksheets, and digital materials designed for intermediate B1/B2 students. In this lesson, students will:

• Discuss what they know about the FIFA World Cup and why it is a major global event.
• Learn vocabulary related to host countries, fans, teams, logistics, and competition.
• Watch a video about why the 2026 World Cup is being called the biggest ever.
• Practice adverb + adjective phrases to describe events, reactions, and experiences.
• Share past or upcoming events using phrases such as "incredibly tense" and "totally worth it."

PREVIEW & DISCUSSION

Students begin this World Cup ESL Lesson Plan by discussing what they know about the FIFA World Cup. They look at topics such as the basic idea, global importance, fans and atmosphere, money and tourism, major teams and players, and culture and national pride. This gives students a chance to share background knowledge, personal opinions, and ideas about why the tournament matters around the world.

The next part invites students to choose and discuss a few questions about the 2026 FIFA World Cup. They talk about what they have heard, why it may be called the biggest World Cup ever, why hosting the tournament is such a big deal, and why qualifying for the first time could be significant for a country.

Students then choose 3-4 vocabulary terms and discuss what they might mean in the context of the World Cup. The terms include a premier competition, host countries, underrepresented regions, logistical challenges, passionate fans, home-field advantage, back-to-back champions, and time zones.

VIEWING ACTIVITY

In the video, students learn why the 2026 FIFA World Cup is being described as the biggest World Cup ever. The video explains the expanded 48-team format, the increase to 104 matches, the three host countries, and the challenges of organizing a tournament across Canada, the USA, and Mexico. It also highlights Canada as a host, teams that will play in Toronto and Vancouver, countries making debuts or returning after decades, and the global party-like atmosphere of the World Cup.

Before the main viewing tasks, students briefly discuss their own interest in the World Cup and whether they watch or follow it when it takes place.

Students then watch the first part of the video and write short answers about why the 2026 World Cup is a massive deal, why it is a "tournament of firsts", and why it may be logistically complicated.

In the next part, students match countries and teams to information from the video. They identify which teams will play in Toronto and Vancouver, which countries performed better than expected as hosts in the past, which countries are returning after decades, which countries will make their World Cup debuts, and which team could become back-to-back champions.

At the end of the viewing activity, students complete two ideas from the final section of the video. These focus on first-time World Cup watchers and the way different nationalities and cultures come together during the tournament.

VIEWING FOLLOW-UP

Students discuss three follow-up questions about the 2026 World Cup. They share what they found most interesting, what they think makes a World Cup memorable for fans, players, and host cities, and whether they would rather watch a match in a stadium or at home with friends or family.

Students then read three short comments from people talking about events or experiences. They replace simple bold phrases with adverb + adjective phrases such as highly anticipated, ridiculously expensive, highly entertaining, insanely crowded, pretty underwhelming, slightly disappointed, incredibly tense, and totally worth it.

In the final part, students look back at the adverbs from the phrases and think of other adjectives they could use with them. This helps them build useful collocations for describing sports events, shows, public events, travel experiences, and other real-life situations.

EVENTS IN REAL LIFE: EXPECTATIONS, ATMOSPHERE, & REACTIONS

In Option A, students think of a past or upcoming event or experience. It can be something they attended, watched, took part in, or are planning to go to or watch. They choose a category, such as a sports event, concert, festival, professional event, ceremony, or another event, and write the event or experience they want to discuss.

Students answer or think about a few guiding questions. These questions help them describe where the event took place or will take place, how it turned out or might turn out, what the atmosphere or viewing experience was like, whether there were problems or challenges, and what made the event memorable.

In the speaking stage, students work with a classmate or their teacher. They take turns describing their chosen events and experiences. They use phrases from the lesson, or similar phrases, such as incredibly tense, highly anticipated, pretty underwhelming, slightly disappointed, insanely crowded, ridiculously expensive, and totally worth it.

In Option B, students choose a few short discussion topics and talk about them with a classmate or teacher. The prompts ask them to discuss events or experiences that were incredibly tense, highly anticipated, insanely crowded, ridiculously expensive, slightly disappointing, pretty underwhelming, or totally worth it.

BENEFITS OF USING THIS WORLD CUP ESL LESSON PLAN

• Gives teachers a timely World Cup ESL Lesson Plan for intermediate B1/B2 students.
• Builds speaking confidence through global sports, events, fans, and personal experiences.
• Supports listening comprehension with short answers, matching, and idea completion tasks.
• Helps students use natural adverb + adjective phrases to describe real-life events.
• Provides flexible activation options for one-to-one lessons, groups, or online classes.