Inspiring Football Quotes: A Collection of Short Motivational Sayings

"The only place that “success” comes before “work” is in the dictionary."

- Vince Lombardi

"You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat."

- Paul Brown

"When you don’t give up, you cannot fail."

- Adrian Peterson

"Anyone can support a team that is winning – it takes no courage. But to stand behind a team to defend a team when it is down and really needs you, that takes a lot of courage."

- Bart Starr

"Don’t give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half."

- Paul "Bear" Bryant

"If you don’t believe you’re the best, then you will never achieve all that you are capable of."

- Cristiano Ronaldo

"When you win, nothing hurts."

- Joe Namath

"I’ve never tried to hide the fact that it is my intention to become the best."

- Cristiano Ronaldo

"Set your goals high, and don’t stop til you get there."

- Bo Jackson

"Football is more than just a game. It can bring hope and joy to people’s lives."

- Robert Lewandowski

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The OPPORTUNITY to play."

- Mike Singletary

"I think the thing about that was I was always willing to work; I was not the fastest or biggest player but I was determined to be the best football player I could be on the football field and I think I was able to accomplish that through hard work."

- Jerry Rice

"Believe in yourself and don’t be afraid of making mistakes because mistakes are part of your growth. Mistakes don’t mean you’re not good enough. It means you’re evolving. You will become the best version of yourself."

- Sarina Wiegman

"The smartest thing I did is I never gave up."

- Ivan Rakitic

"Every experience, good or bad, you have to learn from it."

- Patrick Mahomes

"To me, football is so much about mental toughness, it’s digging deep, it’s doing whatever you need to do to help a team win and that comes in a lot of shapes and forms."

- Tom Brady

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it."

- George S. Halas

"You can’t win together if you don’t work together."

- Joe Paterno

"I’ve worked too hard and long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down."

- Tim Howard

"If you do the bare minimum, expect bare minimum results. You want to be great, work to be great."

- J.J. Watt

"A champion is simply someone who did not give up when they wanted to."

- Tom Landry

"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing."

- Pele

"Football is not just a game; it’s an art form. You have to be creative, think outside the box, and always be one step ahead of your opponent."

- Ronaldinho

"It's not the will to win that matters. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

- Paul "Bear" Bryant

"Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I will accomplish what others can’t."

- Jerry Rice

"No matter the circumstances you may be going through, just push through it."

- Ray Lewis

"Winning isn’t getting ahead of others. It’s getting ahead of yourself."

- Roger Staubach

"Football is not just a game; it’s a way of life. It teaches you so many lessons that you can apply both on and off the pitch."

- George Best

"The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking."

- Mia Hamm

"Forget me. Forget my number. Forget my name. Forget I ever existed. Forget the medals won, the records broken and the sacrifices made. I want to leave a legacy where the ball keeps rolling forward, where the next generation accomplishes things so great that I am no longer remembered. So forget me, because the day I’m forgotten is the day we will succeed."

- Cristiano Ronaldo

"I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans but also to feel satisfied with myself."

- Cristiano Ronaldo

"Football is a universal language. It brings people together, irrespective of their nationalities, cultures or beliefs."

- Jürgen Klopp

"Every defeat is a victory in itself."

- Francisco Maturana García

"You cannot make progress with excuses."

- Cam Newton

"Stay hungry, remain humble, and get better today."

- Pete Carroll

"Football is played with your head. Your feet are just the tools."

- Andrea Pirlo

"Keep working even when no one is watching."

- Alex Morgan

"Football is something I would never give up on, whether I ended up playing professional or in a Sunday league team."

- Lucy Bronze

"I have to keep working hard and playing well because I don’t like to be second or third: they’re the worst places to be. You would be proud, of course, because it means you’re on the way, but you want to finish first."

- Didier Drogba

"No one is bigger than the team, you win together, and you can certainly lose together."

- Julie Ertz

"Football is an art, like dancing is an art – but only when it’s well done does it become an art."

- Arsene Wenger

"I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it."

- Andres Iniesta

"Football is a game of controlled anger. It is a game of retribution. It’s about will."

- Brian Dawkins

"Excuses are the tools of the incompetent."

- Mike Tomlin

"Inclusivity is not something that can be achieved simply by saying the right things. It requires meaningful actions and a strong commitment to making it a reality."

- Sarina Wiegman

"I’ve always tried to coach people the way I would like to be coached; positively and encouragingly rather than with criticism and fear…I’ve tried to be as fair as possible."

- Tony Dungy

"You fail all the time, but you aren’t a failure until you start blaming someone else."

- Bum Phillips

"In football, the greatest satisfaction is winning when they say you can’t."

- Paul Gascoigne

"I love football. Football is my life."

- Alan Shearer

"A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be."

- Tom Landry

"When you give everything, there is nothing to regret."

- Franz Beckenbauer

"Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace."

- Mike Ditka

"Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble."

- John Madden

"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence…If you’re in control, they’re in control."

- Tom Landry

"Effort will never be questioned."

- Jalen Hurts

"The ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory."

- Sepp Herberger

"I think football is more than a game; it is a passion. It is something that comes from inside and touches people’s hearts."

- Paulo Maldini

"The beauty of football is that anyone can beat anyone."

- Jose Mourinho

"The greatest happiness in my life is to see people happy because of me, because of football."

- Paulo Dybala

"The beauty of football is that everyone can contribute in their own way, no matter how big or small their role may be."

- Neymar Jr.

"There is an old saying about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and I think there is a lot of truth to that. On a football team, it’s not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together."

- Lou Holtz

"I don’t want to be remembered as a good goalkeeper. I want to be remembered as a great person."

- Gianluigi Buffon

"If they think your dreams are crazy, show them what crazy dreams can do."

- Kevin Keegan

"I worked on my weaknesses and made them my strengths."

- Paul Pogba

"The players are writing a beautiful page of French football history."

- Didier Deschamps

"Always train hard, work harder, never give up."

- Mia Hamm

"I think a footballer can have all the qualities in the world, but if he doesn’t have the attitude and hunger, then he’ll never reach the top."

- Jose Mourinho

"If you had Wikipedia or Google and put in European nights, the answer must be: Anfield."

- Jürgen Klopp

"If you are afraid of confrontation, you are not going to do very well."

- Bill Parcells

"I am more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world."

- Sydney Leroux

"I’ve never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else."

- Abby Wambach

"If you are too nice, you will just get eaten alive. The football world is not always a nice place."

- Zlatan Ibrahimovic

"Look, I’m a coach, and I’m not Harry Potter. He is magical, but in reality, there is no magic. Magic is fiction, and football is real."

- Jose Mourinho

"Football is a simple game. You need a ball and a place to play. But what makes it great is the passion and skill of the players."

- Dion Dublin

"When good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle, and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it."

- Billy Eberhart

"I only want to be the best that I can be."

- Rodri

"I will forgive if the players cannot get it right, but not if they do not try hard."

- Ian Rush

"My philosophy? Well, I think it’s pretty simple. You work hard, you play hard, and you control your emotions. That’s it."

- Philipp Lahm

"Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price."

- Nelson Falcão Rodrigues

"I have only one understanding of development and of making success, and that’s by going step by step."

- Jürgen Klopp

"I think I’m a special one."

- Jose Mourinho

"No one has ever drowned in sweat."

- Lee Bowyer

"I’m just a simple guy playing football."

- Javier Hernandez (Chicharito)

"In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball."

- Sir Bobby Charlton

"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game."

- Jean-Paul Sartre

"Behind every kick of a ball, there has to be a thought."

- Romelu Lukaku

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

- George Best

"A man with new ideas is a madman until his ideas triumph."

- Mohamed Salah

"Soccer is a game in which everyone does a lot of running around. Twenty-one guys stand around, and one guy does a tap dance with the ball."

- Diego Maradona

"Even if there was a hand, it was the hand of God."

- Diego Maradona

"If you’re attacking, you don’t get as tired as when you’re chasing."

- Ali Daei

"I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am."

- Zlatan Ibrahimovic

"I like Balotelli; he’s even crazier than me. He can score a winner, then set fire to the hotel."

- Zlatan Ibrahimovic

"I’ve signed a contract with the Dutch national team until 2006, so I can win the World Cup not once but twice."

- Louis van Gaal

"I don’t have time for hobbies. At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby. It’s something I love doing."

- David Beckham

"To be a professional, you have to act like one as well."

- Marcelo Bielsa

"When I score, I don’t celebrate because it’s my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?"

- Mario Balotelli

"People in football love to talk about mental strength. Well, I’m the strongest dude you’re ever going to meet."

- Samuel Eto’o

"I am the normal one."

- Jürgen Klopp

"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans always win."

- Gary Lineker

"Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence."

- Yaya Touré

"If I had to make a tackle, I have already made a mistake."

- Carlo Ancelotti

"The thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football."

- Wayne Rooney

"I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger."

- Mia Hamm

"I’ve never worn leggings like Robben does. I’m never cold because I am blooded. My wife says so, too. We always sleep spooning."

- Louis van Gaal

"I don’t believe in superstitions. I just do certain things because I’m scared in case something will happen if I don’t do them."

- Abby Wambach

"I’m 30 now, but back when I was 19…that’s seven years ago."

- Michael Owen

"I just hate losing, and that gives you an extra determination to work harder."

"There are good players, there are great players, and there are those few at the pinnacle – the Peles, Cruyffs and Maradonas."

"When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success."

"I always want more. Whether it’s a goal or winning a game, I’m never satisfied."

"The most important thing? To win, playing good football. That’s the most beautiful thing."

"Take your victories, whatever they might be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them."

"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that."

"Football is the most important of the less important things in the world."

"There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true."

"My family is my motivation. I want to make them proud, and football has given me the opportunity to do that."

"I’m not a superhero; I’m not invincible."

"I’ve seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football, and his name is Messi… He’s a leader and is offering classes in beautiful football."

"Football is the ballet of the masses."

"As someone who loves football, I want to give something back to the game and help it develop further."

"If you’re not going to work hard, there’s no point in waking up."

"There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game."