UEFA.com presents a rough guide to pronouncing the names of all the players at the finals. Not 100% accurate, but a decent start.



Albania

Getting it spot on is hard for English speakers, but some useful notes: 'xh' is not unlike the 'dg' in hedge. A 'j' is pronounced a bit like an English 'y'. An 'ë' is quite similar to an English 'u'. A 'ç' is something like 'ch'.

Lo-reek Tsa-na ©UEFA.com

Alban Hoxha – Hodge-ah

Orges Shehi – Shay-hee

Arlind Ajeti – A-yeti

Naser Aliji – Ali-yi

Elseid Hysaj – Hoo-sigh

Mërgim Mavraj – Mur-gim Mav-rai

Migjen Basha – Midgen

Lorik Cana – Lo-reek Tsa-na

Ergys Kaçe – Erg-oos Kat-che

Burim Kukeli – Boo-rim Ku-ke-lih

Ermir Lenjani – Ermir Len-ya-nih

Ledjan Memushaj – Led-yan Me-moo-shay

Odise Roshi – Odi-seh Ro-shee

Taulant Xhaka – Taoo-lant Dza-ka

Bekim Balaj – Ba-lay

Sokol Çikalleshi – Sokol Chi-ka-lesh-ee

Shkëlzen Gashi – Shkul-zen

Austria

Basic German-language rules apply – note that an umlauted 'ä', 'ö' or 'ü' sound something similar to 'ae', 'oe', 'ue' in English.

Sebastian Prödl – Prur-dul

György Garics – Gior-jee Ga-ritch

Aleksandar Dragovic – Dra-go-vitch

Zlatko Junuzovic – Ju-nu-zo-vitch

Alessandro Schöpf – Sherpf

Marko Arnautovic – Ar-now-toe-vitch

Lukas Hinterseer – Hin-ter-say-er

Mark Janko – Yan-ko

Ro-me-lu Loe-ka-koe ©AFP/Getty Images

Belgium

The temptation to pronounce the last 'd' in Eden Hazard's name is apparently to be avoided.

Thibaut Courtois – Tea-bo Coor-twa

Simon Mignolet – Min-yo-let

Toby Alderweireld – Al-der-way-reld

Jordan and Romelu Lukaku – Loe-ka-koe

Thomas Vermaelen – Ver-mah-len

Eden Hazard – Ha-zar

Michy Batshuayi – Bat-shoe-a-yi

Loo-kah Mod-ritch ©Getty Images

Croatia

Basic rules: 'š' is a 'sh', 'č' and 'ć' are a bit like an English 'ch', and 'j' approximates to an English 'y'.

Lovre Kalinić – Low-rey Ka-lin-itch

Danijel Subašić – Su-ba-shitch

Vedran Ćorluka – Chor-loo-ka

Tin Jedvaj – Yed-vay

Dario Srna – Sur-na

Domagoj Vida – Do-ma-goy

Šime Vrsjalko – Shi-may Ver-sal-ee-ko

Milan Badelj – Bad-el-ee

Marcelo Brozović – Brozzo-vitch

Ante Ćorić – Chor-itch

Mateo Kovačić – Ko-va-chitch

Luka Modric – Mod-ritch

Ivan Perišić – Pair-ish-itch

Ivan Rakitić – Rack-it-itch

Duje Čop – Do-yey Chop

Andrej Kramarić – And-ray Kram-ar-itch

Marko Pjaca – Pea-at-sa

Tom-as Ro-sits-kee ©AFP/Getty Images

Czech Republic

Accents on vowels indicate where the pronunciation should be stressed. An 'š' is a 'sh', a 'č' is a 'ch', but a 'c' is more like a 'ts'. An 'ř' is a bit like 'rj' in English – hence Daniel Kolař just about rhymes with 'go large'.

Petr Čech – Peter Cheh

Tomáš Koubek – Tom-as Koe-beck

Tomáš Vaclík – Vatz-leek

Roman Hubník – Hoob-neek

Michal Kadlec – Kad-letz

Tomáš Sivok – Shi-vock

Marek Suchý – Sue-hee

Borek Dočkal – Dotch-kal

Daniel Kolař – Daniel Koh-lahrj

Ladislav Krejčí – Kray-chee

Jaroslav Plašil – Jo-ro-slav Pla-shil

Daniel Pudil – Daniel Pood-yil

Tomáš Rosičký – Ro-sits-kee

Josef Šural – Shoo-ral

Tomáš Necid – Net-sit

Milan Škoda – Shko-da

England

One that may pose a challenge to the uninitiated – Tottenham's 22-year-old midfielder is a 'Dier', like someone who 'dies'.

Eric Dier – Die-er

Di-mi-tree Pie-ette ©AFP/Getty Images

France

Basic school French should help. Dimitri Payet's surname sounds like 'pie-ette' – equivalent to the sound of Liam Gallagher from Oasis saying "I ate".

Benoît Costil – Ben-wah Cos-teal

Hugo Lloris – Lyo-reece

Steve Mandanda – Stev Mon-don-dah

Lucas Digne – Loo-cah Dee-nyuh

Christophe Jallet – Ja-lay

Laurent Koscielny – Lo-ron Koss-sea-ell-nee

Eliaquim Mangala – El-ee-a-keam Mon-ga-la

Bacary Sagna – Ba-ka-ree San-ya

N'Golo Kanté – N-go-lo Kon-tay

Dimitri Payet – Di-mi-tree Pie-ette

Morgan Schneiderlin – Shnay-der-lan

André-Pierre Gignac – Andre-pee-air Jin-yack

Olivier Giroud – Ol-iv-ee-eh Ji-roo

Antoine Griezmann – On-twan Gree-ez-man

Anthony Martial – On-ton-ee Mar-sea-al

Man-well Noy-ah ©Getty Images

Germany

An umlaut on 'ä', 'ö' or 'ü' is comparable to 'ae', 'oe', 'ue' in English. Note: Joshua Kimmich – 'ich' as in "ich bin ein Berliner" rather than Baby You're A Rich Man.

Manuel Neuer – Noy-ah

Jérôme Boateng – Je-rom Bow-a-teng

Benedikt Höwedes – Hoe-ve-des

Joshua Kimmich – Kim-ikh

Emre Can – Kan

Mario Götze – Gert-suh

Ga-bor Kee-rye ©Getty Images

Hungary

One of the few European languages that do not belong to the Indo-European group, Hungarian is not as percussive-sounding as it looks.

Dénes Dibusz – Day-nesh Di-boos

Péter Gulácsi – Goo-lat-chi

Gábor Király – Kee-rye

Barnabás Bese – Beh-sheh

Richárd Guzmics – Gooz-mitch

Roland Juhász – Yoo-hass

Mihály Korhut – Mi-high Kor-hoot

Balász Dzsudzsák – Bol-azh Joo-jaack

Ádám Nagy – Nah-dge

Daniel Böde – Buh-deh

Zoltán Gera – Ger-ah

Gergő Lovrencsics – Ger-gur Lov-ren-chitch

Krisztián Németh – Nay-met

Nemanja Nikolić – Nem-an-ya Ni-kol-itch

Tamás Priskin – Tom-ash Prish-kin

Ádám Szalai – Sal-ah-ee

How-koor Hey-thar Howk-son ©AFP/Getty Images

Iceland

Vowel sounds are not exactly what English speakers might like them to be.

Haukur Heidar Hauksson – How-koor Hey-thar Howk-son

Arnor Ingvi Traustasson – Ar-nor Eeng-vee Troy-sta-son

Kári Árnason – Cow-ree Our-na-son

Elmar and Birkir Bjarnason – Byard-na-son

Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson – Roo-nar Maur Seeg-ur-yo-nson

Italy

The commonly-made mistake is to pronounce a 'ch' like an English 'ch' – it is more like a 'k'. Lorenzo Insigne is a tough one to get spot on – linguists may note that his 'gn' works like a Spanish 'ñ'.

Gianluigi Buffon – Jan-loo-ee-jee Boo-fon

Federico Marchetti – Mar-kett-ee

Andrea Barzagli – Bar-zal-yee

Giorgio Chiellini – Jor-joh Key-eh-lean-ee

Mattea De Sceglio – Deh Shil-yo

Federico Bernardeschi – Ber-nar-desk-ee

Emmanuele Giaccherini – Em-an-well-eh Ja-ker-ee-nee

Éder – Eh-dair

Stephan El Shaarawy – El Sha-rah-wee

Lorenzo Insigne – In-sin-yuh

Graziano Pellè – Grat-zee-ah-no Peh-leh

Ga-reth Mick-kaw-lee ©UEFA.com

Northern Ireland

Common sense for most speakers in the British Isles, though worth stressing that McCullough and McLaughlin in this case are 'kh' sounds rather than 'ff' sounds.

Gareth McAuley – Mick-kaw-lee

Luke McCullough – Mick-kulla

Conor McLaughlin – Mick-lock-lin

Poland

Polish is a much softer sounding language than all the 'k's and 'z's would suggest. A 'Ł' or 'ł' is a little bit like an English 'w', while the subscript accent on an 'ę' or an 'ą' subtly adds an 'n' to the vowel.

Łukasz Fabiański – Woo-cash Fab-yan-ski

Wojciech Szczęsny – Voy-chekh Sh-chen-sni

Artur Jędrzejczyk – Yen-jay-chick

Tomasz Jodłowiec – Yodd-wo-vetz

Michał Pazdan – Mi-how

Łukasz Piszczek – Woo-cash Pish-check

Bartosz Salamon – Bar-tosh

Jakub Błaszczykowski – Ya-koob Blash-chi-kov-ski

Kamil Grosicki – Gro-sich-ki

Grzegorz Krychowiak – G-ze-gosh Cri-ho-viack

Krzysztof Mączyński – K-shish-toff Mon-chin-ski

Sławomir Peszko – S-wha-vo-mir Pesh-ko

Robert Lewandowski – Le-van-dov-ski

Arkadiusz Milik – Ar-ka-dioosh My-lick

Filip Starzyński – Sta-zynn-ski

Mariusz Stępiński – Mar-yush Stenn-pin-ski

Khri-car-do Qua-re-sh-ma ©AFP/Getty Images

Portugal

Contrary to what most English speakers imagine, Portuguese sounds very different to Spanish. The 'r' at the start of Rui or Renato is a little bit like a rolled 'r' in French. The second vowel in 'Alves' and 'Gomes' gets squashed down into a 'sh' – e.g. Alvsh, Gomsh.

Anthony Lopes – Lop-us

Rui Patrício – Khoo-wee Pah-tree-see-oh

Bruno Alves – Alvsh

Pepe – Pep

Raphael Geirreiro – Gur-ray-roh

André Gomes – Gomsh

João Mario – Joo-ow

Renato Sanches – Khrenato

Vieirinha – Vea-ay-rea-niah

Ricardo Quaresma – Khri-car-do Qua-re-sh-ma

Rich-erd Kee-oh ©Getty Images

Republic of Ireland

Most of the names will be familiar to fans of football in the British Isles; notice that the 'gh' in 'Keogh' is not the same as the 'gh' in 'cough'. The Irish name 'Ciaran' is equivalent to the more common 'Kieran' in this case.

Richard Keogh – Kee-oh

Ciaran Clark - Key-ran

Romania

A 'c' on its own is often more like a 'ch' in English, whereas a 'ch' is more like a 'k'. An 'ş' is approximate to 'sh' while the subscript accented 'ţ' is more like 'ts' in English. Hence Răzvan's surname sounds not like one rat but many.

Ciprian Tătăruşanu – Chip-ree-an Ta-ta-roo-sha-noo

Vlad Chiricheş – Ki-ri-kesh

Dragoş Grigore – Dra-gosh

Aleksandru Măţel – Mat-sel

Cosmin Moţi – Mot-see

Răzvan Raţ – Rats

Aleksandru Chipciu – Kip-chee-oo

Adrian Prepeliţă – Pre-pel-its-a

Nicolae Stanciu – Stan-chee-oo

Gabriel Torje – Tor-zhe

Claudiu Keşerü – Ke-share-oo

Bogdan Stancu – Stan-koo

Ig-ar A-kin-fey-eff ©AFP/Getty Images

Russia

Vowel sounds and the way they are stressed present the biggest challenges for English speakers, with common first names often not sounding quite like their transcribed equivalents – hence Igor = Igar, Roman = Raman, Denis = Dinis, Oleg = Aleg.

Igor Akinfeev – Ig-ar A-kin-fey-eff

Fedor Smolov – Fiodar

Aleksandr Golovin – Gala-vin

Dmitri Kombarov – Kam-bar-ov

Dmitri Torbinski – Tar-bin-ski

Aleksandr Kokorin – Ka-kor-in

Guilherme – Gi-li-erm-ay

Ma-reck Ham-sheek ©AFP/Getty Images

Slovakia

Rules similar to Czech: an 'š' is a 'sh', a 'č' is a 'ch', but a 'c' is more like a 'ts'. A 'Ď' – with the superscript accent – sounds something like the 'dg' in 'hedge'.

Matúš Kozáčik – Ma-tush Koz-aa-chick

Ján Mucha – Mu-kha

Ján Ďurica – Djoo-ritz-ah

Tomáš Hubočan – Hoo-bo-chan

Milan Škriniar – Shkrin-ee-ar

Martin Škrtel – Shkr-tel

Ján Greguš – Gre-goosh

Marek Hamšík – Ham-sheek

Patrik Hrošovský – Hro-shov-ski

Juraj Kucka – Koots-ka

Dušan Švento – Doo-shan Shvent-o

Michal Ďuriš – Djoo-rish

Stanislav Šesták – Shes-tark

Ko-kay ©Getty Images

Spain

Getting it exactly right is tough for the uninitiated, but the following pronunciations may get you a bit closer. César Azpilicueta's Chelsea team-mates famously nicknamed him 'Dave' to avoid the difficulty of pronouncing his surname.

Iker Casillas – Ee-ker Ca-see-yas

David de Gea – De-hay-er

César Azpilicueta – Ath-pili-coo-et-a

Héctor Bellerín – Bay-yer-reen

Juanfran – Hoo-an-fran

Gerard Piqué – Pee-kay

Mikel San José – San-ho-say

Sergio Busquets – Boo-skets

Cesc Fàbregas – Sesk

Koke – Ko-kay

Kim Shell-strome ©AFP/Getty Images

Sweden

Swedish players in the Premier League have clearly become accustomed to having their names mispronounced.

Andreas Isaksson – Ee-sak-son

Victor Lindelöf – Lin-de-love

Martin Olsson – Ool-son

Albin Ekdal – Ee-ek-dal

Emil Forsberg – Fosh-berry

Kim Källström – Shell-strome

Marcus Berg – Berry

Emir Kujovic – Ku-yo-vitch

Cher-dan Scha-ki-ri ©AFP/Getty Images

Switzerland

In addition to Switzerland's mix of native languages – French, Swiss German and Italian – the prominence of players with Albanian and Kosovar roots makes things even more complicated.

François Moubandje – Moo-band-jee

Fabian Schär – Share

Blerim Džemaili – Je-my-lee

Xherdan Shaqiri – Cher-dan Scha-ki-ri

Granit Xhaka – Cha-ka

Shani Tarashaj – Ta-ra-shai

Ha-kan Chal-han-och-loo ©AFP/Getty Images

Turkey

Umlauts do a similar job as in the Germanic languages, an 'ş' is a bit like an English 'sh' and a 'c' more like a 'j'. The problem characters are the 'ğ' and the dotless 'ı' – the former is almost like a gap in the word denoting where an English 'g' should have been but isn't. UEFA.com's Turkey team reporter Çetin Cem Yılmaz says of the 'ı': "that letter is slightly pronounced; not like 'ee' but hard to describe".

Ahmet Çalık – Jal-ukh

Gökhan Gönül – Ger-kan Ger-nool

İsmail Köybaşı – Ees-my-il Koy-ba-shuh

Şener Özbayraklı – She-ner Erz-by-rak-ler

Caner Erkin – Ja-ner

Hakan Çalhanoğlu – Ha-kan Chal-han-och-loo

Nuri Şahin – Sha-hin

Oğuzhan Özyakup – O-hoo-zhan Erz-ya-kup

Olcay Şahan – Ol-jai Sha-han

Selçuk İnan – Sel-chuk Ee-nan

Volkan Şen – Shen

Yunus Mallı – You-nus Mal-i

Yev-hen Ha-che-ri-di ©UEFA.com

Ukraine

Transcribed – like Russian – from the Cyrillic alphabet, Ukrainian is notably easier to pronounce. Names largely sound like they look in print. The number of 'y's might throw some English speakers, so worth noting that they can generally be treated as English 'i's (Mykyta is Mi-ki-ta and not Mie-kie-ta). An 'iy' is approximately the same as an English 'ee' – hence 'Andriy' = 'Und-ree'.

Yevhen Khacheridi – Ha-che-ri-di

Wales

Mostly straightforward, but just in case ...

Owain Fôn Williams – O-wayne Von Will-ee-ams