SBS World Cup presenter Lucy Zelic fought back tears on air as she and her co-host Craig Foster hit back at social media abuse over her pronunciation of players' names during the broadcaster's coverage.

Zelic has been criticised for insisting on pronouncing the names as they would be in the player's home nation, with some users describing it as "annoying" and "insufferable", and others telling her, "just stop".

Former Socceroo Foster defended Zelic, saying the correct pronunciation of names harkened back to the late iconic football presenter Les Murray.

"I know the other day we talked about the [social media abuse suffered by Socceroos player] Robbie Kruse, and I wanted to just touch on this stuff I've seen regarding the pronunciations, because I think you're doing an absolutely amazing job," he said.

"This issue around pronunciations, we actually spoke about it on the way over on the plane, and I was explaining to you Les was always very specific on his pronunciations for a number of reasons.

"Firstly because that's what SBS is about. SBS is about respecting every single culture and of course the way you use the language is the most important way to show respect to someone — through the name.

"If you can't get someone's name right it means you have no regard, you haven't done the work, you haven't tried.

"Secondly, Les also did it out of respect for the game. The game broadly and also the players who play the game was always very important to him."

Zelic struggled to hold back tears as Foster spoke, saying his words meant a lot "because of the legacy Les put into place".

"When I have had Colombians, for example, write to me and say, 'I've been living in Australia for 37 years, constantly having my name mispronounced has always been a difficulty for me, to have it pronounced correctly is really quite touching', that is why we do what we do at SBS," she said.

"It's always been about servicing the minority and about respecting the cultures we have in Australia."

The pair's words have since gone viral on social media, drawing praise and support from fans.

Zelic previously addressed online abuse in an SBS article in 2016, on which she said she was called an "ugly bimbo" and a "stupid f***ing slut" by social media users while covering the 2014 Brazil World Cup.