How to Know if Your Team Is at Home or Away in Soccer
At every soccer game, there is a home team and an away team. Generally, as the name suggests, the home team is the team hosting the game, usually in their own venue, while the away team is visiting from another location. For a spectator trying to figure out which team is home and which is away, there are a number of places to look for clues, ranging from the arena to the color of the jerseys.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Determine the stadium hosting the event. In the vast majority of soccer matches, the stadium where the event takes place is considered the home stadium of one of the two teams playing. Figuring out where the match is occurring usually dictates which team is the home team. If one team is playing in their own stadium, they are the home team, and the other is the away team. However, if the stadium hosting the event is a neutral venue, which usually occurs during large tournaments like the World Cup, it does not help determine which is home and away.
-
2
Look at the jerseys of each team. Usually, one team will be wearing a light colored or white jersey, while the other will wear a darker colored jersey. Most often, the team in the lighter jersey is the home team. However, this is not a universal rule, as some teams opt for their dark jerseys when playing at home. As a result, knowledge of your team's jersey preferences is necessary to determine whether they are home or away during a match.
-
-
3
Look at the ticket to the event. In addition to seating information and the time the match will take place, the ticket will list the two teams playing. The team listed first or higher up on the ticket is considered the home team, and the team listed second and lower down on the ticket is the away team.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
The crowd makeup of the stadium can also provide clues. If the vast majority of the crowd is rooting for one team over the other, it is likely that the match is taking place in that team's home stadium, and they are playing in front of a home crowd.
If watching on television, the graphic in the upper left hand corner also indicates which team is the home team. The team name listed to the right on the graphic is the home team, and the one on the left is the away team.
Determining the home team during a youth soccer game is a bit more complicated. Sometimes youth games come with a program, which will indicate which team is the home team. Otherwise, the easier way to learn which team is the home team is simply to ask another spectator.
References
- Photo Credit Thomas Barwick/Digital Vision/Getty Images
