A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
十球大战：英格兰六比四击败法国夺季军，萨卡帽子戏法、姆巴佩加冕历史第一射手
England Beats France 6–4 for World Cup Third
About this story
A medium Chinese listening lesson on the World Cup third-place match: England 6-4 France. Rice, Konsa and Saka fire a 4-0 lead, Mbappé's double makes him the all-time top scorer, Saka's penalty and Bellingham's late goal settle a wild ten-goal game. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 7 key vocabulary words such as 季军战、无缘、反扑 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Today let's talk about an explosive World Cup third-place match: England beat France six to four to take third place at this World Cup.
The game featured ten goals in all, a rare goal-fest.
First, some background.
In the semi-finals, both England and France lost to their opponents and missed out on the final.
This third-place match was the two teams' last game, played for pride.
No one expected it to turn so wild.
From the start, England fired on all cylinders.
Just two minutes in, Rice won the ball and scored.
Then Konsa headed in another, and Saka struck twice.
By half-time, England astonishingly led four to zero by a wide margin.
Everyone thought the game was already beyond doubt.
But in the second half, France staged a furious fightback.
Mbappé scored twice, including a stunning left-footed strike.
With those two goals, he surpassed everyone before him to become the all-time top scorer in World Cup history.
Barcola then scored as well, and France pulled the score back to four-three.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the stadium was stretched to breaking point.
At the crucial moment, it was Saka who stepped up again.
In the eighty-seventh minute, he calmly converted a penalty, completing his hat-trick and making it five-three.
But the climax of the game was not over yet.
In stoppage time, Dembélé scored again for France, five-four, with France still chasing hard.
Yet at the very last moment, Bellingham settled it once and for all.
Six to four, England had the last laugh.
This game was the highest-scoring World Cup match in years, and the most goals ever in a third-place match.
For England, though they didn't reach the final, taking the bronze gives the team something to show for it.
Saka's hat-trick was especially memorable.
For France, the defeat was a pity, but Mbappé broke a record.
This night, too, will be remembered for a long time.
Next, all that remains is the showdown between Spain and Argentina, the World Cup final.
That's England six to four France, a goal feast for the history books.
See you next match.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇考纲词。很少见到。这是一场罕见的进球大战。
考纲词。最重要的地方。关键时刻，还是萨卡站了出来。
考纲词。让人觉得可惜。对法国来说，输球固然遗憾。
争第三名的比赛。这是一场季军战。
没有机会、进不了。两队都在半决赛输了，无缘决赛。
落后之后猛烈地反击。下半场法国上演了疯狂的反扑。
一下子做出决定、定下结局。贝林厄姆一锤定音，杀死了比赛。
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法竟然…
'Astonishingly / to one's surprise …' — an unexpected outcome.
上半场结束，英格兰竟然以四比零遥遥领先。
还是…站了出来
'It was still … who stepped up' — the same key figure delivering again.
关键时刻，还是萨卡站了出来。
就只剩下…
'All that remains is …' — the last item left.
接下来，就只剩下西班牙和阿根廷的决赛了。
Proper nouns
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