You’re standing on the sidelines in Mexico City, or maybe you’re at a local park in East LA, and you realize you forgot your gear. You need to ask for your shoes. You pull out a translation app and type in the prompt. It gives you a word. You say it. People look at you like you have two heads. That's because figuring out how do you say cleats in spanish isn't actually about finding a single word; it's about knowing exactly where your feet are currently planted on the globe.
Spanish is a monster of regional dialects.
What works in Madrid will get you blank stares in Buenos Aires. If you’re playing soccer—excuse me, fútbol—the terminology shifts based on the surface, the country, and even the age of the person you’re talking to. It’s annoying. It’s confusing. But if you want to sound like a local instead of a textbook, you have to get the nuances right.
The Most Common Way to Say Cleats
If you want the "safe" bet, the word you'll hear most often across Latin America is tacos. Yes, like the food.
It sounds ridiculous to an English speaker. You aren't wearing tortillas on your feet. However, in Mexico, Colombia, and several other Central American countries, the actual studs on the bottom of the shoe are called tacos. By extension, the entire shoe becomes los tacos.
"Préstame tus tacos." (Lend me your cleats.)
It’s short. It’s punchy. It’s the standard. But even within the "taco" universe, there’s a distinction. If you are talking about the shoes themselves as a piece of footwear, you might say zapatos de fútbol. This is the literal, "I am a person who speaks Spanish as a second language" way to say it. It’s never wrong, but it’s rarely what the guys on the pitch are actually saying when they’re in a hurry.
Spain vs. The Rest of the World
When you cross the Atlantic to Spain, tacos mostly refers to the physical studs, but the shoes themselves are almost universally called botas de fútbol.
Think about that for a second. Botas means boots. To an American, a boot is something you wear in the snow or while hiking through the mud. To a Spaniard, if you’re playing in the Champions League, you’re wearing boots.
If you go to a shop in Barcelona and ask for cleats, they might eventually figure it out, but if you ask for botas, you’re instantly part of the culture. Interestingly, the term botines takes over once you hit the Southern Cone—places like Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
In Buenos Aires, they aren't tacos or botas. They are botines.
I remember talking to a coach from Santa Fe, Argentina, who insisted that calling them tacos made it sound like you were going to lunch rather than going to war on the field. It’s a point of pride. Using the wrong word doesn't just make you hard to understand; it marks you as an outsider.
The Technical Breakdown: Studs vs. Shoes
Sometimes you aren't talking about the whole shoe. You’re talking about the hardware.
If you have detachable cleats—the kind you swap out when the pitch is a swamp—you need to know the word for the studs themselves. In almost every Spanish-speaking country, the individual spikes are los tacos.
However, in some technical circles or retail environments in Chile or Peru, you might hear estoperoles. This is a much more specific, almost old-school term. It refers specifically to the metal or hard plastic nubs. If you’re at a sporting goods store and you specifically need replacement metal studs, asking for estoperoles makes you sound like a pro who knows exactly what he’s doing.
Then there is the "turf" problem.
🔗 Read more: Warriors Basketball Game Score: Why the Blowout Against Portland Actually Matters
How do you say cleats in Spanish when they aren't actually cleats? If you’re playing on artificial grass or indoor hard courts, you aren't wearing tacos. You’re wearing multitacos or tenis de fútbol. In many Caribbean countries like the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, where baseball is king, the word tacos is still used, but you might also hear ganchos.
Why Geography Changes Everything
Let's look at the "Ganchos" phenomenon. In Venezuela and parts of the Caribbean, ganchos (which literally means "hooks") is the go-to term. It describes the way the cleat "hooks" into the dirt.
If you say ganchos in Mexico, they’ll think you’re looking for clothes hangers.
This is the beauty and the frustration of the language. You have to read the room. If you are in a high-performance academy in Spain, you are looking for botas de gama alta. If you are playing a pickup game in a rural village in Guatemala, you are looking for your tacos.
A Quick Cheat Sheet for the Road:
- Mexico/Colombia/General LatAm: Tacos
- Spain: Botas (de fútbol)
- Argentina/Uruguay: Botines
- Chile/Peru: Estoperoles (for the studs)
- Caribbean: Ganchos
The Baseball and American Football Exception
We’ve been talking a lot about soccer because, let's face it, that’s where the word comes up most. But what if you’re talking about American Football or Baseball?
The terminology stays surprisingly consistent with the local soccer terms, but with a twist. In Mexico, American Football cleats are often just called tacos de americano. In baseball-heavy regions, you’ll hear spikes. Yes, they just use the English word but pronounce it with a heavy Spanish accent: los es-paikes.
It’s a linguistic borrowing that happens because of the massive influence of MLB in those regions. Even if a formal dictionary tells you to say calzado deportivo con clavos, nobody says that. Literally nobody. If you say that at a baseball diamond in Culiacán, you will be laughed off the mound. Just say spikes.
The "Fútbol Rápido" Factor
Indoor soccer (futsal) or "Fútbol 7" changes the gear requirements. You can't wear tacos on a gym floor; you’ll destroy the wood and break your ankles.
👉 See also: Monte Carlo Masters Tennis Tickets: What Most People Get Wrong
In this context, you’re looking for tenis de sala or zapatillas.
In Colombia, zapatillas is a common term for any athletic shoe. In Spain, zapatillas is the standard word for sneakers. If you’re playing on that thin, carpet-like turf, ask for tenis de multitaco. These are the ones with dozens of tiny rubber nubs. It’s a specific word for a specific need.
How to Ask for Them in a Store
If you walk into a "Tienda de deportes," don't just wander around. Use these phrases to get what you need:
- "Busco unos tacos para pasto natural." (I’m looking for cleats for natural grass.)
- "¿Tienen botas de fútbol para niños?" (Do you have soccer boots for kids?) - Use this in Spain.
- "¿Qué precio tienen estos botines?" (How much are these cleats?) - Use this in Argentina.
If you’re worried about the surface, specify: pasto sintético (artificial turf) or terreno firme (firm ground).
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest mistake is overthinking the grammar. You don't need a complex sentence. Most of the time, "Mis tacos" is all you need to say.
Another mistake? Using the word cleats with a Spanish accent. Unlike spikes, the word cleats hasn't really made the jump into the Spanish lexicon. If you say "mis clits," people are going to be very confused, and it might even sound like you're saying something inappropriate depending on the country. Stick to the regional favorites.
Also, ignore the word crampón. You will see this in some dictionaries. While a crampón is technically a cleat, it usually refers to the heavy-duty metal spikes used in ice climbing or mountaineering. If you show up to a Sunday league game asking for crampones, your teammates will expect you to start scaling the goalposts.
Taking Action: Your Next Steps
Now that you know how do you say cleats in spanish, put it into practice. Language is a muscle. If you just read this and never say the words, you’ll forget them by the time you reach the field.
- Identify your region: Are you dealing with Mexicans, Spaniards, or Argentinians? Pick the corresponding word (tacos, botas, or botines).
- Check your surface: If you’re buying gear, make sure you specify pasto (grass) or sala (indoor) so you don't end up with the wrong traction.
- Listen first: When you get to a new field, listen to what the other players are calling their gear. Mimic them. It’s the fastest way to achieve fluency.
Go get your gear, lace up your tacos (or botines), and get on the pitch. The best way to learn the language is through the game itself.