tiki-taka

American  

[tee-kee-tah-kuh] / ˈti kiˌtɑ kə /

noun

Soccer.

1. a strategy of maintaining possession of the ball to move it steadily upfield through a series of quick, short passes requiring technical skill and flexibility of position.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tiki-taka

The pass-and-move approach, nicknamed tiki-taka, was taught to players from the time they were eight years old.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Gone is the close-passing, possession-obsessed "tiki-taka" play which brought Spain so much success in the past.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2024

It was arguably the peak performance of Spain’s dominant era playing the high-tempo, possession-based style known as tiki-taka.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 27, 2023

That was the first full season with the main team for Lionel Messi, the commander of the tiki-taka style for nearly two decades.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2021

Like many particularly successful teams – think tiki-taka, or the catenaccio pioneered by Milan’s Nereo Rocco – their tactics ended up with their own name: El anti-fútbol.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 20, 2019