The soccer match was a draw

This joke kicks off with a classic bit of linguistic gymnastics! The humor here is all about wordplay, specifically a delightful pun. When you hear that a soccer match was a "draw," it usually means neither team won, which can be a bit of a letdown for competitive spirits. But the punchline cleverly flips that expectation on its head by using a common phrase with two completely different meanings.

On one level, saying the teams "had a ball" is literally true for any soccer player – they spend the entire game interacting with the actual football. But the real comedic kick comes from the idiomatic meaning: "to have a ball" means to have a fantastic, enjoyable time. So, even though the score might have been tied, the joke suggests that the sheer act of playing the beautiful game was a blast for everyone involved. This playful use of language reminds us that sometimes, the fun is in the game itself, regardless of the final score.