هذه مباراة كرة قدم.

Because مباراة is a feminine singular noun, and the demonstrative this has to match it in gender and number.

• هذه = this for feminine singular
• هذا = this for masculine singular

So:

• هذه مباراة = This is a match
• هذا كتاب = This is a book

A very common clue is the ending ة on مباراة, which usually marks a feminine noun.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense in sentences like this.

So Arabic says:

• هذه مباراة كرة قدم

where English says:

• This is a football match

This kind of sentence is called a nominal sentence. Arabic simply puts the two parts next to each other, and the meaning is is understood.

If you wanted past or future, then Arabic would normally use an actual verb, such as كانت for was.

It is a full sentence.

A very useful rule is:

• demonstrative + indefinite noun often gives a sentence: this is ...
• demonstrative + definite noun gives a noun phrase: this ...

So:

• هذه مباراة = This is a match
• هذه المباراة = this match

That is why هذه مباراة كرة قدم is understood as a complete sentence, not just a label.

It is simply a noun that is grammatically feminine. In Arabic, grammatical gender is part of the word, and it does not have to mean biological female.

Here, مباراة ends in ة (taa marbuuTa), and nouns with this ending are very often feminine.

Because مباراة is feminine, words that refer to it or agree with it also appear in the feminine form, such as هذه.

A careful MSA pronunciation is roughly:

• هذه = hādhihi
• مباراة = mubārāh when said by itself in pause

But in this sentence, مباراة is connected to the next noun, so the final ة is pronounced as t rather than just h/ah.

So in connected reading, it is more like:

• hādhihi mubārat kurat qadam

And in fully inflected formal reading:

• hādhihi mubāratu kurati qadamin

So the final ة changes its sound depending on whether the word is isolated or grammatically connected.

It is a construct phrase (called iḍāfa in Arabic).

Arabic often uses noun + noun where English uses a compound noun or an adjective-like expression.

So:

• كرة = ball
• قدم = foot

Together:

• كرة قدم = literally foot-ball, or more literally ball of foot

Then the whole phrase:

• مباراة كرة قدم = literally football match / match of football

So Arabic is stacking nouns together rather than using a separate adjective like English sometimes does.

Because the phrase is indefinite: it means a football match, not the football match.

Compare:

• هذه مباراة كرة قدم = This is a football match
• هذه المباراة = This is the match / this match

In Arabic, leaving off ال helps keep the phrase indefinite.

One extra note: you will often also see كرة القدم as the name of the sport football/soccer in general. But in this textbook-style sentence, the version without ال helps keep the whole expression clearly indefinite.

It can be written as:

هَذِهِ مُبَارَاةُ كُرَةِ قَدَمٍ

These endings show the grammar:

• مباراةُ is nominative, because it is the predicate of the sentence
• كرةِ is genitive, because it comes after a noun in a construct phrase
• قدمٍ is also genitive, because it is the second noun in كرة قدم

In normal modern writing, these short-vowel endings are usually omitted.

Because مباراة is the first noun in a construct phrase (iḍāfa), and the first noun in an iḍāfa does not take:

• tanween
• or ال

So although the whole phrase is indefinite, مباراة does not appear as مباراةٌ here.

Compare:

• هذه مباراةٌ = This is a match
• هذه مباراةُ كرةِ قدمٍ = This is a football match

The same thing happens with كرة inside كرة قدم: it also loses tanween because it is followed by another noun in a construct.

Yes. This sentence is a very natural MSA textbook-style way to say it, but Arabic can express the same idea in other structures too.

For example, you may also encounter something like:

• هذه مباراة في كرة القدم

which is more literally This is a match in football.

But هذه مباراة كرة قدم is a good, compact, standard pattern, and it is especially useful for learning how Arabic builds noun phrases with iḍāfa.