# Association football

*For the American sport, see American football. For other sports known as football, see Football*
A derby match between Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahçe S.K., two Turkish football teams.
A match between Shrewsbury Town and Gillingham in England in 2011.
 African boys playing soccer.
Three kids playing soccer on the beach.
Boys play street football in the Adama Science and Technology University, in Ethiopia.

Association football| Football pictogram |
| Highest governing body | FIFA |
| Nicknames | * The Beautiful Game
* The World's Game
 |
| First played | Mid-19th century England |
| Characteristics |
| Contact | Limited |
| Team members | 11 per side (including goalkeeper) |
| Mixed sex | No, separate competitions |
| Type | Team sport, ball sport |
| Equipment | Football (or soccer ball),
shin pads |
| Venue | Football pitch (also known as football field, football ground, soccer field, soccer pitch or "pitch") |
| Glossary | Glossary of association football |
| Presence |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Olympic | Men's since the 1900 Olympics and women's since the 1996 Olympics |
| Paralympic | 5-a-side since 2004 and 7-a-side from 1984 to 2016 |

**Association football**, or **soccer**, is a sport played between two teams. In the United States, Canada and Australia, it is called **soccer**. In most other English-speaking countries, it is called **football**. Association football is the most popular sport in the world.

Games like football have been played around the world since ancient times. The game came from England, where The Football Association made a standard set of rules for the game in 1824. The game has a black-and-white ball and originated in China, from its army. The players had a very heavy ball and goals high. England took the idea of the Chinese game and changed the rules a bit and now it is the modern game we know today.

Each team has 11 players on the field. One of the players is the goalkeeper, the only player who may touch the ball with the hands. The other ten are known as "outfield players" and try to kick the ball into their opponents' goal. The team that scores the most goals wins. A match has 90 minutes of play, with a break of 15 minutes called *half-time*.

Extra time may be added after half-time or after 90 minutes to make up for time that is lost during the game because of fouls, free kicks, corner kicks, injuries, bookings, substitutions or any other reason. A match may end in a tie except in some competition games in which a team must win. In that case, extra-time, with two halves of 15 minutes each, may be played, and if there is still a tie, a penalty shootout decides the winner. Sometimes,extra-time is skipped, and the game goes right into the penalty shootout.

## Rules

A football field
### Fundamental rules

* The side which scores the most goals wins. If scores are equal, the result is a draw. In cup competitions, there may be extra time and penalties to determine a winner.
* The officials in a football game are a referee and two linesmen.
* Goals are scored by getting the ball into the opponents' goal more than halfway across the line.
	+ In major tournaments, referees can use cameras to check whether a goal was scored.
	+ The offside rule means that there must be at least two defenders between an attacker and the defenders' goal if the attacker's teammate passes the ball to the attacker. Usually, one of the two defenders is the goalkeeper. (This rule is complex and has many other details.) Before the rule was added, players would often stand next to their opponents' goal and score an easy goal as soon as the ball was passed to them.
* Players may not use their hands or arms (handball) except goalkeepers, who may use them within their own penalty area (penalty areas are in front of both goals).
* The ball is out of play if it crosses the field boundaries.
	+ If a player hits the ball out of play at the side of the field, the other team gets to throw the ball back into play (a throw in).
	+ If a player hits the ball out of play at their end of the field, the other team kicks the ball back into play from the corner (a corner kick).
	+ If a player kicks the ball out of play at the other end of the field, the other team kicks the ball back into play from directly in front of the goal (a goal kick).
* Football is a game of two halves. Each half is 45 minutes. The referee may add time to the end of each half when play is delayed by injuries or substitutions. There is an interval of ten minutes between halves.
* Each team is allowed up to three substitutes from the bench during the course of a game. No player who us substituted may return during the game.

### Behaviour rules

* Players may not try to trip, push or hurt other players (a *foul*).
* Players may not hold each other or stop other players from getting to the ball (*obstruction*).
* When players scores, they are not allowed to jump into the crowd. If they do so, they will get a yellow card. The same applies to players lifting or removing their shirt in celebration.
* Players must not try to hurt the referees or say hurtful things to the referee.
* Players who commit bad fouls get shown a yellow card. Players who commit serious fouls, or get shown two yellow cards in the same game, get shown a red card. Players who get shown a red card get sent off the field and may not finish playing the game. In some competitions like the Premier League in England, players miss the next game and are suspended if they get a red card or five yellow cards during the season.

## Who plays football

Football is the world's most popular sport. It is played in more countries than any other game. In fact, FIFA has more members than the United Nations. It was originally an all-male sport, but it is now played by both males and females (separately except sometimes at the primary school level).

In Europe, the main competitions to compete are the Champions League for the top teams from the top leagues in each country. Then, the UEFA Europa League is for the next best teams from each member country of the Union of European Football Associations.

The most successful teams are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid from Spain; Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from Germany; Galatasaray S.K. from Turkey; SL Benfica and Porto from Portugal; Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan from Italy; Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City from England; Paris Saint-Germain from France and Al Ahly from Egypt.
The most successful teams in the world in terms of domestic league results is Rangers F.C. from Scotland, who have won more domestic league titles than any other team in the world and have won the country's league 54 times, a world record. In May 2000, Rangers F.C. became the first team to win 100 trophies.

## Competitions

|  |
| --- |
| Part of a series of articles on **Sports** |
|
 |
| **Summer Sports** |
| Track and field athletics
Football (soccer)
Basketball
Bowls
Rugby
Gymnastics
Baseball
American football
Cycling·Auto racing
Cricket·Golf
Field hockey·Handball
Archery·Shooting
Fencing·Weightlifting
Pentathlon·Triathlon
Horseback riding |
| Water sports
Swimming· Diving
Water polo·Sailing
Canoeing·Rowing |
| Martial arts
Boxing·Wrestling
Karate·Taekwondo  |
| Net sports
Tennis· Volleyball
Table tennis· Badminton |
| **Winter sports** |
| Ice hockey· Skating
Skiing·Curling
Bobsled·Luge
Snowboarding·Biathlon
Ice sledge hockey |

In football, fans encourage their team during the match.
There are many competitions for football for both football clubs and countries. Football clubs usually play other teams in their own country, with a few exceptions. Here are a list of some of those exceptions:

* Welsh teams Cardiff City and Swansea City play in the EFL Championship (the 2nd tier of English league system) and the FA Cup (the English cup competition)
* Canadian teams Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC, and CF Montreal play in the MLS (the USA league system)
* Monégasque team A.S. Monaco play in Ligue 1 (the French league system)

Football clubs also play other teams in their continent in competitions such as the CAF Champions League and the UEFA Champions League.

There are six associations (CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, CAF, UEFA, AFC and OFC). Each association has its own continental competition between clubs and national teams. Some examples are the Copa América for CONMEBOL national teams and the Copa Libertadores for CONMEBOL clubs. FIFA organises international competitions between worldwide clubs and countries. Clubs play in the Club World Cup, and countries play for the FIFA World Cup.

The FIFA World Cup takes place every four years between national teams and is the world's most popular sporting event, more than even the Olympic Games. In football, there are two main competition types. In a "league", all of the teams play the same number of games, but in a "cup", teams leave the competition when they lose, and the last two teams play each other to decide the winner.

## Related pages

* List of football federations
* List of national football teams
* List of Argentine football teams
* List of Austrian football teams
* List of football teams in Armenia
* List of football teams in Azerbaijan
* List of Brazilian football teams
* List of Colombian football teams
* List of football teams in Chile
* List of Dutch football teams
* List of English football teams
* List of French football teams
* List of German football teams
* List of Indian football teams
* List of Italian football teams
* List of Japanese football teams
* List of Mexican football teams
* List of Portuguese football teams
* List of Russian football teams
* List of Scottish football teams
* List of Spanish football teams
* List of football teams in Sweden
* List of football teams in Turkey
* List of United States soccer teams
* Freestyle football

## More reading

* Iggulden, Hal; Iggulden, Conn (2007). "The Rules of Soccer". *The Dangerous Book for Boys*. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 27–29. ISBN 978-0061243585.