| Main page | Categories & Topics | WikiProjects & Things you can do |
The Association football portal
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.
Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)
Selected article
The competition formed as the "FA Premier League" in 1992, following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League to take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. Since then it has progressed to become the world's most watched sporting league, and the most lucrative football league, with member club revenues totalling a figure in excess of £1.4 billion.
During the course of a season (which lasts from August to May) each of the 20 clubs play the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 38 games for each club per season. (Full article...)
Selected biography
Fowler's career began with Liverpool, with whom he made his début in 1993. He scored 120 premiership goals for Liverpool in an eight year period and was also voted the PFA Young Player of the Year in two consecutive years, 1995 and 1996. 1996 was also the year that he won a UEFA Fair Play award for admitting that he had not been fouled by David Seaman at Highbury after a penalty had been given.
Fowler moved on to Leeds United in 2001 and later Manchester City in 2003 before returning to Liverpool in January 2006 for a season. He signed a two-year contract with Cardiff City in July 2007.
He has been capped for England twenty-six times, scoring seven goals. The most recent of these appearances came in the 2002 World Cup. As of August 2007, Fowler is the fourth highest goalscorer in Premier League history. In 2005, Fowler was listed as one of the 1,000 wealthiest Britons by the Sunday Times Rich List. Business interests including a large property portfolio led to Fowler becoming the third wealthiest footballer in that year's selection. (Full article...)
Selected association
The Confederation of Brazilian Football (Portuguese: Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as Federação Brasileira de Sports, and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, separated from other sports associations on 24 September 1979.
The CBF has its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The confederation owns a training center, named Granja Comary, located in Teresópolis. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
- ... that Carlton Town F.C., now competing at the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, was once denied promotion by a hat-trick scored by future England international Jamie Vardy?
- ... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
- ... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
- ... that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
- ... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
Selected image
Selected quote
General images -
-
-
-
The official record attendance for a women's football match was set at Camp Nou on 22 April 2022, with 91,648 people watching Barcelona defeat Wolfsburg 5–1 (pictured). (from Women's association football) -
Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football) -
Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football) -
United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada. -
The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football) -
Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football) -
Striker Cristiana Girelli and coach Rita Guarino of Juventus in 2019. Juventus is one of the most storied and successful football clubs in Italy. (from Women's association football) -
-
From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football)) -
A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football) -
Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football) -
When first introduced in 1891, the penalty was awarded for offences within 12 yards of the goal-line. (from Laws of the Game (association football)) -
Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland. (from Women's association football) -
Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football) -
Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football) -
FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football) -
Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football) -
Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football) -
Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football) -
-
"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football) -
Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football) -
An early draft of the original hand-written 'Laws of the Game' drawn up on behalf of The Football Association by Ebenezer Cobb Morley in 1863 on display at the National Football Museum, Manchester. (from Laws of the Game (association football)) -
Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football) -
Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football) -
Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Selected World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever World Cup title. The final was level at 2–2 after 90 minutes and went to extra time, when Geoff Hurst scored two goals to complete his hat-trick, the first to be scored in a men's World Cup final. England were the fifth nation to win the event, and the third host nation to win after Uruguay in 1930 and Italy in 1934. Two time reigning champions Brazil failed to get past the group stages as they were defeated by Hungary and Portugal. It was the first time that defending champions were eliminated in the group stages after Italy in 1950. This would not occur again until 36 years later. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II during the opening ceremony.
Two debut teams performed well at the competition – North Korea beat Italy 1–0 on the way to reaching the quarter-finals, where they lost to Portugal 5–3 after leading 3–0. Portugal themselves finished third, losing 2–1 to England in the semi-final. Portuguese striker Eusébio was the tournament's top scorer, with nine goals clinching the golden boot with three goals more than second placed Helmut Haller. (Full article...)Selected topic
  Gillingham F.C.
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
More did you know -
- ... that the 2010 Football League Two play-off Final at Wembley Stadium was won by "a pub team from Essex"? (25 February 2021)
- ... that, during his time in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, footballer Ernie Curtis would obtain extra food by teaching his captors how to play with a ball made of paper? (27 March 2021)
- ... that Wycombe Wanderers secured back-to-back promotions when they won the 1994 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (11 March 2021)
- ... that the 2002 Football League Third Division play-off Final was one of the last matches shown on the ITV Sport Channel? (24 March 2021)
- ... that Port Vale F.C. captain Tom Conlon's grandfather's father-in-law played for the club more than a century ago? (9 April 2021)
- ... that Camillo Vaz managed Paris Saint-Germain Féminine when they qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time? (1 May 2021)
Association football portals
More sports portals
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
