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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who almost exclusively 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 that only 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 in England) 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 prestigious senior 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 club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience worldwide. The final of the men's tournament is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)
Juventus is the most successful team in the history of Italian football. Overall, the club have won 51 official trophies, more than any other Italian team; 40 in Italy, which is also a record, and 11 in European and world competitions. As of 2007, Juventus is the third most successful club in Europe and the sixth in the world with the most international titles recognized by UEFA and FIFA
Juventus' greatest rivals are the Milanese side Inter Milan with whom they compete the Derby d'Italia. The team is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represents eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs. (Full article...)
Frank Barson (10 April 1891 – 13 September 1968) was an English footballer born in Grimesthorpe. He started life as a blacksmith, and began his football career with Sheffield amateur clubs Albion FC and Cammell Laird's before joining Barnsley in 1911. He went on to play for a number of clubs in English football including Manchester United and Aston Villa, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1920.
Barson was known as one of the most feared players of his era, and had a reputation as a "hard man" of English football. On frequent occasions Barson was escorted out of grounds by policemen to protect him from mobs of angry opposition fans and he was once banned from the game for seven months for a challenge in a match against Fulham.
He played up until the age of 39, eventually signing on as an amateur with Wigan Borough and his last ever appearance as a player was in a game against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day 1930 in which he was sent off in the 83rd minute. (Full article...)
The Football Association of Indonesia (Indonesian: Persatuan Sepakbola Seluruh Indonesia; lit. 'All-Indonesian Football Association'; abbreviated as PSSI) is the governing body of football in Indonesia. It was founded on 19 April 1930. The PSSI joined FIFA in 1952 and the Asian Football Confederation in 1954. (Full article...)
- ... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
- ... 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 goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
- ... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
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FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's 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) -
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) -
The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football) -
"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football) -
Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football) -
Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football) -
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) -
Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football) -
Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (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)) -
Cricket and Foot-Ball, one of the earliest books about association football, published by Beadle & Co. in New York in 1866. It contained the rules and laws of the game (from History of association football) -
A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football) -
United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada. -
Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (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)) -
Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football) -
Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football) -
Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football) -
Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (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) -
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From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football)) -
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Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football) -
Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football) -
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Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded. The previous trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, had been won for the third time by Brazil in 1970 and awarded permanently to the Brazilians.
West Germany won the title, beating the Netherlands 2–1 in the final at the Olympiastadion in Munich. This was the second victory for West Germany, who had also won in 1954. Australia, East Germany, Haiti and Zaire made their first appearances at the final stage, with the latter two also making their only appearance, and East Germany making their only appearance before Germany was reunified in 1990. Brazil, the defending champions, were eliminated in the second round, though they would play in the third-place match but lose to Poland. (Full article...)
  Gillingham F.C.
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- ... that South African association footballer Amanda Sister has played for clubs in Hungary and Italy? (9 March 2021)
- ... that the opening goal of the 1992 Football League Third Division play-off Final was described as a "Russian linesman job"? (28 February 2021)
- ... that Tranmere Rovers players were each promised a £10,000 bonus for winning the 1991 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (12 April 2021)
- ... that Irish sportswoman Carol Breen has played internationally in both association and Australian rules football? (17 March 2021)
- ... that Dwayne De Rosario is Canada's all-time leading male soccer goalscorer, with 22 international goals? (22 March 2021)
- ... that the 1998 Football League Third Division play-off Final was the first play-off final to feature two brothers when Neil and David Gregory played for Colchester United? (20 March 2021)
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