Portal:Association football

The Association football portal

P:ASF

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 get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and across the goal line), thereby scoring a goal. When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Small Heath F.C. (later to become Birmingham City F.C.) pictured in 1893 or 1894.

Birmingham City Football Club are an English professional football club based in the city of Birmingham. As of the 2007-08 season, they were playing in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, which is the level at which they have spent the majority of their history.

Formed under the name of "Small Heath" in 1875, they were founder members and the first ever champions of the Football League Second Division. As Birmingham City, the most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division and reached the FA Cup Final in 1956, reached the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960 and 1961, and won their only major trophy, the League Cup, in 1963, beating Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate.

St Andrew's has been their home ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Birmingham derby. (Full article...)

More selected articles

edit

Selected biography

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (born 23 June 1972 in Marseille), popularly nicknamed Zizou, is a French former professional footballer. He played for club teams in France, Italy and Spain, and was a member of the French national team. His career accomplishments include helping France win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000, in addition to winning the 2002 UEFA Champions League as a galactico with Real Madrid.

One of only two three-time FIFA World Player of the Year winners, Zidane was also named the European Footballer of the Year in 1998. His abilities were further recognized in 2004 when he was included in Pelé's choice list of the world's greatest footballers and is widely considered as one of the best players ever. He retired from professional football after the 2006 FIFA World Cup. (Full article...)

More selected biographies

Selected association

UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA /juːˈeɪfə/ yoo-AY-fə; French: Union des associations européennes de football; German: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.

UEFA consists of the national football associations of Europe, and runs national and club competitions including the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, and UEFA Super Cup, and also controls the prize money, regulations, as well as media rights to those competitions. (Full article...)

More selected associations

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... 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 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 after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?

edit

Selected image

Goalkeeper (football)

Photo credit: Nick Wiebe

Congo national football team goalkeeper Destin Onka (right) prevents Austrian forward Rubin Okotie (left) from scoring a goal at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In association football, the goalkeeper is the only player who is permitted to touch the ball with his hands or arms in open play.

More selected pictures

edit

Selected quote

The person that said winning isn't everything, never won anything.

— Mia Hamm

More selections

More at Wikiquote

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various association football-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 2Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 3Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 4A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 5Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 6Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 7Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 8Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 9Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 10Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 11Florida state vs north carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 12FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 13Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 14Striker 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)
Image 15"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 16From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 17The 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)
Image 18The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 19An 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))
Image 20When first introduced in 1891, the penalty was awarded for offences within 12 yards of the goal-line. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 21Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 22Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 23United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 24The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 25Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 26Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 27Players 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)
Image 28Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)

Selected World Cup

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D	Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	F	Belgium	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
3	A	United States	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	E	Italy	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
5	B	Russia	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1	3
6	C	South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

Source: FIFA

(Full article...)

List of selected World Cups

edit

Selected topic

Topic discussion

More did you know - load new batch

... that Duncan Jupp scored his first league goal for more than a decade in the 2005 Football League Two play-off Final? (2 April 2021)
... that Dwayne De Rosario is Canada's all-time leading male soccer goalscorer, with 22 international goals? (22 March 2021)
... that some of the Sheffield Wednesday team participated in a conga on the M4 motorway after winning the 2005 Football League One play-off Final? (19 February 2021)
... that Chichester & Selsey Ladies F.C. broke away from Chichester City for an undisclosed reason but retained their colours and football league position? (8 March 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)
... that Neil Warnock left Huddersfield Town shortly after they gained promotion by winning the 1995 Football League Second Division play-off Final because he said the club chairman had told him a "porky pie"? (21 March 2021)