Team sport played with a spherical ball
"Soccer" redirects here.
For other uses, see Soccer (disambiguation)
Association football, more commonly known as football ⚽️ or soccer,[a] 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 and under the ⚽️ bar), 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.
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 shootout.[5]
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.
[6] 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.[7]Name
Association football ⚽️ is one of a family of football codes that emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity.
Within the English-speaking ⚽️ world, the sport is now usually called "football" in Great Britain and most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, ⚽️ whereas people usually call it "soccer" in regions and countries where other codes of football are prevalent, such as Australia,[8] ⚽️ Canada, South Africa, most of Ireland (excluding Ulster),[9] and the United States; in Japan, the game is also primarily called ⚽️ sakkā (サッカー), derived from "soccer".
A notable exception is New Zealand, where in the first two decades of the 21st century, ⚽️ under the influence of international television, "football" has been gaining prevalence, despite the dominance of other codes of football, namely ⚽️ rugby union and rugby league.[10]
The term soccer comes from Oxford "-er" slang, which was prevalent at the University of Oxford ⚽️ in England from about 1875, and is thought to have been borrowed from the slang of Rugby School.
Initially spelled assoccer, ⚽️ it was later reduced to the modern spelling.
[11] This form of slang also gave rise to rugger for rugby football, ⚽️ fiver and tenner for five pound and ten pound notes, and the now-archaic footer that was also a name for ⚽️ association football.
[12] The word soccer arrived at its final form in 1895 and was first recorded in 1889 in the ⚽️ earlier form of socca.[13]History
Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures.
[b] Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games.
[15][16] ⚽️ An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a stele of c.
375–400 BCE in the National Archaeological ⚽️ Museum of Athens[14] appears on the UEFA European Championship trophy.
[17] Athenaeus, writing in 228 CE, mentions the Roman ball game ⚽️ harpastum.
Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence.
They all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball ⚽️ more than what is recognizable as modern football.
[18][19][20][21][22][23] As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all modern football codes, ⚽️ these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking it.[24][25]
The Chinese competitive game cuju (蹴鞠, literally "kick ball"; also ⚽️ known as tsu chu) resembles modern association football.
[26] Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands ⚽️ and the intent was to kick a ball through an opening into a net.
During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – ⚽️ 220 CE), cuju games were standardised and rules were established.
[18] Other East Asian games included kemari in Japan and chuk-guk ⚽️ in Korea, both influenced by cuju.
[27][28] Kemari originated after the year 600 during the Asuka period.
It was a ceremonial rather ⚽️ than a competitive game, and involved the kicking of a mari, a ball made of animal skin.
[29] In North America, ⚽️ pasuckuakohowog was a ball game played by the Algonquians; it was described as "almost identical to the kind of folk ⚽️ football being played in Europe at the same time, in which the ball was kicked through goals".[30]
Association football in itself ⚽️ does not have a classical history.
[17] Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world, FIFA has described ⚽️ that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe.
[31] The history of football in England dates ⚽️ back to at least the eighth century.
[32] The modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts ⚽️ to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England.
The "Laws of the University Foot ⚽️ Ball Club" (Cambridge Rules) of 1856
The Cambridge rules, first drawn up at the University of Cambridge in 1848, were particularly ⚽️ influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football.
The Cambridge rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a ⚽️ meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools.
They were not universally adopted.
During the 1850s, many clubs ⚽️ unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football.
Some came up with ⚽️ their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857,[33] ⚽️ which led to the formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867.
In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised ⚽️ an influential set of rules.[34]
These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which ⚽️ first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.
[35] The only ⚽️ school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse.
The Freemasons' Tavern was the setting for five more meetings of The ⚽️ FA between October and December 1863; the English FA eventually issued the first comprehensive set of rules named Laws of ⚽️ the Game, forming modern football.
At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath F.C.
, withdrew his club ⚽️ from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with ⚽️ the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping ⚽️ and holding.
Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, and instead in 1871 formed the ⚽️ Rugby Football Union.
The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen ⚽️ laws of the game.
[35] These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules ⚽️ which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia.
The Sheffield FA played by ⚽️ its own rules until the 1870s, with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between ⚽️ the games.[36]
The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by the footballer and cricketer Charles W.
Alcock, ⚽️ and has been contested by English teams since 1872.
The first official international football match also took place in 1872, between ⚽️ Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of Alcock.
England is also home to the world's first football league, ⚽️ which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.
[37] The original format contained 12 clubs from ⚽️ the Midlands and Northern England.[38]
Laws of the Game are determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
[39] The board was ⚽️ formed in 1886[40] after a meeting in Manchester of the Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of ⚽️ Wales, and the Irish Football Association.
FIFA, the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they ⚽️ would adhere to the Laws of the Game of the Football Association.
[41] The growing popularity of the international game led ⚽️ to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the IFAB in 1913.
The board consists of four representatives from FIFA and one ⚽️ representative from each of the four British associations.[42]
For most of the 20th century, Europe and South America were the dominant ⚽️ regions in association football.
The FIFA World Cup, inaugurated in 1930, became the main stage for players of both continents to ⚽️ show their worth and the strength of their national teams.
[43] In the second half of the century, the European Cup ⚽️ and the Copa Libertadores were created, and the champions of these two club competitions would contest the Intercontinental Cup to ⚽️ prove which team was the best in the world.[44]
In the 21st century, South America has continued to produce some of ⚽️ the best footballers in the world,[45] but its clubs have fallen behind the still dominant European clubs, which often sign ⚽️ the best players from Latin America and elsewhere.
[43][45] Meanwhile, football has improved in Africa, Asia and North America,[45] and nowadays, ⚽️ these regions are at least on equal grounds with South America in club football,[46] although countries in the Caribbean and ⚽️ Oceania regions (except Australia) have yet to make a mark in international football.
[47][48] When it comes to national teams, however, ⚽️ Europeans and South Americans continue to dominate the FIFA World Cup, as no team from any other region has managed ⚽️ to even reach the final.[43][45]
Football is played at a professional level all over the world.
Millions of people regularly go to ⚽️ football stadiums to follow their favourite teams,[49] while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet.
[50][51] A ⚽️ very large number of people also play football at an amateur level.
According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in ⚽️ 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football.
[52] Football has the highest global television audience ⚽️ in sport.[53]
In many parts of the world, football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of ⚽️ individual fans, local communities, and even nations.
Ryszard Kapuściński says that Europeans who are polite, modest, or humble fall easily into ⚽️ rage when playing or watching football games.
[54] The Ivory Coast national football team helped secure a truce to the nation's ⚽️ civil war in 2006[55] and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a ⚽️ match in the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time.
[56] By ⚽️ contrast, football is widely considered to have been the final proximate cause for the Football War in June 1969 between ⚽️ El Salvador and Honduras.
[57] The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence of the ⚽️ 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade degenerated into rioting in May 1990.[58]
Women's association football has ⚽️ historically seen opposition, with national associations severely curbing its development and several outlawing it completely.
Restrictions started to be reduced in ⚽️ the 1970s and the first official women's World Cup[c] was the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup in China with only ⚽️ 12 teams from the respective six confederations.
By the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, this had increased to 24 ⚽️ national teams, and a record-breaking 1.
12 billion viewers watched the competition.
[59]Women may have been playing football for as long as ⚽️ the game has existed.
Evidence shows that a similar ancient game (cuju, or tsu chu) was played by women during the ⚽️ Han dynasty (25–220 CE), as female figures are depicted in frescoes of the period playing tsu chu.
[60] There are also ⚽️ reports of annual football matches played by women in Midlothian, Scotland, during the 1790s.[62][63]
North team of the British Ladies', the ⚽️ first organised women's football team, here pictured in March 1895
Association football, the modern game, has documented early involvement of women.
[63] ⚽️ In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardised rules to prohibit violence on the pitch, making it more socially acceptable for ⚽️ women to play.
[64] The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow.
[62] In England, ⚽️ the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895.
[64] Women's football has traditionally been associated with charity ⚽️ games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom.[65]
The best-documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in ⚽️ England in 1894.
It was named the British Ladies' Football Club.
Honeyball is quoted as, "I founded the association late last year ⚽️ [1894], with the fixed resolve of proving to the world that women are not the 'ornamental and useless' creatures men ⚽️ have pictured.
I must confess, my convictions on all matters where the sexes are so widely divided are all on the ⚽️ side of emancipation, and I look forward to the time when ladies may sit in Parliament and have a voice ⚽️ in the direction of affairs, especially those which concern them most.
"[66] Honeyball and those like her paved the way for ⚽️ women's football.
However, the women's game was frowned upon by the British football associations and continued without their support.
It has been ⚽️ suggested that this was motivated by a perceived threat to the "masculinity" of the game.[67]
Women's football became popular on a ⚽️ large scale at the time of the First World War, when female employment in heavy industry spurred the growth of ⚽️ the game, much as it had done for men 50 years earlier.
The most successful team of the era was Dick, ⚽️ Kerr Ladies F.C.
of Preston, England.
The team played in one of the first women's international matches against a French XI team ⚽️ in 1920,[68][69] and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in the same year, ⚽️ winning 22–0.[62]
Despite being more popular than some men's football events, with one match seeing a 53,000 strong crowd in 1920,[70][71] ⚽️ women's football in England suffered a blow in 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on ⚽️ association members' pitches,[72] stating that "the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and should not be encouraged".
[73] Players ⚽️ and football writers have argued that this ban was, in fact, due to envy of the large crowds that women's ⚽️ matches attracted,[71] and because the FA had no control over the money made from the women's game.
[73] The FA ban ⚽️ led to the formation of the short-lived English Ladies Football Association and play moved to rugby grounds.[74]
Young Finnish girls football ⚽️ team of Kolarin Kontio in Piteå, Sweden, in 2014
Association football continued to be played by women since the time of ⚽️ the first recorded women's games in the late 19th century.
[65][75] In December 1969, the Women's Football Association was formed in ⚽️ England,[65][76] and in 1971, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) members voted to officially recognise women's football.
[65] Also in 1971, ⚽️ The Football Association rescinded the ban that prohibited women from playing on association members' pitches.
[76] In the late 1960s and ⚽️ early 1970s, women's association football was organised in the United Kingdom, eventually becoming the most prominent team sport for British ⚽️ women.
[65] Women's football also faced bans in several other countries, notably in Brazil from 1941 to 1979,[77] in France from ⚽️ 1941 to 1970,[78] and in Germany from 1955 to 1970.[79]
Women's football still faces many struggles, but its worldwide growth[80] has ⚽️ seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels, mirroring the men's competitions.
The FIFA Women's World Cup ⚽️ was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since,[81] while women's football has been an Olympic event ⚽️ since 1996.
[82] North America is the dominant region in women's football, with the United States winning most FIFA Women's World ⚽️ Cups and Olympic tournaments.
Europe and Asia come second and third in terms of international success,[83][84] and the women's game has ⚽️ been improving in South America.[85]Gameplay
One half of a professional football match (45 minutes) between Slovenian clubs NK Nafta 1903 and ⚽️ NK Dob.
The result after the half is 0–0.
Association football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as ⚽️ the Laws of the Game.
The game is played using a spherical ball of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) circumference,[86] known as ⚽️ the football (or soccer ball).
Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal ⚽️ (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal.
The team that has scored more goals at the end ⚽️ of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is ⚽️ a draw.
Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by the Laws of ⚽️ the Game: to represent their team in the coin toss before kick-off or penalty kicks.[5]
The primary law is that players ⚽️ other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they must use ⚽️ both their hands during a throw-in restart.
Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use ⚽️ any part of their body (notably, "heading" with the forehead)[87] other than their hands or arms.
[88] Within normal play, all ⚽️ players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though players may not pass ⚽️ to teammates who are in an offside position.[89]
During gameplay, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ⚽️ ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a teammate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is ⚽️ guarded by the opposing goalkeeper.
Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through ⚽️ tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted.
Football is generally a free-flowing game, ⚽️ with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the ⚽️ referee for an infringement of the rules.
After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart.[90]
A player executing a slide tackle ⚽️ to dispossess an opponent
At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals.
For example, the 2005–06 season of the ⚽️ English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match.
[91] The Laws of the Game do not specify any ⚽️ player positions other than goalkeeper,[92] but a number of specialised roles have evolved.
[93] Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, ⚽️ or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, ⚽️ who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball to pass it to the forwards on their team.
Players in ⚽️ these positions are referred to as outfield players, to distinguish them from the goalkeeper.
These positions are further subdivided according to ⚽️ the area of the field in which the player spends the most time.
For example, there are central defenders and left ⚽️ and right midfielders.
The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination.
The number of players in each position determines the ⚽️ style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse ⚽️ creates a slower, more defensive style of play.
While players typically spend most of the game in a specific position, there ⚽️ are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time.
[94] The layout of a team's players ⚽️ is known as a formation.
Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager.[95]Laws
"Rules of football" ⚽️ redirects here.
For the rules of other football games, see Football
There are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game, ⚽️ each containing a collection of stipulations and guidelines.
The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football for ⚽️ both sexes, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors and people with physical disabilities are permitted.
[d] The laws ⚽️ are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game.
The Laws ⚽️ of the Game are published by FIFA, but are maintained by the IFAB.
[96] In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous ⚽️ IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of association football.
[97][98] Within the United States, Major League Soccer used ⚽️ a distinct ruleset during the 1990s[99] and the National Federation of State High School Associations and National Collegiate Athletic Association ⚽️ still use rulesets that are comparable to, but different from, the IFAB Laws.
Players, equipment, and officials
The referee officiates in a ⚽️ football match
Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper.
Competition rules ⚽️ may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team, which is usually seven.
Goalkeepers are the only players ⚽️ allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penalty area in front ⚽️ of their own goal.
Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by ⚽️ a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws.[92]
The basic equipment or kit players are required to ⚽️ wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards.
An athletic supporter and protective cup is highly recommended for ⚽️ male players by medical experts and professionals.
[100][101] Headgear is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may ⚽️ choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury.
[102] Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is ⚽️ dangerous to themselves or another player, such as jewellery or watches.
The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from ⚽️ that worn by the other players and the match officials.[103]
A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the ⚽️ course of the game.
The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is five in ⚽️ 90 minutes,[104] with each team being allowed one more if the game should go into extra-time; the permitted number may ⚽️ vary in other competitions or in friendly matches.
Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or ⚽️ timewasting at the end of a finely poised game.
In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not ⚽️ take further part in a match.
[105] IFAB recommends "that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven ⚽️ players in either team".
Any decision regarding points awarded for abandoned games is left to the individual football associations.[106]
A game is ⚽️ officiated by a referee, who has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match ⚽️ to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final.
The referee is assisted by two assistant referees.
In ⚽️ many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the ⚽️ need arise.[107]
Goal line technology is used to measure if the whole ball has crossed the goal-line thereby determining whether a ⚽️ goal has been scored or not; this was brought in to prevent controversy.
Video assistant referees (VAR) have also been increasingly ⚽️ introduced in high-level matches to assist officials through video replays to correct clear and obvious mistakes.
There are four types of ⚽️ calls that can be reviewed: mistaken identity in awarding a red or yellow card, goals and whether there was a ⚽️ violation during the buildup, direct red card decisions, and penalty decisions.[108]Ball
The ball is spherical with a circumference of between 68 ⚽️ and 70 cm (27 and 28 in), a weight in the range of 410 to 450 g (14 to 16 ⚽️ oz), and a pressure between 0.6 and 1.
1 standard atmospheres (8.5 and 15.
6 pounds per square inch) at sea level.
In ⚽️ the past the ball was made up of leather panels sewn together, with a latex bladder for pressurisation, but modern ⚽️ balls at all levels of the game are now synthetic.[109][110]Pitch
Standard pitch measurements
As the Laws were formulated in England, and were ⚽️ initially administered solely by the four British football associations within IFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally ⚽️ expressed in imperial units.
The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though use ⚽️ of imperial units remains popular in English-speaking countries with a relatively recent history of metrication (or only partial metrication), such ⚽️ as Britain.[111]
The length of the pitch, or field, for international adult matches is in the range of 100–110 m (110–120 ⚽️ yd) and the width is in the range of 64–75 m (70–80 yd).
Fields for non-international matches may be 90–120 m ⚽️ (100–130 yd) in length and 45–90 m (50–100 yd) in width, provided that the pitch does not become square.
In 2008, ⚽️ the IFAB initially approved a fixed size of 105 m (115 yd) long and 68 m (74 yd) wide as ⚽️ a standard pitch dimension for international matches;[112] however, this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented.[113]
The ⚽️ longer boundary lines are touchlines, while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines.
A rectangular goal ⚽️ is positioned on each goal line, midway between the two touchlines.
[114] The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must ⚽️ be 7.
32 m (24 ft) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must ⚽️ be 2.
44 m (8 ft) above the ground.
Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the ⚽️ Laws.[115]
In front of the goal is the penalty area.
This area is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on ⚽️ the goal line 16.
5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.
5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular ⚽️ to the goal line, and a line joining them.
This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to ⚽️ mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team ⚽️ becomes punishable by a penalty kick.
Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs, goal kicks, penalty ⚽️ kicks and corner kicks.[116]
Duration and tie-breaking methods
90-minute ordinary time
A standard adult football match consists of two halves of 45 minutes ⚽️ each.
Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play.
There is usually ⚽️ a 15-minute half-time break between halves.
The end of the match is known as full-time.
[117] The referee is the official timekeeper ⚽️ for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages.
This ⚽️ added time is called "additional time" in FIFA documents,[118][119] but is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury ⚽️ time, while lost time can also be used as a synonym.
The duration of stoppage time is at the sole discretion ⚽️ of the referee.
Stoppage time does not fully compensate for the time in which the ball is out of play, and ⚽️ a 90-minute game typically involves about an hour of "effective playing time".
[120][121] The referee alone signals the end of the ⚽️ match.
In matches where a fourth official is appointed, towards the end of the half, the referee signals how many minutes ⚽️ of stoppage time they intend to add.
The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board ⚽️ showing this number.
The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee.
[117] Added time was introduced because of an ⚽️ incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa.
Trailing 1–0 with two minutes remaining, Stoke were ⚽️ awarded a penalty kick.
Villa's goalkeeper deliberately kicked the ball out of play; by the time it was recovered, the clock ⚽️ had run out and the game was over, leaving Stoke unable to attempt the penalty.
[122] The same law also states ⚽️ that the duration of either half is extended until the penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed; thus, ⚽️ no game can end with an uncompleted penalty.[123]Tie-breaking
Most knockout competitions use a penalty shootout to decide the winner if a ⚽️ match ends as a draw
In league competitions, games may end in a draw.
In knockout competitions where a winner is required, ⚽️ various methods may be employed to break such a deadlock; some competitions may invoke replays.
[124] A game tied at the ⚽️ end of regulation time may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods.
If the score is still ⚽️ tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shootouts (known officially in the Laws of the Game ⚽️ as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament or ⚽️ be the champion.
Goals scored during extra time periods count towards the final score of the game, but kicks from the ⚽️ penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament, with goals ⚽️ scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score.[5]
In competitions using two-legged matches, each team competes ⚽️ at home once, with an aggregate score from the two matches deciding which team progresses.
Where aggregates are equal, the away ⚽️ goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the ⚽️ most goals in the leg they played away from home.
If the result is still equal, extra time and potentially a ⚽️ penalty shootout are required.[5]
Ball in and out of play
A player takes a free kick, while the opposition form a "wall" ⚽️ to try to block the ball
Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in ⚽️ play and ball out of play.
From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the ⚽️ playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, ⚽️ or play is stopped by the referee.
When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight ⚽️ restart methods depending on how it went out of play:
Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin ⚽️ each period of play.[90]
Throw-in: when the ball has crossed the touchline; awarded to the opposing team to that which last ⚽️ touched the ball.[125]
Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and ⚽️ having last been touched by a player of the attacking team; awarded to defending team.[126]
Corner kick: when the ball has ⚽️ wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of ⚽️ the defending team; awarded to attacking team.[127]
Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, ⚽️ or when play is stopped to caution or dismiss an opponent without a specific foul having occurred.
A goal may not ⚽️ be scored directly (without the ball first touching another player) from an indirect free kick.[128]
Direct free kick: awarded to fouled ⚽️ team following certain listed "penal" fouls.
[128] A goal may be scored directly from a direct free kick.
A goal may be ⚽️ scored directly from a direct free kick.
Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a ⚽️ direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area.[129]
Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for ⚽️ any other reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming ⚽️ defective.
[90]MisconductOn-field
Players are cautioned with a yellow card, and dismissed from the game with a red card.
These colours were first introduced ⚽️ at the 1970 FIFA World Cup and used consistently since.
A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in ⚽️ the Laws of the Game while the ball is in play.
The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law ⚽️ 12.
Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct ⚽️ free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred.
Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick.[88]
The referee ⚽️ may punish a player's or substitute's misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or dismissal (red card).
A second yellow card in ⚽️ the same game leads to a red card, which results in a dismissal.
A player given a yellow card is said ⚽️ to have been "booked", the referee writing the player's name in their official notebook.
If a player has been dismissed, no ⚽️ substitute can be brought on in their place and the player may not participate in further play.
Misconduct may occur at ⚽️ any time, and while the offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad.
In particular, the offence of "unsporting ⚽️ behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are ⚽️ not listed as specific offences.
A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player, substitute, substituted player, and ⚽️ to non-players such as managers and support staff.[88][130]
Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue if doing ⚽️ so will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed.
This is known as "playing an advantage".
[131] The referee ⚽️ may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within "a few seconds".
Even ⚽️ if an offence is not penalised due to advantage being played, the offender may still be sanctioned for misconduct at ⚽️ the next stoppage of play.[132]
The referee's decision in all on-pitch matters is considered final.
[133] The score of a match cannot ⚽️ be altered after the game, even if later evidence shows that decisions (including awards/non-awards of goals) were incorrect.
Off-field
Along with the ⚽️ general administration of the sport, football associations and competition organisers also enforce good conduct in wider aspects of the game, ⚽️ dealing with issues such as comments to the press, clubs' financial management, doping, age fraud and match fixing.
Most competitions enforce ⚽️ mandatory suspensions for players who are sent off in a game.
[134] Some on-field incidents, if considered very serious (such as ⚽️ allegations of racial abuse), may result in competitions deciding to impose heavier sanctions than those normally associated with a red ⚽️ card.
[e] Some associations allow for appeals against player suspensions incurred on-field if clubs feel a referee was incorrect or unduly ⚽️ harsh.[134]
Sanctions for such infractions may be levied on individuals or on clubs as a whole.
Penalties may include fines, point deductions ⚽️ (in league competitions) or even expulsion from competitions.
For example, the English Football League deduct 12 points from any team that ⚽️ enters financial administration.
[135] Among other administrative sanctions are penalties against game forfeiture.
Teams that had forfeited a game or had been ⚽️ forfeited against would be awarded a technical loss or win.
Governing bodies
Headquarters of FIFA, the world governing body of football
The recognised ⚽️ international governing body of football (and associated games, such as futsal and beach soccer)[d] is FIFA.
The FIFA headquarters are located ⚽️ in Zürich, Switzerland.
Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA; these are:[136]
National associations (or national federations) oversee football within individual countries.
These ⚽️ are generally synonymous with sovereign states (for example, the Cameroonian Football Federation in Cameroon), but also include a smaller number ⚽️ of associations responsible for sub-national entities or autonomous regions (for example, the Scottish Football Association in Scotland).
211 national associations are ⚽️ affiliated both with FIFA and with their respective continental confederations.[136]
While FIFA is responsible for arranging competitions and most rules related ⚽️ to international competition, the actual Laws of the Game are set by the IFAB, where each of the UK Associations ⚽️ has one vote, while FIFA collectively has four votes.[42]
International competitions
The FIFA World Cup is the largest international competition in football ⚽️ and the world's most viewed sporting event
International competitions in association football principally consist of two varieties: competitions involving representative national ⚽️ teams or those involving clubs based in multiple nations and national leagues.
International football, without qualification, most often refers to the ⚽️ former.
In the case of international club competition, it is the country of origin of the clubs involved, not the nationalities ⚽️ of their players, that renders the competition international in nature.
The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised ⚽️ by FIFA.
This competition has taken place every four years since 1930, with the exception of the 1942 and 1946 tournaments, ⚽️ which were cancelled because of World War II.
Approximately 190–200 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental ⚽️ confederations for a place in the finals.
The finals tournament, held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a ⚽️ four-week period.
[f] The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament as well as the most widely viewed and ⚽️ followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games; the cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 ⚽️ FIFA World Cup was estimated to be 26.
29 billion with an estimated 715.
1 million people watching the final match, a ⚽️ ninth of the entire population of the planet.
[137][138][139][140] The current champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the ⚽️ 2022 tournament in Qatar.
[141] The FIFA Women's World Cup has been held every four years since 1991.
Under the tournament's current ⚽️ format, national teams vie for 31 slots in a three-year qualification phase, with the host nation's team entering automatically as ⚽️ the 32nd slot.
The current champions are the United States, after winning their fourth title in the 2019 tournament.
Spanish footballers Fernando ⚽️ Torres, Juan Mata, and Sergio Ramos celebrating winning the UEFA European Championship
There has been a football tournament at every Summer ⚽️ Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles.
[142] Before the inception of the World Cup, the ⚽️ Olympics (especially during the 1920s) were the most prestigious international event.
Originally, the tournament was for amateurs only.
[41] As professionalism spread ⚽️ around the world, the gap in quality between the World Cup and the Olympics widened.
The countries that benefited most were ⚽️ the Soviet Bloc countries of Eastern Europe, where top athletes were state-sponsored while retaining their status as amateurs.
Between 1948 and ⚽️ 1980, 23 out of 27 Olympic medals were won by Eastern Europe, with only Sweden (gold in 1948 and bronze ⚽️ in 1952), Denmark (bronze in 1948 and silver in 1960) and Japan (bronze in 1968) breaking their dominance.
For the 1984 ⚽️ Los Angeles Games, the IOC decided to admit professional players.
Since 1992, male competitors must be under 23 years old, although ⚽️ since 1996, three players over the age of 23 have been allowed per squad.
A women's tournament was added in 1996; ⚽️ in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women's Olympic tournament.[143]
After the World Cup, ⚽️ the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between ⚽️ national teams.
These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), the African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup ⚽️ (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC).
The FIFA Confederations Cup was contested by the winners ⚽️ of all six continental championships, the current FIFA World Cup champions and the country which was hosting the next World ⚽️ Cup.
This was generally regarded as a warm-up tournament for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and did not carry the same ⚽️ prestige as the World Cup itself.
The tournament was discontinued following the 2017 edition.
The UEFA Nations League and the CONCACAF Nations ⚽️ League also exist.
The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national ⚽️ champions, for example, the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores in South America.
The winners of each continental ⚽️ competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup.[144]
Domestic competitions
The governing bodies in each country operate league systems in a domestic season, ⚽️ normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results.
Teams are placed into tables, ⚽️ placing them in order according to points accrued.
Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home ⚽️ and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament.
At the end of a season, the top team is declared the ⚽️ champion.
The top few teams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of the teams finishing at ⚽️ the bottom are relegated to a lower division.[146]
The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may also be ⚽️ eligible to play in international club competitions in the following season.
The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin ⚽️ American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura (Spanish for Opening and Closing), awarding a ⚽️ champion for each.
[147] The majority of countries supplement the league system with one or more "cup" competitions organised on a ⚽️ knock-out basis.
Some countries' top divisions feature highly paid star players; in smaller countries, lower divisions, and most of women's clubs, ⚽️ players may be part-timers with a second job, or amateurs.
The five top European leagues – Premier League (England),[148] Bundesliga (Germany), ⚽️ La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France) – attract most of the world's best players and, during ⚽️ the 2006-07 season, each of these leagues had a total wage cost in excess of €600 million.[149]See alsoNotes
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