Portal:Association football

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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 with 1 point awarded to each team, 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...)

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Manchester United player Ruud van Nistelrooy in action in a Premier League match

The Premier League is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system, making it England's primary football competition. The Premier League is currently contested by twenty clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League.

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...)

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Maribel Guadalupe Domínguez Castelán (born 18 November 1978) is a Mexican footballer who currently plays for the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League and is captain and leading scorer of the Mexico women's national football team. She is known internationally as "Marigol" for her record of 46 goals scored in 49 matches for the Mexican national team.

Domínguez has played professionally in the United States, Spain, and Mexico. In 2003, she was the first Mexican-born player to sign for a team in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the top division in the United States at the time. As a forward for the Atlanta Beat, she was a leading scorer in the league during its final year of operation. In 2004, she made international headlines when she signed for a men's team in Mexico but was denied by FIFA. From 2005 to 2013, she played professionally for several teams around the world including FC Barcelona, UE L'Estartit, San Diego Sunwaves, Chicago Red Stars, and UAEH Panteras.

As of 2013, Domínguez has played the most games (109) and scored the most goals (75) in the history of the women's national team. In 2004, she was ranked in FIFA's top 25 women players in the world. She holds the distinction of being the only Mexican player to have appeared and scored for the Mexican team in Olympic Games, World Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup and Pan American Games.

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The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (lit. 'International Federation of Association Football'), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA (/ˈfiːfə/ FEE-fə), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by the Madrid Football Club), Sweden, and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, its membership now comprises 211 national associations. These national associations must also be members of one of the six regional confederations: CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia and Australia), UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North & Central America and the Caribbean), OFC (Oceania), and CONMEBOL (South America).

FIFA outlines several objectives in its organizational statutes, including growing football internationally, ensuring it is accessible to everyone, and advocating for integrity and fair play. It is responsible for organizing and promoting football's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup which began in 1930, and the Women's World Cup which commenced in 1991. Although FIFA does not solely set the laws of the game, that being the responsibility of the International Football Association Board of which FIFA is a member, it applies and enforces the rules across all FIFA competitions. All FIFA tournaments generate revenue from sponsorships; in 2022, FIFA had revenues of over US$5.8 billion, ending the 2019–2022 cycle with a net positive of $1.2 billion, and cash reserves of over $3.9 billion. (Full article...)

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... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... 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?
... 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?

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Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

Credit: en.wikipedia user Ed g2s

The Santiago Bernabéu is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain that seats over 80,000. It has been the home of Real Madrid since its opening in December 1947.

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I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.

— Brian Clough

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

Image 1Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 2Cricket 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)
Image 3Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 4Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 5The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 6Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 7An 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 8Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 9Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 10Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 11When 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 12Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 13"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 14From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 15Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 16Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 17Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 18Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 19Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 20Players 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 21Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 22FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 23Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 24Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 25United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 26A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 27Striker 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 28The 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 29The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)

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The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in late 2010. It was the eleventh time the championships had been held in Europe, the first time they were held in Eastern Europe, and the first time they were held across two continents (Europe and Asia). At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup ever held until it was surpassed by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The tournament phase involved 32 teams, of which 31 came through qualifying competitions, while the host nation Russia qualified automatically. Of the 32, 20 had also appeared in the 2014 event, while Iceland and Panama each made their debut at the World Cup. 64 matches were played in 12 venues across 11 cities. Germany, the defending champions, were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1938. Host nation Russia was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the final, France played Croatia on 15 July at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. France won the match 4–2, claiming their second World Cup and becoming the fourth consecutive title won by a European team, after Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, and Germany in 2014. (Full article...)

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... that despite losing the 1990 Football League Third Division play-off Final, Tranmere Rovers were temporarily promoted to the Second Division? (29 April 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 a team including bricklayers, assistant bank managers and insurance clerks defeated Coventry City in the third round of the FA Cup in 1989? (5 April 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)
... that Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League three seasons after winning the 1992 Football League Second Division play-off Final? (18 January 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)