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Association football

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer,[a] is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposition by moving the ball beyond the goal-line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing side. 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 considered the world's most popular sport.

Association football
The attacking player (No. 10) attempts to kick the ball beyond the opposing team's goalkeeper, between the goalposts, and beneath the crossbar (not shown) to score a goal.
Highest governing bodyFIFA
Nicknames
First playedMid-19th century England[2][3]
Characteristics
Team members11 per side (including goalkeeper)
Mixed-sexNo, separate competitions
TypeTeam sport, ball sport
EquipmentFootball (or soccer ball), shin pads
VenueFootball pitch (also known as football field, football ground, soccer field, soccer pitch or "pitch")
GlossaryGlossary of association football
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide
OlympicMen's since the 1900 Olympics and women's since the 1996 Olympics
Paralympic5-a-side since 2004 and 7-a-side from 1984 to 2016

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, with the International Football Association Board (IFAB) maintaining them 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.[4]

Internationally, association football is globally governed by FIFA. The national associations 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 men's FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup.[5] The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The top five European men's leagues are the Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France).[6] The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. The final of the men's tournament has been, in recent years, the most-watched annual sporting event in the world.[7]

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 1980s and the first women's World Cup 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.[8]

Name

Football is one of a family of football codes, which emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity.

Within the English-speaking world, association football 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,[9] Canada, South Africa, most of Ireland (excluding Ulster)[10] and the United States. 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.[11] In Japan, the game is also primarily called sakkā (サッカー), derived from "soccer".

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.[12] 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.[13] The word soccer arrived at its final form in 1895 and was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca.[14]

History

 
 
(Left): an episkyros player on an ancient stone carving, c. 375–400 BCE, exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens;[15] (right): children playing cuju in Song dynasty China, 12th century

Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures. Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games.[16][17] 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[15] appears on the UEFA European Championship trophy.[18] 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.[19][20][21][22][23][24] As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all modern football codes, these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking.[25][26]

The Chinese competitive game cuju (蹴鞠, literally "kick ball") resembles modern association football.[27] Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), cuju games were standardised and rules were established.[19]

Other games included kemari in Japan and chuk-guk in Korea.[28][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.[18] Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world, FIFA has recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe.[31] 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 history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century.[32]

 
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]

 
The Aston Villa team in 1897, after winning both the FA Cup and the English Football League

The 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]

Football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams,[43] while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet.[44][45] 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.[46] Football has the highest global television audience in sport.[47]

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.[48] The Ivory Coast national football team helped secure a truce to the nation's civil war in 2006[49] 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.[50] 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.[51] 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.[52]

Women's association football

Early women's football

Women may have been playing "football" for as long as the game has existed. Evidence shows that an ancient version of the game (Tsu Chu) was played by women during the Han dynasty (25–220 CE). Two female figures are depicted in Han dynasty (25–220 CE) frescoes, playing Tsu Chu.[53] There are, however, a number of opinions about the accuracy of dates, the earliest estimates at 5000 BCE.[54]

 
"North" team of the British Ladies', the first women's football team ever, here pictured in March 1895

Association football, the modern game, also has documented early involvement of women. An annual competition in Mid-Lothian, Scotland during the 1790s is reported, too.[55][56] In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardised rules to prohibit violence on the pitch, making it more socially acceptable for women to play.[57] The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow. In England, the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895.[57][58]

The best-documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. It was named the British Ladies' Football Club. Nettie 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."[59] 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.[60]

Women's football became popular on a large scale at the time of the First World War, when 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 the first women's international matches in 1920, against a team from Paris, France, in April, and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in 1920, and winning 22–0.[55]

Despite being more popular than some men's football events (one match saw a 53,000 strong crowd),[61] women's football in England suffered a blow in 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on Association members' pitches, on the grounds that the game (as played by women) was distasteful.[62] Some speculated that this may have also been due to envy of the large crowds that women's matches attracted.[63] This led to the formation of the English Ladies Football Association and play moved to rugby grounds.[64]

Association football has been played by women since at least the time of the first recorded women's games in the late 19th century.[65][66] It has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom.[66] 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.[66]

20th and 21st century

 
Young Finnish girls football team of Kolarin Kontio in Piteå, Sweden, in 2014

The growth in women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both national and international level mirroring the male competitions. Women's football has faced many struggles. It had a "golden age" in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when crowds reached 50,000 at some matches;[67] this was stopped on 5 December 1921 when England's Football Association voted to ban the game from grounds used by its member clubs. The FA's ban was rescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognise women's football in 1971.[66]

The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since,[68] while women's football has been an Olympic event since 1996.[69]

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,[70] 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.[4]

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)[71] other than their hands or arms.[72] 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.[73]

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.[74]

 
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.[75] The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper,[76] but a number of specialised roles have evolved.[77] 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.[78] 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.[79]

Laws

There are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game, each containing a collection of stipulation and guidelines. The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors, women and people with physical disabilities are permitted. 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.[80] In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of association football.[81][82] Within the United States, Major League Soccer used a distinct ruleset during the 1990s[83] 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.[76]

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.[84][85] Headgear is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury.[86] 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.[87]

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 three in ninety minutes with each team being allowed one more if the game should go into extra-time, though 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.[88] 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.[89]

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.[90]

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.[91]

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.[92][93]

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.[94]

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) 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;[95] however, this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented.[96]

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.[97] 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.[98]

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.[99]

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.[100] 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,[101][102] 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".[103][104] 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.[100] 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.[105] 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 un-completed penalty.[106]

Tie-breaking

 
Most football 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.[107] 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. 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).[4]

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.[4]

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.[74]
  • Throw-in: when the ball has crossed the touchline; awarded to the opposing team to that which last touched the ball.[108]
  • 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.[109]
  • 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.[110]
  • 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.[111]
  • Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls.[111] 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.[112]
  • 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.[74]

Misconduct

On-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.[72]

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 or substituted player. Non-players such as managers and support staff cannot be shown the yellow or red card but may be expelled from the technical area if they fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.[72]

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".[113] 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.[114]

The referee's decision in all on-pitch matters is considered final.[115] 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.[116] 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.[b] Some associations allow for appeals against player suspensions incurred on-field if clubs feel a referee was incorrect or unduly harsh.[116]

Sanctions for such infractions may be levied on individuals or on to clubs as a whole. Penalties may include fines, points 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.[117] 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) is FIFA. The FIFA headquarters are located in Zürich, Switzerland. Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA; these are:[118]

National associations 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). 209 national associations are affiliated both with FIFA and with their respective continental confederations.[118]

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 takes place every four years since 1930 with the exception of 1942 and 1946 tournaments, which were cancelled due to 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, which is held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period.[c] The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world 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.[119][120][121][122] The current champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.[123] 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.[124] 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.[125]

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), 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.[126]

Domestic competitions

 
A 2009 Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The fixture, known as El Clásico, is one of the most renowned in sport.[127]

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.[128]

The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may be eligible also 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.[129] 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 – the Bundesliga (Germany), Premier League (England),[130] La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France) – attract most of the world's best players and each of these leagues has a total wage cost in excess of £600 million/€763 million/US$1.185 billion.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ For further information, see names for association football.
  2. ^ For example, the English Premier League fined and levied an 8-match suspension on Luis Suárez for racially abusing Patrice Evra.
  3. ^ The number of competing teams has varied over the history of the competition.

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External links

  • Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (in English, Chinese, French, German, and Spanish)
  • Association football at Curlie

association, football, soccer, redirects, here, other, uses, soccer, disambiguation, more, commonly, known, football, soccer, team, sport, played, between, teams, players, primarily, their, feet, propel, ball, around, rectangular, field, called, pitch, objecti. 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 who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposition by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular framed goal defended by the opposing side 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 considered the world s most popular sport Association footballThe attacking player No 10 attempts to kick the ball beyond the opposing team s goalkeeper between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar not shown to score a goal Highest governing bodyFIFANicknamesWorld Game 1 The Beautiful GameFirst playedMid 19th century England 2 3 CharacteristicsTeam members11 per side including goalkeeper Mixed sexNo separate competitionsTypeTeam sport ball sportEquipmentFootball or soccer ball shin padsVenueFootball pitch also known as football field football ground soccer field soccer pitch or pitch GlossaryGlossary of association footballPresenceCountry or regionWorldwideOlympicMen s since the 1900 Olympics and women s since the 1996 OlympicsParalympic5 a side since 2004 and 7 a side from 1984 to 2016The 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 with the International Football Association Board IFAB maintaining them 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 4 Internationally association football is globally governed by FIFA The national associations 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 men s FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women s World Cup 5 The men s World Cup is the most viewed sporting event in the world surpassing the Olympic Games The top five European men s leagues are the Premier League England La Liga Spain Bundesliga Germany Serie A Italy and Ligue 1 France 6 The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women s Champions League which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world The final of the men s tournament has been in recent years the most watched annual sporting event in the world 7 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 1980s and the first women s World Cup 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 8 Contents 1 Name 2 History 2 1 Women s association football 2 1 1 Early women s football 2 1 2 20th and 21st century 3 Gameplay 4 Laws 4 1 Players equipment and officials 4 2 Ball 4 3 Pitch 4 4 Duration and tie breaking methods 4 4 1 90 minute ordinary time 4 4 2 Tie breaking 4 5 Ball in and out of play 4 6 Misconduct 4 6 1 On field 4 6 2 Off field 5 Governing bodies 6 International competitions 7 Domestic competitions 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksNameMain article Names for association football Football is one of a family of football codes which emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity Within the English speaking world association football 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 9 Canada South Africa most of Ireland excluding Ulster 10 and the United States 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 11 In Japan the game is also primarily called sakka サッカー derived from soccer 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 12 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 13 The word soccer arrived at its final form in 1895 and was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca 14 HistoryMain article History of association football For a chronological guide see Timeline of association football Left an episkyros player on an ancient stone carving c 375 400 BCE exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum Athens 15 right children playing cuju in Song dynasty China 12th century Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games 16 17 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 15 appears on the UEFA European Championship trophy 18 Athenaeus writing in 228 CE mentions the Roman ball game harpastum code lat promoted to code la Phaininda episkyros and harpastum code lat promoted to code la 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 19 20 21 22 23 24 As with pre codified mob football the antecedent of all modern football codes these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking 25 26 The Chinese competitive game cuju 蹴鞠 literally kick ball resembles modern association football 27 Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net During the Han dynasty 206 BCE 220 CE cuju games were standardised and rules were established 19 Other games included kemari in Japan and chuk guk in Korea 28 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 18 Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world FIFA has recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe 31 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 history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century 32 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 The Aston Villa team in 1897 after winning both the FA Cup and the English Football League The 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 Football is played at a professional level all over the world Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams 43 while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet 44 45 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 46 Football has the highest global television audience in sport 47 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 Kapuscinski says that Europeans who are polite modest or humble fall easily into rage when playing or watching football games 48 The Ivory Coast national football team helped secure a truce to the nation s civil war in 2006 49 and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouake an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time 50 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 51 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 52 Women s association football Main article Women s association football Early women s football Women may have been playing football for as long as the game has existed Evidence shows that an ancient version of the game Tsu Chu was played by women during the Han dynasty 25 220 CE Two female figures are depicted in Han dynasty 25 220 CE frescoes playing Tsu Chu 53 There are however a number of opinions about the accuracy of dates the earliest estimates at 5000 BCE 54 North team of the British Ladies the first women s football team ever here pictured in March 1895 Association football the modern game also has documented early involvement of women An annual competition in Mid Lothian Scotland during the 1790s is reported too 55 56 In 1863 football governing bodies introduced standardised rules to prohibit violence on the pitch making it more socially acceptable for women to play 57 The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow In England the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895 57 58 The best documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894 It was named the British Ladies Football Club Nettie 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 59 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 60 Women s football became popular on a large scale at the time of the First World War when 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 the first women s international matches in 1920 against a team from Paris France in April and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in 1920 and winning 22 0 55 Despite being more popular than some men s football events one match saw a 53 000 strong crowd 61 women s football in England suffered a blow in 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on Association members pitches on the grounds that the game as played by women was distasteful 62 Some speculated that this may have also been due to envy of the large crowds that women s matches attracted 63 This led to the formation of the English Ladies Football Association and play moved to rugby grounds 64 Association football has been played by women since at least the time of the first recorded women s games in the late 19th century 65 66 It has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise particularly in the United Kingdom 66 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 66 20th and 21st century Young Finnish girls football team of Kolarin Kontio in Pitea Sweden in 2014 The growth in women s football has seen major competitions being launched at both national and international level mirroring the male competitions Women s football has faced many struggles It had a golden age in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when crowds reached 50 000 at some matches 67 this was stopped on 5 December 1921 when England s Football Association voted to ban the game from grounds used by its member clubs The FA s ban was rescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognise women s football in 1971 66 The FIFA Women s World Cup was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since 68 while women s football has been an Olympic event since 1996 69 GameplayMain article Laws of the Game association football See also Parker s Piece source source source source source source source source source source source source source source source 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 70 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 4 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 71 other than their hands or arms 72 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 73 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 74 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 75 The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper 76 but a number of specialised roles have evolved 77 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 78 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 79 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 stipulation and guidelines The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football although certain modifications for groups such as juniors seniors women and people with physical disabilities are permitted 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 80 In addition to the seventeen laws numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of association football 81 82 Within the United States Major League Soccer used a distinct ruleset during the 1990s 83 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 See also Association football positions Formation association football Substitute association football and Kit association football 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 76 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 84 85 Headgear is not a required piece of basic equipment but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury 86 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 87 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 three in ninety minutes with each team being allowed one more if the game should go into extra time though 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 88 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 89 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 90 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 91 Ball Main article Ball association football 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 92 93 Pitch Main article Football 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 94 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 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 95 however this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented 96 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 97 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 98 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 99 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 100 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 101 102 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 103 104 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 100 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 105 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 un completed penalty 106 Tie breaking Main article Determining the Outcome of a Match association football Most football 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 107 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 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 4 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 4 Ball in and out of play Main article Ball in and out of play A player takes a free kick while the opposition form a wall to try to block the ballUnder 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 74 Throw in when the ball has crossed the touchline awarded to the opposing team to that which last touched the ball 108 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 109 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 110 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 111 Direct free kick awarded to fouled team following certain listed penal fouls 111 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 112 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 74 Misconduct Main article Foul association football On 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 72 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 or substituted player Non players such as managers and support staff cannot be shown the yellow or red card but may be expelled from the technical area if they fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner 72 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 113 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 114 The referee s decision in all on pitch matters is considered final 115 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 See also Foul association football Post match 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 116 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 b Some associations allow for appeals against player suspensions incurred on field if clubs feel a referee was incorrect or unduly harsh 116 Sanctions for such infractions may be levied on individuals or on to clubs as a whole Penalties may include fines points 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 117 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 bodiesSee also Association football around the world 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 is FIFA The FIFA headquarters are located in Zurich Switzerland Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA these are 118 Asia Asian Football Confederation AFC Africa Confederation of African Football CAF Europe Union of European Football Associations UEFA North Central America amp Caribbean Confederation of North Central American and Caribbean Association Football CONCACAF Oceania Oceania Football Confederation OFC South America Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL National associations 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 209 national associations are affiliated both with FIFA and with their respective continental confederations 118 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 competitionsMain article List of association football 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 takes place every four years since 1930 with the exception of 1942 and 1946 tournaments which were cancelled due to 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 which is held every four years involves 32 national teams competing over a four week period c The World Cup is the most prestigious association football tournament in the world 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 119 120 121 122 The current champions are Argentina who won their third title at the 2022 tournament in Qatar 123 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 124 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 125 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 America CONMEBOL 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 126 Domestic competitionsMain articles Geography of association football and Geography of women s association football A 2009 Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona The fixture known as El Clasico is one of the most renowned in sport 127 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 128 The teams finishing at the top of a country s league may be eligible also 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 129 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 the Bundesliga Germany Premier League England 130 La Liga Spain Serie A Italy and Ligue 1 France attract most of the world s best players and each of these leagues has a total wage cost in excess of 600 million 763 million US 1 185 billion 6 NotesListen to this article 30 minutes source source This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 5 September 2007 2007 09 05 and does not reflect subsequent edits Audio help More spoken articles For further information see names for association football For example the English Premier League fined and levied an 8 match suspension on Luis Suarez for racially abusing Patrice Evra The number of competing teams has varied over the history of the competition References In a globalised world the football World Cup is a force for good The Conversation 10 July 2014 Archived from the original on 8 August 2014 Retrieved 11 July 2014 History of Football Britain the home of Football FIFA Archived from the original on 28 March 2013 History of Football The Origins FIFA Archived from the original on 28 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