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 only then within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.

Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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IFK Göteborg celebrating a goal in a match against Örebro SK

IFK Göteborg are a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. IFK Göteborg, formed on 4 October 1904, have won 18 national championship titles, four national cup titles, and two UEFA Cups. IFK are of one of the most popular football clubs in Sweden, with diverse country-wide support.

With Malmö FF and AIK, IFK Göteborg are often considered part of the "Big Three" in Swedish club football, who have 43 championship titles between them. IFK is arguably the most successful club in Sweden, and perhaps in Scandinavia, as it is the only Scandinavian team to have won a European cup competition, the UEFA Cup; IFK won the Euro title in 1982 and 1987. They currently rank in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan, where they have played for the majority of their history. (Full article...)

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Footballer Shaun Goater at a book signing on 26 September 2006

Shaun Goater MBE (born 25 February 1970 in Hamilton, Bermuda) is a footballer who played as a striker for a number of English clubs in the 1990s and 2000s.

Goater's first professional club was Manchester United, but he did not reach the first team, making his League debut in 1989 after moving to Rotherham. He played for Rotherham for seven years before moving to Bristol City in 1996. Two years later he moved to Manchester City for a fee of £400,000.

He is most well known for his time at Manchester City, where he scored over 100 goals between 1998 and 2003, finishing as the club's top scorer for four consecutive seasons. After leaving City, Goater had spells with Reading, Coventry and Southend United, before retiring in May 2006.

A former member of the Bermudian national team, Goater returned to Bermuda on retirement, receiving an official welcome from Prime Minister Alex Scott on his arrival. Since 2003, he has organised the annual Shaun Goater Grass-roots Soccer Festival, a football coaching event for children on the islands. (Full article...)

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The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at the international, professional, and amateur levels, including: the men's and women's national teams, Major League Soccer, National Women's Soccer League, youth organizations, beach soccer, futsal, Paralympic, and deaf national teams. U.S. Soccer sanctions referees and soccer tournaments for most soccer leagues in the United States. The U.S. Soccer Federation also administers and operates the U.S. Open Cup and the SheBelieves Cup. (Full article...)

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... 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 Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Carlton Town F.C., now competing at the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, was once denied promotion by a hat-trick scored by future England international Jamie Vardy?
... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?

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[[File:|center|500px|Teams line-up before the 2006 FA Cup Final]]

2006 FA Cup Final

Credit: en.wikipedia user Egghead06

The opening ceremony for the 2006 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and West Ham. This was the 125th time the trophy was contested and the last time the final was held in the Millennium Stadium before returning to Wembley for 2007. The score was 3-3 after extra time and the game was ended with a penalty shootout in which Liverpool won the cup for the seventh time in their history.

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Look!, We have two eyes, two legs, we are the same as them, the only difference is that they play in Europe.

— Cuauhtémoc Blanco, to his fellow Mexico players at the 1998 World Cup Finals

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

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

Selected World Cup

The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between August 1960 and December 1961, with 56 teams entering from six confederations, and fourteen qualifying for the finals tournament alongside Chile, the hosts, and Brazil, the defending champions.

Brazil successfully defended their World Cup title, defeating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final in the Chilean capital Santiago. They became the second team, after Italy in 1934 and 1938, to win the World Cup twice consecutively; no team has since achieved the feat. Host nation Chile finished third, defeating Yugoslavia 1–0 in the third-place play-off. (Full article...)

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... that the owner of Walsall F.C. described victory at the 2001 Football League Second Division play-off Final as the greatest day in the club's history? (20 February 2021)
... that the opening goal of the 1992 Football League Third Division play-off Final was described as a "Russian linesman job"? (28 February 2021)
... that after winning the 2004 Football League Second Division play-off Final, some of the Brighton & Hove Albion players dropped the trophy while celebrating and damaged it? (2 March 2021)
... that Icelandic footballer Þórdís Hrönn Sigfúsdóttir has had to self-isolate on four occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic? (18 March 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 the 2008 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth holds the record for the highest attendance for a football match at the new Wembley Stadium, with 89,874? (16 January 2021)