Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer,[a] is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch.
The attacking player (#10) attempts to kick the ball into the net behind the opposing team’s goalkeeper (here wearing red and yellow) to score a goal.
|
|
| Highest governing body | FIFA |
|---|---|
| Nicknames |
|
| First played | December, 1863[3] |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Yes |
| Team members | 11 per side: Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards |
| Mixed-sex | No, separate competitions |
| Type | |
| Equipment | Football (or soccer ball) Football boots Shin guards Kits Gloves (for goalkeepers) |
| Venue | Football pitch (also known as football field, football ground, soccer field, soccer pitch, or “pitch”) |
| Glossary | Glossary of association football |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Olympic | Men’s since the 1900 Olympics and women’s since the 1996 Olympics |
| Paralympic | 5-a-side since 2004 and 7-a-side from 1984 to 2016 |
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 opponent. 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.
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, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball; the head, chest,