Portal:Association football

The Association football portal

P:ASF

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.

The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line), 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. 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Vincenzo Iaquinta celebrates after scoring for Juventus

Juventus Football Club (from Latin iuventus: youth), is a football club from Turin, Italy. With the exception of one season, the club has spent its entire history in Serie A. The team were demoted to Serie B following the clubs part in the 2006 Serie A scandal before being promoted back to Serie A for the 2007–08 season.

Juventus is the most successful team in the history of Italian football. Overall, the club have won 51 official trophies, more than any other Italian team; 40 in Italy, which is also a record, and 11 in European and world competitions. As of 2007, Juventus is the third most successful club in Europe and the sixth in the world with the most international titles recognized by UEFA and FIFA

Juventus' greatest rivals are the Milanese side Inter Milan with whom they compete the Derby d'Italia. The team is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represents eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs. (Full article...)

More selected articles

edit

Selected biography

Gilberto Silva

Gilberto Aparecido da Silva, commonly known as Gilberto Silva, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.

He began his football career in 1997 with América Mineiro, where good form earned him a move to Atlético Mineiro in 2000. He became a star player for Atlético, playing for three years in the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. He came to particular prominence when he helped the Brazilian national team win the 2002 FIFA World Cup, playing in all seven of Brazil's matches.

In August 2002, for a fee of £4.5 million, he joined Arsenal with whom he won the 2004 FA Premier League, and two FA Cup trophies. In his first five seasons with the club he played 208 games and scored 23 goals, including scoring Arsenal's first competitive goal at the newly built Emirates Stadium on 19 August 2006. He was made vice-captain of Arsenal in 2006 and is contracted to the club until June 2009. In 2007 he was selected as Brazil captain for the Copa América tournament, which Brazil went on to win. (Full article...)

More selected biographies

Selected association

AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) was the section of AFC that managed women's association football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, British Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In 1986, ALFC merged with AFC. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

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

edit

Selected image

Switzerland national football team

Credit: R. Niemeyer

The Swiss national team pose before a 2006 friendly against China in Zurich. Controlled by the Swiss Football Association, Switzerland have reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup three times as well as winning silver at the 1924 Summer Olympics.

edit

Selected quote

General images - load new batch

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

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

Selected World Cup

Official poster, designed
by Guillermo Laborde

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as the host nation, as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its first constitution and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the purpose built Estadio Centenario.

Thirteen teams (seven from South America, four from Europe, and two from North America) entered the tournament. Only a handful of European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of traveling to South America due to the Great Depression. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while United States goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first clean sheet in the tournament the same day. (Full article...)

List of selected World Cups

edit

Selected topic

Topic discussion

More did you know - load new batch

... that the 2020 EFL League Two play-off Final is believed to be the first competitive match played behind closed doors at Wembley Stadium? (13 January 2021)
... that after his side won the 2008 Football League One play-off Final, Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll said he could "murder a cup of tea"? (9 February 2021)
... that Icelandic footballer Þórdís Hrönn Sigfúsdóttir has had to self-isolate on four occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic? (18 March 2021)
... that Irish sportswoman Carol Breen has played internationally in both association and Australian rules football? (17 March 2021)
... that Swansea City made two appearances at the Millennium Stadium in 2006, winning the Football League Trophy but losing the Football League One play-off Final? (14 March 2021)
... that Phil Chisnall moved from Manchester United to Liverpool in April 1964, becoming the last player to be transferred directly between the two clubs? (26 March 2021)