Names for association football

The sport of association football has a variety of names in English. The most common names for the sport are "football" and "soccer", depending on the country.

International organisations such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) use the term "football" when referring to international events. This is because the sport is most commonly called "football" in most countries. However, the term "soccer" is more common in some countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia. In some countries where the sport is more commonly called "soccer" the official bodies use "football" in their names, even if most people call it "soccer" in that region. Despite this, even in countries where "soccer" is the most common term, most association football clubs use the abbreviation "FC" (which stands for "Football Club").