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 that only 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 in England) 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 prestigious senior 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 club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience worldwide. The final of the men's tournament is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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The crowd at the 1923 cup final spilling onto the pitch

The 1923 FA Cup Final was a football match between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United on 28 April 1923 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. The showpiece game of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), it was the first football match to be played at Wembley Stadium.

A crowd estimated at up to 300,000 gained entrance and the terraces overflowed, with the result that spectators found their way into the area around the pitch and even onto the playing area itself. Mounted policemen, including one on a white horse which became the defining image of the day, had to be brought in to clear the crowds from the pitch to allow the match to take place. The pre-match events prompted discussion in the House of Commons and led to the introduction of a number of safety measures for future finals. The match is often referred to as the "White Horse Final" and is commemorated by the White Horse Bridge at the new Wembley Stadium. (Full article...)

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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...)

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The Football Association or the FA is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory.

The FA facilitates all competitive football matches within its remit at national level, and indirectly at local level through the county football associations. It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the FA Cup. It is also responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's, and youth national football teams. (Full article...)

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... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... 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?
... 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 Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... 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?

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tifo

Credit: commons user Triante2009

Ultras of Inter Milan displaying a tifo at a game at the San Siro. The word "tifo" is used as a name for any spectacular choreography displayed by supporters on the terraces of an arena or stadium in connection with a sport event.

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Soccer is the biggest thing that's happened in creation. It's bigger than any 'ism' you can name

— Alan Brown (English footballer)

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

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

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Official poster

The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. it was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first World Cup tournament in over twelve years, as the 1942 and 1946 World Cups were cancelled due to World War II. Italy, the two-time defending champions, were eliminated in the first round for the first time in history. Uruguay, who had won the inaugural competition in 1930, defeated the host nation, Brazil, in the deciding match of the four-team group of the final round. This was the only tournament not decided by a one-match final. It was also the inaugural tournament where the trophy was referred to as the Jules Rimet Cup, to mark the 25th anniversary of Jules Rimet's presidency of FIFA. (Full article...)

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York City F.C.

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... that thousands of football players are trafficked every year? (7 February 2021)
... that despite losing the 1990 Football League Third Division play-off Final, Tranmere Rovers were temporarily promoted to the Second Division? (29 April 2021)
... that some of the Sheffield Wednesday team participated in a conga on the M4 motorway after winning the 2005 Football League One play-off Final? (19 February 2021)
... that Crewe Alexandra were promoted back to the second tier of English football for the first time in 101 years when they won the 1997 Football League Second Division play-off Final? (27 March 2021)
... that Claude Callegari gained cult-hero status among English football fans for his speeches about Arsenal? (24 April 2021)
... that a team including bricklayers, assistant bank managers and insurance clerks defeated Coventry City in the third round of the FA Cup in 1989? (5 April 2021)