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 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.

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, and thighs are commonly used. 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. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared with 1 point awarded to each team, or the game may go 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. National associations (e.g. the FA in England, U.S. Soccer in the United States, etc.) 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 competition is the FIFA World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The most prestigious competition in European club football is the UEFA Champions League, which attracts an extensive television audience worldwide. The final of the men's Champions League is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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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...)

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Cesc Fàbregas

Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler (born May 4, 1987 in Arenys de Mar, Catalonia, Spain), commonly known as Cesc Fàbregas, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder.

Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with FC Barcelona but signed by Arsenal in July 2003 looking for regular first team football. He did not feature much in his first season for the Gunners, but following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, his playing time increased. Before long, he had established himself as Arsenal's starting central midfielder and playmaker and went on to break several of the club's records as he began to earn a reputation of a technically-gifted player, excellent passer of the ball and key component of the Arsenal lineup.

In international football, the Spaniard's national career began at the youth level, representing the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. As a result of his club performances, he was called up the senior Spanish national team and played in the 2006 World Cup. (Full article...)

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the Grand Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Congress in 1954 held in Berne, Switzerland, it was voted to recognize Africa as a Confederation.

Representing the African confederation of FIFA, CAF organizes runs and regulates national team and club continental competitions annually or biennially such as the Africa Cup of Nations and Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which they control the prize money and broadcast rights to. CAF will be allocated 9 spots at the FIFA World Cup starting from 2026 and could have an opportunity of 10 spots with the addition of an intercontinental play-off tournament involving 6 teams to decide the last 2 FIFA World Cup places (46+2). (Full article...)

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... that football manager Darren Moore led Sheffield Wednesday to promotion even after they lost the first leg of their play-off semi-final 4–0?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... 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 Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?

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West Bromwich Albion F.C.

Credit: en.wikipedia user Garry Towns

Supporters of West Bromwich Albion invade the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate the "Great Escape" of avoiding relegation on the last day of the 2004-05 season. Albion were the bottom placed team in the Premiership but beat Portsmouth 2-0, giving them enough points to move above the other low-lying teams in the final standings.

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He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right.

— George Best, commenting on David Beckham's ability in 2000

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

Image 1An 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 2Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 3Players 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 4Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 5When 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 6Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup (from Women's association football)
Image 7The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 8A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 9Striker 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 10Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 11Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 12United States' Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 13The 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 14The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 15Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain (from Women's association football)
Image 16Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 17Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 18Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 19Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005 (from Women's association football)
Image 20Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894. The goal has no net. (from History of association football)
Image 21From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 22Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium (from Women's association football)
Image 23Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 24Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 25FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 26"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 27Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 28Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 29Cricket 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)

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The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.

The matches were played in nine stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. Sixteen teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in 2009. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where two rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. (Full article...)

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... that Burnley won the 1994 Football League Second Division play-off Final after two opposition players were sent off? (15 April 2021)
... that Ipswich Town won the Football League First Division in their 1961–62 season having been promoted from the Second Division the previous season? (26 January 2021)
... that the French football club GPSO 92 Issy was founded by three Peruvian sisters in 1997? (8 April 2021)
... that the year after going into administration, Huddersfield Town gained promotion to the Second Division by winning the 2004 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (27 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 Blackpool became the most successful club in the history of English Football League play-offs when they won the 2017 EFL League Two play-off Final against Exeter City? (8 February 2021)