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 with 1 point awarded to each team, 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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Small Heath F.C. (later to become Birmingham City F.C.) pictured in 1893 or 1894.

Birmingham City Football Club are an English professional football club based in the city of Birmingham. As of the 2007-08 season, they were playing in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, which is the level at which they have spent the majority of their history.

Formed under the name of "Small Heath" in 1875, they were founder members and the first ever champions of the Football League Second Division. As Birmingham City, the most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They achieved their highest finishing position of sixth in the First Division and reached the FA Cup Final in 1956, reached the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960 and 1961, and won their only major trophy, the League Cup, in 1963, beating Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate.

St Andrew's has been their home ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Birmingham derby. (Full article...)

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Mido in 2008

Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid (born February 23, 1983 in Cairo, Egypt), commonly known as Mido, is an Egyptian footballer who plays in the position of striker.

Mido started his career with El-Zamalek in Egypt in 1999 and left the club for K.A.A. Gent of Belgium in 2000 where he won the Belgian Ebony Shoe, this led to a move to Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam in 2001. A player with a fiery temperament, Mido has clashed with players and coaching staff in a number of clubs that he has subsequently played for including - Celta Vigo, Olympique de Marseille, A.S. Roma and Tottenham Hotspur. At one point he was relegated to playing for the A.S. Roma reserve team due to breaking club disciplinary rules. He has attracted high prices for his services, moving to Marseille for €12 million in 2003 and £6 million for his transfer to Premier League club Middlesbrough in 2007. As such he is one of the most valuable Egyptian-born players in footballing history.

Mido is an international player for Egypt and has amassed over 40 caps and scored in excess of 15 goals. However, his career with Egypt has been struck by controversy, having twice been banned from selection by the national team. (Full article...)

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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...)

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... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... 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?

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Ghana national football team

Credit: cs.wikipedia user Koky

Appearing in the World Cup for the first time, Ghana came second in Group E of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and were beaten in the Round of 16 by Brazil. Their group wins over the Czech Republic (pictured) and the United States were one of the biggest surprises of the tournament.

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We need a big, ugly defender. If we had one of them we'd have dealt with County's first goal by taking out the ball, the player and the first three rows of seats in the stands.

— Ian Holloway

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

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

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The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama. During the opening ceremony, the championship was declared opened by President of South Korea Kim Dae-jung.

A field of 32 teams qualified for this World Cup, which was the first to be held in Asia, the first to be held outside of the Americas or Europe, as well as the first to be jointly hosted by more than one nation. China, Ecuador, Senegal and Slovenia made their World Cup debuts, with Senegal being the only debutant to qualify from the group stages and make it to the quarterfinals. (Full article...)

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York City F.C.

List of players

List of Clubmen of the Year

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... 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)
... that Tranmere Rovers players were each promised a £10,000 bonus for winning the 1991 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (12 April 2021)
... that after winning the 2004 Football League Second Division play-off Final, some of the Brighton & Hove Albion players dropped the trophy while celebrating and damaged it? (2 March 2021)
... that when Irene del Río was called up to the Spain women's national football team squad, she was the only player who did not compete in the country's top division? (28 April 2021)
... that Coventry City's winning goal in the 1987 FA Cup Final was an own goal scored in extra time off Gary Mabbutt's knee? (30 January 2021)
... that after winning the 2013 Football League One play-off Final, Yeovil Town were promoted to the second tier of English football just ten years after being a non-League club? (12 February 2021)