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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Priestfield Stadium during a match.

Priestfield Stadium is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has been the home of Gillingham Football Club since the club's formation in 1893 and the first recorded game played there was on 2 September 1893 when the club played Woolwich Arsenal's reserve team.

In 1955 the pitch, which was on a slope and had also been used as grazing for local Sheep at the turn of the century, was relaid along with further refurbishments to the terraces. Priestfield underwent extensive redevelopment during the late 1990s, which has brought its capacity down to a current figure of 11,582. It has four all-seater stands, all constructed since 1997 and has also been the temporary home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club as well as hosting England Women's and Youth international matches.

In 2004 the ground was voted as "the worst football ground in England" in a poll by The Guardian and 36% of respondents labelled it "the ugliest building in the town" in a separate poll in 2006. (Full article...)

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Frank Barson (10 April 1891 – 13 September 1968) was an English footballer born in Grimesthorpe. He started life as a blacksmith, and began his football career with Sheffield amateur clubs Albion FC and Cammell Laird's before joining Barnsley in 1911. He went on to play for a number of clubs in English football including Manchester United and Aston Villa, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1920.

Barson was known as one of the most feared players of his era, and had a reputation as a "hard man" of English football. On frequent occasions Barson was escorted out of grounds by policemen to protect him from mobs of angry opposition fans and he was once banned from the game for seven months for a challenge in a match against Fulham.

He played up until the age of 39, eventually signing on as an amateur with Wigan Borough and his last ever appearance as a player was in a game against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day 1930 in which he was sent off in the 83rd minute. (Full article...)

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CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque,
Paraguay, as seen in 2014

The South American Football Confederation (Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; Portuguese: Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol), known by the acronym CONMEBOL (/ˈkɒnmɪbɒl/ KON-mib-ol) or CSF, is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football's major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.

CONMEBOL national teams have won ten FIFA World Cups (Brazil five, Argentina three and Uruguay two) and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have won two Olympic gold medals each. (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 Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... 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 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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Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

Credit: en.wikipedia user Ed g2s

The Santiago Bernabéu is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain that seats over 80,000. It has been the home of Real Madrid since its opening in December 1947.

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I don't let my opponent get into the game for a second. I destroy him and eat him raw.

— Khalid Boulahrouz

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

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

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The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was selected as the host country in July 1946. At the tournament, several all-time records for goal-scoring were set, including the highest average number of goals scored per game. The tournament was won by West Germany, who defeated tournament favourites Hungary 3–2 in the final for their first World Cup title. Uruguay the defending champions were eliminated by Hungary and would lose to Austria in the third-place match.

The highest scoring match of a World Cup happened in the Quarterfinals of this tournament, when Austria defeated hosts Switzerland 7-5. The 12 goals of that match has never been surpassed in a World Cup since. (Full article...)

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... 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)
... that MLS Cup 1999 was played with new rule changes that were approved days before the game? (28 March 2021)
... that the owner of Walsall F.C. described victory at the 2001 Football League Second Division play-off Final as the greatest day in the club's history? (20 February 2021)
... that Cheltenham Town lost the 2012 Football League Two play-off Final, their first defeat in nine play-off matches? (6 March 2021)
... that despite his side winning the 1998 Football League Second Division play-off Final, Grimsby's Alan Buckley said "Anybody who says they enjoy play-offs aren't football managers"? (19 April 2021)
... that Chichester & Selsey Ladies F.C. broke away from Chichester City for an undisclosed reason but retained their colours and football league position? (8 March 2021)