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, the U.S. Soccer in the United States, Canada Soccer in Canada, Football Australia in Australia, New Zealand Football in New Zealand, 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. (Full article...)

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Margate (blue shirts) in action in 2007

Margate Football Club are an English football team based in the seaside resort of Margate, Kent. Nicknamed "The Gate", the club have reached the third round proper of England's premier cup competition, the FA Cup, on two occasions.

Founded in 1896, the club joined the Southern Football League in 1933 and remained there until 2001 when they gained promotion to the Football Conference, the highest level of English non-league football.

Their tenure in the Conference saw the team forced to groundshare with other clubs due to drawn-out and problematic redevelopment work at their Hartsdown Park stadium, and during the three years spent away from their own ground they were expelled from the Conference National and subsequently relegated to the Isthmian League. (Full article...)

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Maribel Guadalupe Domínguez Castelán (born 18 November 1978) is a Mexican footballer who currently plays for the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League and is captain and leading scorer of the Mexico women's national football team. She is known internationally as "Marigol" for her record of 46 goals scored in 49 matches for the Mexican national team.

Domínguez has played professionally in the United States, Spain, and Mexico. In 2003, she was the first Mexican-born player to sign for a team in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the top division in the United States at the time. As a forward for the Atlanta Beat, she was a leading scorer in the league during its final year of operation. In 2004, she made international headlines when she signed for a men's team in Mexico but was denied by FIFA. From 2005 to 2013, she played professionally for several teams around the world including FC Barcelona, UE L'Estartit, San Diego Sunwaves, Chicago Red Stars, and UAEH Panteras.

As of 2013, Domínguez has played the most games (109) and scored the most goals (75) in the history of the women's national team. In 2004, she was ranked in FIFA's top 25 women players in the world. She holds the distinction of being the only Mexican player to have appeared and scored for the Mexican team in Olympic Games, World Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup and Pan American Games.

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The Football Association (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 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 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?
... 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 goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
... 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?

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UEFA Euro 2008

Credit: commons user LittleJoe

A bronze artwork created from the footprints of the German national team which competed in Euro 2008 and was displayed in Ascona, Switzerland. Germany went on to finish in the runners up postition.

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If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be.

— Bill Shankly, on the offside rule

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

Image 1Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 2Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 3Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (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 5United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 6Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 7Players 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 8The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 9Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 10"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 11Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 12Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 13Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 14Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 15A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 16Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 17The 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 18Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 19The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 20From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 21FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 22Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 23Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 24An 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 25When 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 26Striker 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 27Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 28Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 29Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (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, causing what is sometimes known as one of the biggest upsets in sports history, occasionally called the Maracanaço. 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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... that AFC Wimbledon were promoted for a sixth time since their formation in 2002 when they won the 2016 Football League Two play-off Final? (6 February 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 footballer Billy Hardy is Cardiff City F.C.'s record appearance holder, having played in 590 matches between 1911 and 1932? (16 March 2021)
... that MLS Cup 1999 was played with new rule changes that were approved days before the game? (28 March 2021)
... that Irish sportswoman Carol Breen has played internationally in both association and Australian rules football? (17 March 2021)
... that Port Vale F.C. captain Tom Conlon's grandfather's father-in-law played for the club more than a century ago? (9 April 2021)