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 Mariners home stadium.

Central Coast Mariners Football Club are an Australian professional football (soccer) team based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Formed in 2004, the Mariners participate in the A-League, being one of only three teams from New South Wales to play in the competition and the first professional club from the Central Coast to compete.

Despite being considered one of the smaller franchises at the inception of the A-League competition, Central Coast qualified for the first four domestic finals after their establishment. The Mariners had a successful first season, winning the 2005 Pre-Season Cup and losing in the A-League grand final to Sydney FC.

They made the final of the Pre-Season Cup again in 2006 but lost to Adelaide United and finished sixth in the 2006–07 A-League competition at the end of the season. (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 Scottish Football Association (also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA; Scottish Gaelic: Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.

The Scottish Football Association is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. It is based at Hampden Park in Glasgow. In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located there. (Full article...)

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... 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 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?

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UEFA Euro 2004

Credit: en.wikipedia user Joao Castro

The opening ceremony of Euro 2004 saw hosts Portugal portrayed as a ship, symbolizing the voyages of the Portuguese explorers, sailing through a sea of the flags of all competing countries.

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The kid makes you sick. He looks the part, he walks the part, he is the part. He's six-foot something, fit as a flea, good-looking - he's got to have something wrong with him....Hopefully he's hung like a hamster! That would make us all feel better!

— Ian Holloway, on Cristiano Ronaldo

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More at Wikiquote

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

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

Selected World Cup

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D	Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	F	Belgium	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
3	A	United States	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	E	Italy	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
5	B	Russia	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1	3
6	C	South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

Source: FIFA

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List of statistics and records

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List of Players of the Year

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... that Dwayne De Rosario is Canada's all-time leading male soccer goalscorer, with 22 international goals? (22 March 2021)
... that MLS Cup 2000 was the first championship game in league history not to feature D.C. United? (13 April 2021)
... that MLS Cup 1999 was played with new rule changes that were approved days before the game? (28 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 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)
... 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)