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, but only within their own 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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The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the first football World Cup tournament ever staged. It was played in Uruguay from July 13 to July 30. FIFA chose Uruguay as hosts at the Barcelona conference on May 18, 1929, as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its independence and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Thirteen teams participated; nine from the Americas and four from Europe. Few European teams chose to participate due to the duration and cost of travel. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the USA, who beat Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, and became the first nation to win a World Cup. (Full article...)

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Selected biography

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (born August 12, 1983) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for [Milan] and the Netherlands. He previously represented PSV Eindhoven, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, and SC Heerenveen.

First scouted as a youth talent by the Go Ahead Eagles, Huntelaar eventually signed his first contract with De Graafschap in 1994 at the age of eleven. He was trialled in a number of positions until finding prowess as a striker in 1997 when, whilst playing for the De Graafschap C-team, he scored 33 goals in 20 games. He was the league's top scorer for the following season and was spotted by PSV Eindhoven, the team that went on to give him his first professional contract in June 2000.

Various media outlets noted him as a rising star in Dutch football, being named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and Ajax "Player of the year" in 2006. He was also named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. He was a part of the Dutch side that won the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he became the tournament's leading goal-scorer. He is the all-time highest goal-scorer for the Netherlands U21 squad with 18 goals in 22 matches. In domestic football he was Eredivisie's top scorer in the 2005–06 season with 33 goals in 31 games. (Full article...)

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The Brazilian Football Confederation (Portuguese: Confederação Brasileira de Futebol, CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as Federação Brasileira de Sports, and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, separated from other sports associations on 24 September 1979.

The CBF has its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The confederation owns a training center, named Granja Comary, located in Teresópolis. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) -

... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... 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 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?

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Goalkeeper (football)

Photo credit: Nick Wiebe

Congo national football team goalkeeper Destin Onka (right) prevents Austrian forward Rubin Okotie (left) from scoring a goal at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In association football, the goalkeeper is the only player who is permitted to touch the ball with his hands or arms in open play.

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General images -

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

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

Selected World Cup

Official poster

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934.

The 1934 World Cup was the first in which teams had to qualify to take part. Thirty-two nations entered the competition; 16 teams would qualify for the final tournament. Reigning champions Uruguay boycotted the tournament as only four European teams had accepted their invitation to the 1930 tournament. Italy beat Czechoslovakia 2–1 to become the second World Cup champions and the first European winners. (Full article...)

List of selected World Cups