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 primarily 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 get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the 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, 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 or JFA) 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 senior and prestigious 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 European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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IFK Göteborg celebrating a goal in a match against Örebro SK

IFK Göteborg are a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. IFK Göteborg, formed on 4 October 1904, have won 18 national championship titles, four national cup titles, and two UEFA Cups. IFK are of one of the most popular football clubs in Sweden, with diverse country-wide support.

With Malmö FF and AIK, IFK Göteborg are often considered part of the "Big Three" in Swedish club football, who have 43 championship titles between them. IFK is arguably the most successful club in Sweden, and perhaps in Scandinavia, as it is the only Scandinavian team to have won a European cup competition, the UEFA Cup; IFK won the Euro title in 1982 and 1987. They currently rank in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan, where they have played for the majority of their history. (Full article...)

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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 German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈfuːsbalˌbʊnt]; DFB [ˌdeːʔɛfˈbeː]) is the governing body of football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League (German: Deutsche Fußball Liga; DFL), organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world. (Full article...)

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... 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?
... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that Irish sportswoman Carol Breen has played internationally in both association and Australian rules football?
... that, during his time in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, footballer Ernie Curtis would obtain extra food by teaching his captors how to play with a ball made of paper?
... that the 2008 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth holds the record for the highest attendance for a football match at the new Wembley Stadium, with 89,874?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?

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Allianz Arena

Credit: commons user Norbert Aepli

The illuminated exterior of the Allianz Arena in Germany. Completed in 2005 at a cost of €340 million, it is the home ground of Bayern Munich. Nicknamed the "Schlauchboot" (inflatable boat), its exterior is constructed of 2,874 foil air panels which are inflated with dry air. These panels can be individually lit with either red, blue or white lights.

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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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More at Wikiquote

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

Image 1A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (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 3"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 4Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 5FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 6Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 7Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 8When 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 9Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 10Kuopion Mimmifutis (KMF), a women's football club of Kuopio, Finland in 2006 (from Women's association football)
Image 11Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 12Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 13From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 14The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 15Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 16An 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))

Selected World Cup

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.

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 the group stages and made it to the quarterfinals. (Full article...)

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8 articles

Aston Villa F.C.

History (1874–1961)

History (1961–present)

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Statistics and records

Villa Park

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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 the 1991 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final was the first Football League play-off to be decided by a penalty shoot-out? (13 March 2021)
... that when Fred Stewart was appointed the manager of Cardiff City F.C., he paid the transfer fee of his first signing himself? (30 March 2021)
... that at the conclusion of the 2006 Football League Two play-off Final, the losing manager said his side did not deserve to win and the winning goalscorer said he did not mean to score? (3 March 2021)
... that after his side won the 2008 Football League One play-off Final, Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll said he could "murder a cup of tea"? (9 February 2021)
... that thousands of football players are trafficked every year? (7 February 2021)