Portal:Association football

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Association football, 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 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 opponent. 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 International Football Association Board (IFAB) since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. 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. 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. (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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Adam Boyd (born 25 May 1982 in Hartlepool) is an English footballer. Boyd, who plays as a striker, started playing whilst attending Grange Primary School. He was included in the under-11 team when 7 years of age and went on to play for Sunday League team Hartlepool St. Francis before being offered a trial by Middlesbrough F.C.. Middlesbrough declined to sign him to a youth contract and recommended him to local team Hartlepool United with whom he agreed an apprenticeship in 1998.

He began his professional career with Hartlepool in 1999 but did not make a lasting impact on the team until 2004 when he scored 12 goals in 10 appearances. He was one of League One's top goalscorers the following season and scored one of his most spectacular goals during a game against Sheffield Wednesday. Boyd received the ball outside the box and faked his way past two players before curving it over Wednesday goalkeeper Paul Gallacher. This goal earned him two awards, Hartlepool United's Goal of the Season 2005 and the North East Goal of the Season 2005, and he was also named Hartlepool United's Players' Player of the Year.

Boyd was injured in a game against Yeovil Town in 2006 which resulted in him having to receive treatment for a bruised leg bone, the treatment of this injury did not go as planned and he contracted a blood infection which saw him in rehabilitation for five months. During this period he transferred to Luton Town but his lack of form, the result of such a long period out of regular training, saw him lag behind the rest of the team in terms of fitness and match sharpness. He was released from his contract and moved to Leyton Orient in July 2007. (Full article...)

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The Scottish Football Association (Scottish Gaelic: Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) 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.

It 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 football manager Darren Moore led Sheffield Wednesday to promotion even after they lost the first leg of their play-off semi-final 4–0?

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Ghana national football team

Credit: cs.wikipedia user Koky

Appearing in the World Cup for the first time, Ghana came second in Group E of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and were beaten in the Round of 16 by Brazil. Their group wins over the Czech Republic (pictured) and the United States were one of the biggest surprises of the tournament.

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I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.

— Brian Clough

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

Image 1Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 2Florida State vs North Carolina, 2005 (from Women's association football)
Image 3When 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 4Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 5The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 6A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 7The 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 8Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 9Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 10Goalkeeper Zahra Khajavi of the Iran women's national football team (from Women's association football)
Image 11Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 12From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 13FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 14Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain (from Women's association football)
Image 15Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 16United States' Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 17Striker 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 18Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 19Players 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 20The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 21Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 22Arsenal after winning the Women's FA Cup in 2007 (from Women's association football)
Image 23An 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 24North team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 25Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium (from Women's association football)
Image 26Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 27Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894. The goal has no net (from History of association football)
Image 28Harrow School team of 1867 (from History of association football)

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Official poster

The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the 3rd edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beating Hungary 4–2. Italy's 1934 and 1938 teams hold the distinction of being the only men's national team to win the World Cup multiple times under the same coach, Vittorio Pozzo. It was the last World Cup for 12 years as the 1942 and 1946 World Cups were cancelled due to World War II. (Full article...)

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... that Coventry City's winning goal in the 1987 FA Cup Final was an own goal scored in extra time off Gary Mabbutt's knee? (30 January 2021)
... that the Cambridge United team took a cold shower before winning the 1990 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final? (26 March 2021)
... that both Robbie Williams and Michael Jackson played for Blackpool in the 2007 Football League One play-off Final? (24 March 2021)
... that Crewe Alexandra were promoted back to the second tier of English football for the first time in 101 years when they won the 1997 Football League Second Division play-off Final? (27 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)
... that professional goalkeeper Scott Brown lost his father to Parkinson's, witnessed the birth of his son, and then signed with Aberdeen in the space of ten days? (29 March 2021)