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 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 only then 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 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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Formative shot of York City in 1922.

York City Football Club is an English football club based in York. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions.

The club briefly rose as high as the second tier of English football, spending two seasons in the Second Division in the 1970s. At the end of the 2003–04 season the club lost their League status when they were relegated from the Third Division, and have since remained in the Conference.

York have enjoyed more success in cup competitions than in the league, with highlights including an FA Cup semi-final appearance in 1955. In the 1995–96 League Cup, York beat Manchester United 3–0 at Old Trafford.

Traditionally, York City's two main rivalries have been with Scarborough and Hull City with the rivalry between Hull and York being represented as a battle between a lion (York City's mascot) and a tiger (Hull City's mascot). (Full article...)

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Louisa Nécib (born 23 January 1987) is a French women's international footballer who plays for French club Olympique Lyonnais of the Division 1 Féminine. She plays as a central attacking midfielder and is described as a "gifted playmaker" who "possesses superb technique". Nécib is also known for her "elegant possession, sublime passing skills, and cultured touch on the ball". She has been labeled by the French media as "the female Zidane", primarily due to having an Algerian background, growing up in Marseille like Zidane, and having immense skill.

Nécib began her football career playing for local youth clubs in her hometown of Marseille, such as Union Sportive Marseille and Celtic de Marseille. With the latter club, she made her senior team debut in 2003 and, in the following season, helped the club win the Division 3 Féminine. In 2004, Nécib was selected to attend CNFE Clairefontaine, the women's section of the Clairefontaine academy. She spent two years at the training center, and in 2006, departed for Montpellier of the Division 1 Féminine. In her only season with Montpellier, Nécib helped the team win the 2006–07 edition of the Challenge de France. After departing Montpellier, she joined Lyon. Since joining the club, Nécib has won a slew of trophies, which include four league titles, one Challenge de France, and one UEFA Women's Champions League title. For her performances during the 2008–09 season, she was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Female Player of the Year.

Nécib is a former French women's youth international having represented her nation at all levels for which she was eligible. At under-19 level, she played on the teams that reached the 2004 and 2005 editions of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship. With the under-20 team, Nécib played at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship scoring a goal in the group stage against Argentina as France reached the quarter-finals. Prior to playing in the U-20 Women's World Cup, Nécib made her senior international debut in February 2005 in a friendly match against Norway. Two years later in March 2007, Nécib scored her first senior international goal in a UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying victory over Greece. She has participated in three major international tournaments for her country; the 2005 and 2009 editions of UEFA Women's Euro and the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. In the latter competition, Nécib acted as the playmaker and contributed to the team that finished in fourth place.

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CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque,
Paraguay, as seen in 2014

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, /ˈkɒnmɪbɒl/, or CSF; Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; Portuguese: Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football's major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.

CONMEBOL national teams have won ten FIFA World Cups (Brazil five, Argentina three and Uruguay two) and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have won two Olympic gold medals each. (Full article...)

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... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... 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 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?

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Wrexham F.C.

Credit: commons user Mark Barnes

Ryan Valentine scores a penalty for Wrexham F.C. in the final game of the 2006-07 season against Boston United. The losers of this game would be relegated to the Football Conference league. Wrexham won 3-1 to keep their place in Football League Two.

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Nobody can stop him. Probably the only way to do it is to kill him. When he runs at you, you try to grab his shirt or do whatever you can. But he just goes past you, makes fun out of you and leaves you kicking the air.

— Patrice Evra, on Cristiano Ronaldo

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

Image 1Players 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 2Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 3Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 4Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 5Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 6The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 7United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 8Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 9Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 10Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 11Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 12Cricket 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 13From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 14Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 15Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 16FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 17Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 18The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 19A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 20When 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 21Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 22Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 23The 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 24Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 25"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 26Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 27An 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 28Striker 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 29Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)

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The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country.

Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in the final in Solna, Stockholm, to claim their first title, having beaten France in the semi-final and Wales in the quarter-final. The tournament also marked the arrival of a then 17-year-old Pelé on the world stage, who scored in all three of Brazil's knockout games. (Full article...)

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... that Billy Kee was going to include "Wembley" in the name of his child who was being born during the 2014 Football League Two play-off Final if he scored? (11 February 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 Mark Cullen was named as League Two Player of the Month for October 2014 after scoring a perfect hat-trick? (3 April 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 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 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)