🇺🇸
Ball Sports
Basketball
A five-a-side team sport in which players score by throwing an inflated ball through a 10-foot-high hoop.
🇬🇧
Ball Sports
Football
The world's most popular team sport — two sides of eleven aim to score more goals than the opponent using any part of the body except the arms and hands.
The two most popular team sports on Earth — compared field, ball and clock.
| Attribute | Basketball | Football |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Ball Sports | Ball Sports |
| Origin | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Estimated origin | December 1891 (invented by Dr James Naismith) | 1863 (codification of the Laws of the Game) |
| Team or individual | Team | Team |
| Players | 5 per team | 11 per team |
| Playing area | court | pitch |
| Field dimensions | FIBA: 28 m × 15 m. NBA: 28.65 m × 15.24 m. Hoop 3.05 m high. | 100–110 m long × 64–75 m wide (FIFA international standard). |
| Match duration | ~48 min | ~90 min |
| Match structure | FIBA: 4 quarters × 10 min. NBA: 4 quarters × 12 min. College: 2 halves × 20 min. | Two halves of 45 minutes with a 15-minute half-time. |
| Scoring | 2 points from inside the arc, 3 from beyond, 1 for a free throw. | A goal is scored when the entire ball crosses the goal line between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided no infringement (offside, handball, foul) has been committed by the attacking team. |
| Objective | Score more points than the opposition by shooting the ball through the opposing team's basket. | Score more goals than the opposing team by putting the whole ball across their goal line, between the posts and under the crossbar. |
| Governing body | Fédération Internationale de Basketball | Fédération Internationale de Football Association |
| Olympic sport | Yes | Yes |
| Popularity | global | global |
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