Gemopedia
Ball Sports🇬🇧United Kingdom Olympic19th century

Football

Officially Association 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.

👥11 per team📐pitch⏱~90 min🌤outdoor
Photo · Wikipedia

What is Football?

Association football (soccer) is played by more people, in more countries, than any other organised sport on Earth. Two teams of eleven players use their feet, heads and bodies — but never their hands or arms — to move a ball into the opposing team's goal. The rules (called the Laws of the Game) are elegant enough that a child in a favela and a professional in Munich play essentially the same sport.

Quick facts

Category

Ball Sports

Type

Team sport

Players

11 per team

Duration

~90 min

Where played

outdoor

Field / court

pitch

Country of origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Estimated origin

1863 (codification of the Laws of the Game)

Olympic

Yes

Popularity

global

How it works

Objective

Score more goals than the opposing team by putting the whole ball across their goal line, between the posts and under the crossbar.

Match structure

The match begins with a kickoff. Play continues fluidly, restarted after infractions or the ball leaving play. At full-time the team with more goals wins; if scores are level the match may be drawn or, in knockout formats, go to extra time and penalties.

See how it works

How offside works

See exactly when a player is (and isn't) in an offside position.

DDDGKPA

At the moment the ball is played, the receiving attacker is nearer to the goal line than the second-last defender → offside.

Rules

Basic rules

  • No handball

    Outfield players cannot deliberately touch the ball with the hand or arm. Only the goalkeeper may handle the ball, and only inside their own penalty area.

  • Offside

    An attacker is offside if any part of their head, body or feet that can legally score is nearer the opponent's goal line than both the ball AND the second-last opponent, at the moment a teammate plays the ball to them.

  • Free kicks

    Awarded for fouls: direct (a goal can be scored directly) or indirect (must touch another player before entering the goal).

  • Throw-in / corner / goal kick

    The game is restarted from the sideline by a throw-in, or from the goal-line by a corner (defence last touched) or goal kick (attack last touched).

  • Cards

    Yellow = caution; second yellow = red = sent off. Straight red for serious foul play, violent conduct or denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.

Advanced rules

  • VAR

    Video Assistant Referee reviews four match-changing situations: goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity. The on-field referee has the final call.

  • Substitution rules

    FIFA competitions currently allow 5 substitutions in 3 stoppages (a rule cemented after the 2020 COVID season).

  • Advantage

    Rather than stop play for a foul, the referee can wave play on if the fouled team stands to gain more by continuing.

Scoring

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.

Win condition · Most goals wins. Level scores may be a draw (league), extra time (knockout), or a penalty shoot-out (final knockout tiebreaker).

Playing area

Called

pitch

Dimensions

100–110 m long × 64–75 m wide (FIFA international standard).

A rectangular grass or artificial-turf pitch marked with halfway line, centre circle, penalty areas (18-yard box), goal areas (6-yard box) and corner arcs. A goal stands at each end.

The football pitch

A regulation FIFA pitch — halfway line, centre circle, penalty areas (18-yard box), goal areas (6-yard box) and corner arcs.

Penalty area6-yardspotHalfway line100–110 m long · 64–75 m wide
GrassLine markingsPenalty area

Equipment

  • Football

    Circumference 68–70 cm, weight 410–450 g.

  • Goals

    7.32 m wide × 2.44 m high crossbar.

  • Shin guards

    Mandatory protective gear under socks.

  • Boots

    Studded footwear appropriate to the surface.

Positions & roles

  • Goalkeeper

    ×1

    The only player allowed to use their hands, and only inside their own penalty area.

  • Defender

    ×4

    Stops the opposition from scoring — full-backs, centre-backs and wing-backs.

  • Midfielder

    ×4

    Links defence and attack; controls the tempo of the game.

  • Forward

    ×2

    Primary goal-scorer; positioned closest to the opposing goal.

4-3-3 formation

The most-used modern formation — a back four, three central midfielders, and a front three of two wingers and a striker.

opposition goal →own goal →GKRBCBCBLBCMCDMCMRWSTLW
GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards

Officiating

One referee is in charge of the match. Assistant referees signal offside, throw-ins and out-of-play. VAR reviews four match-changing situations via replay booth.

  • Referee
  • Two assistant referees (linesmen)
  • Fourth official
  • VAR + assistant VAR

Penalties & fouls

Penalties

  • Penalty kick

    A direct free kick from the penalty spot (11 m) with only the goalkeeper defending — awarded for a foul by the defence inside their own penalty area.

  • Yellow card

    A caution for unsporting behaviour, dissent, delaying the restart, or tactical fouling.

  • Red card

    Sent off — the team plays on with 10 (or fewer). Two yellows in one match also produce a red.

Fouls

  • Direct free-kick offences

    Kicking, tripping, jumping at, charging, striking, pushing, tackling from behind, holding or spitting at an opponent — or handling the ball deliberately.

  • Indirect free-kick offences

    Playing in a dangerous manner, impeding an opponent without contact, preventing the goalkeeper releasing the ball, or offside.

Strategies

  • Formations

    The most common are 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2; each balances defence, midfield control and forward pressure differently.

  • High press vs low block

    Pressing high forces mistakes near the opposition goal; sitting deep denies space and invites counter-attacks.

  • Set pieces

    Corners and free kicks account for 20–30% of goals at elite level. Rehearsed routines are a serious weapon.

Terminology

Hat-trick
Three goals scored by one player in a single match.
Nutmeg
Playing the ball through an opponent's legs and collecting it on the other side.
Clean sheet
A match in which a team concedes no goals.
Corner kick
Restart from the corner arc, awarded when the defence puts the ball behind their own goal line.
Bicycle kick
An acrobatic strike where the player kicks the ball backwards while airborne.
Tiki-taka
A style of play built on short, quick passes to maintain possession.

Major competitions

  • FIFA World Cup

    quadrennial · worldwide · since 1930

  • UEFA Champions League

    annual · Europe · since 1955

  • Copa Libertadores

    annual · South America · since 1960

  • AFC Asian Cup

    quadrennial · Asia · since 1956

  • Africa Cup of Nations

    biennial · Africa · since 1957

Where it is played

Governing bodies

  • Fédération Internationale de Football AssociationFIFA

    Founded 1904 · Zurich, Switzerland

    Official site ↗

  • International Football Association BoardIFAB

    Founded 1886 · Zurich, Switzerland

    Official site ↗

  • Union of European Football AssociationsUEFA

    Founded 1954 · Nyon, Switzerland

Famous names & records

Famous athletes

  • Pelé
  • Diego Maradona
  • Lionel Messi
  • Cristiano Ronaldo
  • Zinedine Zidane
  • Marta
  • Mia Hamm
  • Johan Cruyff

Records

  • Most FIFA World Cups (nation)

    Brazil — 5 titles (2002)

  • Most Ballon d'Or awards

    Lionel Messi — 8 titles (2023)

  • Highest-scoring club in Europe (season)

    Barcelona (2011-12) — 191 goals (2012)

Learn this sport

beginner

  1. 1
    What is football?

    A team sport where you score by putting the ball into the opposition's goal, using anything but your arms and hands.

  2. 2
    The pitch

    Rectangular, with a goal at each end, marked penalty areas and a halfway line.

  3. 3
    How to score

    Whole ball must cross the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar.

  4. 4
    The offside rule

    You can't be nearer the opponent's goal line than the second-last defender when the pass is played.

  5. 5
    Fouls & cards

    Yellow for cautions, red for send-offs. Two yellows = red.

  6. 6
    Study the pitch layout

    Halfway line, penalty area, goal area — see them all labelled.

Frequently asked

Is football and soccer the same sport?+

Yes — 'soccer' is a British abbreviation of 'association', used to distinguish it from rugby football.

How many players are in a team?+

Eleven on the pitch per side, plus substitutes on the bench (5 usually allowed in senior competitions).

Can you score directly from a corner kick?+

Yes — it is a rare but perfectly legal goal known as an 'olimpico'.

Sources & provenance

Last verified 2026-08-20.verified