Football, Association, is the world’s most popular sport. It is the national sport of most European and Latin American countries, and of many other nations. It is known simply as football in most English-speaking countries and as fútbol in Spanish-speaking countries. It is also often called by its popular name, soccer. The word soccer comes from assoc., an abbreviation for association.
Millions of people in more than 200 countries play association football. FIFA is the world governing body for football. FIFA stands for Federation Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). Its headquarters are in Zurich , Switzerland . The game’s most famous international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup. Each tournament is held every four years. The finals are watched by a worldwide television audience of hundreds of millions.
This article discusses football organization and competition. For information about the game’s rules and history, and how to play the game, see Soccer .
Leagues and cups
Association football is organized in league and cup competitions. Teams also play so-called “friendly matches.” A friendly match is an exhibition that does not count in league or cup standings.
League soccer.
The teams in a league usually play each other twice—at home and away. In most leagues, a win is worth three points, a draw (tie) one, and a defeat none. At the end of the season, the champion team is the one with the most points. If teams have equal point totals, the winner is determined by the goal difference (the difference between goals scored by a team and goals scored against them). When goal differences are equal, the team scoring the most goals is the winner.
In most major football-playing countries, leagues are organized in several divisions. There is usually a system of promotion (upward movement) for the teams with the best records and relegation (downward movement) for the teams with the poorest records.
Cup competitions
are organized on a knock-out basis—that is, a team is eliminated after losing one match. The cup draw (lottery) determines whether a team plays at home or away, and who the opponents will be. If the match ends in a draw, the visiting team then hosts a second game. If the sides are still equal at the end of this second game, extra time may be played, and further replays may take place.
A round of some knock-out competitions involves a home and away game, each called a leg. The winner of each tie (a match in an eliminating competition) is then determined on the aggregate (combined) total score over the two legs.
If the teams are even after the 90 minutes of regular play in the second leg, the tie may be decided on the away goals rule. According to this rule, if the total score is even after two regulation games, the team that scored more goals as a visitor is declared the winner. If the teams are still even after the away goals are added, the teams may play extra time. Extra time usually consists of two 15-minute periods. At the end of extra time, the teams might have to break the tie by taking a series of penalty kicks. Each team has five penalty kicks, taken alternately, with no player taking more than one kick. If the penalty score is equal after the five kicks by each side, different players take additional kicks until one side has a goal lead after both sides have attempted an equal number of kicks.
The world game
FIFA organizes the World Cup and Women’s World Cup as well as other international competitions, such as world youth and junior championships. FIFA recognizes six continental groupings, which organize competition in their regions.
The FIFA World Cup
is held every four years. Countries qualify for the finals during the previous two years through elimination groups in their continental zones. Thirty-two nations qualify for the finals. The FIFA World Cup finals take place over a period of about a month at several locations in the host country. In the first round, the qualifying nations are divided into eight groups of four, and each team plays the other three teams in its group. The top two teams in each group advance to the next round, in which a team is eliminated by losing one game.
Europe.
The governing body for Europe is the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The European Championships are held every four years. More than 45 countries take part, 16 qualifying for the finals. UEFA also organizes under-21 and youth competitions, and two major club competitions. The club competitions, which take place annually, are the UEFA Champions League for champion clubs and top runners-up in the biggest leagues and the UEFA Cup for national cup winners and other leading teams. These large tournaments start as group competitions, with the advancing teams moving into a home-and-away leg knock-out competition. The finals of each tournament are played at a neutral site.
The four major political divisions of the United Kingdom — England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland —have their own Football Associations and compete separately at both country and club level.
South America
has fewer soccer-playing nations than Europe, but has won equal honors in international competition over the years owing mainly to the strength of Brazil , Argentina , and Uruguay . Football in South America is run by the South American Football Confederation, or Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL). The chief competitions are the Copa América, a South American championship for countries, and the Copa Libertadores (Liberators’ Cup) de América for clubs.
African
competition is supervised by the Confederation of African Football, or Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF). Sixteen countries take part in the African Nations Championship, held once every two years. Africa’s international club tournament, the African Cup of Nations, is also held every other year.
North and Central America.
The United States and Mexico have dominated this group, which includes the Caribbean countries. The governing body is the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). In the United States, despite the traditional popularity of baseball , American football , and other sports, soccer has grown in popularity at the professional and international level.
Asia.
Association football is a major sport in the Asian Games , held every four years. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) also stages the Asian Cup every four years. Australia , China , and Japan rank among the AFC’s strongest national teams.
Oceania.
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is the smallest continental association. This group’s member associations include such Pacific Island nations as Fiji , New Zealand , Samoa , and Tonga . Every four years, these associations compete in the OFC Nations Cup. New Zealand is the only current OFC country to have qualified for the World Cup (1982 and 2010).
