Association football facts for kids

For the American sport, see American football. For other sports known as football, see Football

Switzerland and Albania playing football

A football field

Association football is a sport, played between two teams. There were various attempts to codify the rules of football in England in the mid-19th century. The present laws date back to 1863 where a ruleset was adopted by the newly formed Football Association.

In its country of origin, United Kingdom, it is called football. In other countries, such as the United States and Canada, it is called soccer. In Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and Japan, both words are often used.

Each team has 11 players on the field. One of these players is the goalkeeper, and the other ten are known as "outfield players". The game is played by kicking a ball into the opponent's goal. A match has 90 minutes of play, with a break of 15 minutes in the middle. The 90 minutes of play also includes injury time. The break in the middle is called half-time.

Gameplay
Rules
- Fundamental rules
- Behaviour rules
Pitch
Duration and tie-breaking methods
- 90-minute ordinary time
- Tie-breaking
Ball in and out of play
Competitions
Who plays football
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

Gameplay

Association football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a spherical ball of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) circumference, known as the football (or soccer ball). Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by the Laws of the Game: to represent their team in the coin toss before kick-off or penalty kicks.

The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they must use both their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their body (notably, "heading" with the forehead) other than their hands or arms. Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though players may not pass to teammates who are in an offside position.

During gameplay, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a teammate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee for an infringement of the rules. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart.

A player executing a slide tackle to dispossess an opponent

At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2022–23 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.85 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, to distinguish them from the goalkeeper.

These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which the player spends the most time. For example, there are central defenders and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team's players is known as a formation. Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager.

Rules

A goalkeeper saving a close-range shot from inside the penalty area

A player executing a slide tackle to dispossess an opponent

Fundamental rules

Note: this is not a complete summary

The side which scores the most goals wins. If scores are equal, the result is a draw.
The officials in a football game are a referee and two linesmen.
Goals are scored by getting the ball into the opponents' goal, more than halfway across the line.
- Referees have access to goal-line cameras to decide close cases.
- The offside rule means that there have to be at least two defenders between the attacker and the defenders' goal when the attacker's teammate passes the ball to him/her. (This is not a complete summary: the rule is complex). Usually, one of the two defenders is the goalkeeper.
Players may not use their hands or arms (handball), except the goalkeeper, who may use them within his own penalty area (penalty areas are in front of both goals).
The ball is out of play if it crosses the field boundaries.
- If a player kicks the ball out of play at the side of the field, the other team gets to throw the ball back into play (a throw in).
- If a player kicks the ball out of play at their end of the field, the other team kicks the ball back into play from the corner (a corner kick);
- If a player kicks the ball out of play at the other end of the field, the other team kicks the ball back into play from directly in front of the goal (a goal kick).
Football is a game of two halves. Each half is 45 minutes. The referee may add time to the end of each half when play is delayed due to injuries or substitutions. There is an interval of ten minutes between halves.
Each team is allowed up to three substitutes from the bench during the course of a game. No player substituted can return during the game.

Behaviour rules

Players may not trip or push each other (a foul).
Players may not hold each other or stop other players from getting to the ball (obstruction).
When a player scores he is not allowed to jump into the crowd. If he does he will get a yellow card. The same applies to lifting their shirt in celebration.
Players must not abuse referees in any way (verbally or physically).
Players who commit bad fouls get shown a yellow card. Players who commit really bad fouls, or get shown two yellow cards in the same game, get shown a red card. Players who get shown a red card get sent off the field and cannot finish playing the game. In some competitions (like the Premier League in England) you miss the next game (suspended) if you get a red card, or pick up 5 yellow cards during the season.

Pitch

Standard pitch measurements

The length of the pitch, or field, for international adult matches is in the range of 100–110 m (110–120 yd) and the width is in the range of 64–75 m (70–80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 90–120 m (98–131 yd) in length and 45–90 m (49–98 yd) in width, provided the pitch does not become square. In 2008, the IFAB initially approved a fixed size of 105 m (115 yd) long and 68 m (74 yd) wide as a standard pitch dimension for international matches; however, this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented.

The longer boundary lines are touchlines, while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines. A rectangular goal is positioned on each goal line, midway between the two touchlines. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 24 ft (7.32 metres) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 8 ft (2.44 metres) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws.

In front of the goal is the penalty area. This area is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by a penalty kick. Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs, goal kicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks.

Duration and tie-breaking methods

90-minute ordinary time

A standard adult football match consists of two halves of 45 minutes each. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time. The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is called "additional time" in FIFA documents, but is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, while lost time can also be used as a synonym. The duration of stoppage time is at the sole discretion of the referee. Stoppage time does not fully compensate for the time in which the ball is out of play, and a 90-minute game typically involves about an hour of "effective playing time". The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, towards the end of the half, the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time they intend to add. The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa. Trailing 1–0 with two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty kick. Villa's goalkeeper deliberately kicked the ball out of play; by the time it was recovered, the clock had run out and the game was over, leaving Stoke unable to attempt the penalty. The same law also states that the duration of either half is extended until a penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed; thus, no game can end with an uncompleted penalty.

Tie-breaking

Most knockout competitions use a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner if a match ends as a draw

In league competitions, games may end in a draw. In knockout competitions where a winner is required, various methods may be employed to break such a deadlock; some competitions may invoke replays. A game tied at the end of regulation time may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shoot-outs (known officially in the Laws of the Game as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament or be the champion. Goals scored during extra time periods count towards the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament, with goals scored in a penalty shoot-out not making up part of the final score.

In competitions using two-legged matches, each team competes at home once, with an aggregate score from the two matches deciding which team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the most goals in the leg they played away from home. If the result is still equal, extra time and potentially a penalty shoot-out are required.

Ball in and out of play

A player takes a free kick, while the opposition form a "wall" to try to block the ball

Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play:

Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play.
Throw-in: when the ball has crossed the touchline; awarded to the opposing team to that which last touched the ball.
Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the attacking team; awarded to defending team.
Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the defending team; awarded to attacking team.
Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution or dismiss an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly (without the ball first touching another player) from an indirect free kick.
Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls. A goal may be scored directly from a direct free kick.
Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area.
Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective.

Competitions

There are many competitions for football, for both football clubs and countries. Football clubs usually play other teams in their own country, with a few exceptions. Cardiff City F.C. and Swansea City F.C from Wales for example, play in the English leagues and in the English FA Cup.

Groups such as UEFA and FIFA organise international competitions between clubs and countries. Clubs play in competitions such as UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League, and countries play for the World Cup or a continental trophy such as the UEFA European Football Championship.

The FIFA World Cup takes place every four years between national teams, and is the world's most popular sporting event, even more popular than the Olympic Games. In football, there are two main types of competitions. In a "league", all of the teams play the same number of games, but in a "cup", teams leave the competition when they lose, until the last two teams play each other to decide the winner.

Who plays football

Football is the world's most popular sport. It is played in more countries than any other game. In fact, FIFA (the Federation Internationale de Football Association) has more members than the United Nations. It is played by both males and females.

In Europe, the main competitions to compete to be the best in Europe are the Champions League for the top teams from the top leagues in each country in Europe. Then there is UEFA Europa League which is for the next best teams from each member of the UEFA.

The most successful club in the world, in terms of domestic league results, is Rangers F.C. from Scotland, who have won more domestic league titles than any other team in the world. They have won the country's league 51 times which is a world record. Other successful clubs are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid from Spain, or Manchester United from England.

Spanish footballers celebrating winning the UEFA European Championship

Images for kids

The "Laws of the University Foot Ball Club" (Cambridge Rules) of 1856
The Aston Villa team in 1897, after winning both the FA Cup and the Football League
"North" team of the British Ladies', the first women's football team ever, here pictured in March 1895
An international match between the United States and Germany in 1997
Young Finnish girls football team of Kolarin Kontio in Piteå, Sweden, in 2014
The referee officiates in a football match
Most football competitions use a penalty shootout to decide the winner if a match ends as a draw
Headquarters of FIFA, the world governing body of football
The FIFA World Cup is the largest international competition in football and the world's most viewed sporting event
A 2009 Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The fixture, known as El Clásico, is one of the most renowned in sport.