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Football facts for kids

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This page is about the word "football". For the sport most often called "football", see Association football.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - Portugal vs Argentina, 9th February 2011
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the most widely-known football players in the world

Football is a word which could mean one of several sports. The best-known type of football is association football. This is called "soccer" in North America, South Africa, and Australia to avoid confusion with other types of football that are commonly played there.

The name football comes from the two words 'foot' and 'ball'. It is named football because the players of the game walk and often run (on their feet) while playing, as opposed to (for example) polo where the players ride horses. Football is played using a ball, also called a 'football', that is usually shaped like a sphere or an ellipsoid. The ball is often kicked with the foot, but depending on the game, it can also be hit using other parts of the body (in association football) and handling the ball is a part of some other sports known as 'football'.

Some elements of football have been seen in many countries, dating back to the second and third century AD in China. The modern games of both rugby football and association football comes from 19th-century England. Kicking a ball goes back to the Middle Ages. Association football spread to many other parts of Europe, and was brought to the rest of the world with colonization. Today, it is the most popular sport in the world and many people watch it on television, especially the FIFA World Cup that happens every four years.

Every year there is a Football Club Competition called as Champions League. All the qualified big teams take part. At the end, we have one winner who takes the prestigious UEFA trophy. All big players play for their own teams. Some big players who take part every year are Mbappe, Ronaldo, Messi, Dybala, Neymar and many more


Types of football

Warrior Games athletes honored at Navy-Air Force football game 141004-D-DB155-022
A game of American (gridiron) football. Canadian football is very similar.


Images for kids

  • Emperor Taizu play Cuju

    A painting depicting Emperor Taizu of Song playing cuju (i.e. Chinese football) with his prime minister Zhao Pu (趙普) and other ministers, by the Yuan dynasty artist Qian Xuan (1235–1305)

  • Mobfooty

    An illustration of so-called "mob football"

  • Football gravure 1750

    "Football" in France, circa 1750

  • Calcio fiorentino 1688

    An illustration of the Calcio Fiorentino field and starting positions, from a 1688 book by Pietro di Lorenzo Bini

  • Rugby School 850

    Although the Rugby School (pictured) became famous due to a version that rugby football was invented there in 1823, most sports historians refuse this version stating it is apocryphal

  • The Football Game. Thomas Webster, 1839, 1

    A Football Game (1839) by British painter Thomas Webster

  • Foot Ball, Kingston-upon-Thames, Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 24th, 1846

    Football match in the 1846 Shrove Tuesday in Kingston upon Thames, England

  • Richard Lindon (1816-1887)

    Richard Lindon (seen in 1880) is believed to have invented the first footballs with rubber bladders

  • Tom Wills 1857

    Tom Wills, widely regarded as the father of Australian football

  • Australianfootball1866

    Wood engraving of an Australian rules football match at the Richmond Paddock, Melbourne, 1866

  • Last scrimmage buckman

    The Last Scrimmage by Edwin Buckman, depicting a rugby scrum in 1871

  • The Tigers of Hamilton football team

    The "Tigers" of Hamilton, Ontario, circa 1906. Founded 1869 as the Hamilton Foot Ball Club, they eventually merged with the Hamilton Flying Wildcats to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a team still active in the Canadian Football League.

  • 1882RutgersFootballTeam

    Rutgers University (here pictured in 1882) played the first inter-collegiate football game v Princeton in 1869

  • HarvardMcGill

    The Harvard v McGill game in 1874. It is considered the first rugby football game played in the US

  • Croke Park from the Hill - 2004 All-Ireland Football Championship Final

    The All-Ireland Football Final in Croke Park, 2004

  • The Sportsman 1910-11-25 Football

    Heading from The Sportsman (London) front page of 25 November 1910, illustrating the continued use of the word "football" to encompass both association football and rugby

  • Indoor Soccer Game in Mexico

    An indoor soccer game at an open-air venue in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.

  • RendallsHarrowFootball

    Harrow football players after a game at Harrow School (circa 2005).

  • One Hundred Children in the Long Spring-crop

    A Song dynasty painting by Su Hanchen (c. 1130-1160), depicting Chinese children playing cuju

  • Tepantitla mural, Ballplayer B Cropped

    Paint of a Mesoamerican ballgame player of the Tepantitla murals in Teotihuacan

  • Aborigines playing football guiana

    A group of aborigines playing a ball game in Guiana

  • Marn grook illustration 1857-crop

    An illustration from the 1850s of Australian Aboriginal hunter gatherers

  • Kemari Matsuri at Tanzan Shrine 2

    A revived version of kemari being played at the Tanzan Shrine, Japan, 2006

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Football Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.