Football refers to a number of team sports that involve, to

varying degrees,kicking a ball to score a goal.

Unqualified, the word football is understood to refer to
whichever form of football is the most popular in the
regional context in which the word appears. Sports
commonly called 'football' in certain places
include: association football (known as soccer in some
countries); gridiron football (specifically American
football or Canadian football); Australian rules
football; rugby football (either rugby league or rugby
union); and Gaelic football.[1][2] These different variations of
football are known as football codes.
Various forms of football can be identified in history, often
as popular peasantgames. Contemporary codes of football
can be traced back to the codification of these games at
English public schools during the nineteenth century.[3]

[4]

The expanse of the British Empire allowed these rules of

football to spread to areas of British influence outside of

the directly controlled Empire,[5] though by the end of the
nineteenth century, distinct regional codes were already
developing: Gaelic football, for example, deliberately
incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in
order to maintain their heritage.[6] In 1888,The Football
League was founded in England, becoming the first of
manyprofessional football competitions. During the
twentieth century, several of the various kinds of football
grew to become some of the most popular team sports in
the world.[7]
Common elements
The various codes of football share certain common
elements. Players in American football, Canadian football,
rugby union and rugby league take up positions in a

limited area of the field at the start of the game.[8] They

tend to use throwing and running as the main ways of
moving the ball, and only kick on certain limited
occasions. Body tackling is a major skill, and games
typically involve short passages of play of 590 seconds.
[8]

Association football, Australian rules football and Gaelic

football tend to use kicking to move the ball around the

pitch, with handling more limited. Body tackles are less
central to the game, and players are freer to move around
the field (offside laws are typically less strict).[8]
Common rules among the sports include:[9]

Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players;

some variations that have fewer players (five or more
per team) are also popular.

A clearly defined area in which to play the game.

Scoring goals or points, by moving the ball to an

opposing team's end of the field and either into a goal
area, or over a line.

Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball

between two goalposts.

The goal or line being defended by the opposing

team.

Players being required to move the balldepending

on the codeby kicking, carrying, or hand-passing the
ball.

Players using only their body to move the ball.

In all codes, common skills include passing, tackling,

evasion of tackles, catching and kicking.[8] In most codes,
there are rules restricting the movement of players offside,

and players scoring a goal must put the ball either under
or over acrossbar between the goalposts.
n sports, goal is a physical structure or area where an
attacking team must send the ball or puck in order to score
points. In several sports, a goal is the sole method of
scoring, and thus the final score is expressed in the total
number of goals scored by each team. In other sports, a
goal may be one of several scoring methods, and thus
may be worth a different set number of points than the
others.
The structure of a goal varies from sport to sport. Most
often, it is a rectangular structure that is placed at each
end of the playing field. Each structure usually consists of
two vertical posts, called goal posts, supporting a
horizontal crossbar. Agoal line marked on the playing
surface between the goal posts demarcates the goal area.

Thus, the objective is to send the ball or puck between the

goal posts, under or over the crossbar (depending on the
sport), and across the goal line. Less commonly, as
in basketball or netball, goals are ring-shaped. The
structure is often accompanied with an auxiliary net, which
stops or slows down the ball when a goal is scored.

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 68.569.5 cm (27.027.4 in)
circumference,[49] 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 be involved in the coin toss prior to kick-off
or penalty kicks.[50]
The primary law is that players other
than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with
their hands or arms during play, though they do use 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)
[51]

other than their hands or arms.[52] Within normal play, all

players are free to play the ball in any direction and move
throughout the pitch, though the ball cannot be received in
an offside position.[53]

A player executing a slide tackle to dispossess an

opponent
In game play, players attempt to create goal-scoring
opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as
by dribbling, passing the ball to a team-mate, 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 throughtackling 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.[54]
At a professional level, most matches produce only a few
goals. For example, the200506 season of the
English Premier League produced an average of 2.48
goals per match.[55] The Laws of the Game do not specify
any player positions other than goalkeeper,[56] 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 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 offensiveminded 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.[57] 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