Portal:Association football

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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.

The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest, and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and that only within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared with 1 point awarded to each team, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.

Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. the FA in England, the U.S. Soccer in the United States, Canada Soccer in Canada, Football Australia in Australia, New Zealand Football in New Zealand, etc) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. (Full article...)

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Sheffield Wednesday lift the 2005 League One Playoff Trophy

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional football team based in Sheffield, England who currently compete in the Football League of England in The Championship division. Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world.

Nicknamed the "Owls", the club has won four league titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup, but their League Cup triumph in 1991 is their only major trophy since World War II. They did reach both domestic cup finals in 1993, but lost 2-1 to Arsenal each time.

Their main rivals are neighbours Sheffield United. Matches between Wednesday and United are nicknamed Steel City derbies and are usually the highlight of the season for both sets of fans. Famous matches include The Boxing Day Massacre, a Football League Third Division match which took place at Hillsborough on 26 December 1979. A record Third Division crowd of 49,309 fans watched Wednesday beat United 4-0 and the game has become part of Sheffield Wednesday folklore, even inspiring a song. (Full article...)

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James Milner

James Milner (born January 4, 1986) is an English footballer who plays as a winger and left-sided midfielder.

Milner began his career at Leeds United by joining the club's academy in 1996, he was later taken on as a trainee. Milner made his inaugural appearance for the first-team in 2002, aged only 16 and became prominent by becoming the youngest player ever to score in the Premier League.

While at Leeds United, Milner spent time on loan at Swindon Town to gain experience as a first team player. Following his move to Newcastle United in 2004, he was loaned to Aston Villa for a season before establishing himself as a regular starter in the Newcastle first team.

A playmaker, he has made over a hundred appearances for the club, as well as making a record number of appearances for the England Under-21 side. He was part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship before eventually losing 13-12 in a penalty shoot-out in which he scored twice. In October 2007, Milner scored Newcastle's 500th home Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. (Full article...)

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The Argentine Football Association (Spanish: Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, locally [asosjaˈsjon del ˈfuðβol aɾxenˈtino]; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torneo Regional Federal and Torneo Promocional Amateur), including domestic cups: Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional and the Supercopa Internacional. The body also manages all the Argentina national teams, including the Senior, U-20, U-17, U-15, Olympic and women's squads. Secondly, it also organizes the women's, children, youth, futsal, and other local leagues.

The AFA also organised all the Primera División championships from 1893 to 2016–17. From the 2017–18 season the "Superliga Argentina", an entity which was administered independently and had its own statute, took over the Primera División championships. Nevertheless, the Superliga was contractually linked with the main football body. The last championship organised by the Superliga was 2019–20, shortly after the season ended the body was dissolved. (Full article...)

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... that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
... that football manager Darren Moore led Sheffield Wednesday to promotion even after they lost the first leg of their play-off semi-final 4–0?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?

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Allianz Arena

Credit: commons user Norbert Aepli

The illuminated exterior of the Allianz Arena in Germany. Completed in 2005 at a cost of €340 million, it is the home ground of Bayern Munich. Nicknamed the "Schlauchboot" (inflatable boat), its exterior is constructed of 2,874 foil air panels which are inflated with dry air. These panels can be individually lit with either red, blue or white lights.

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Of course I didn't take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present, it was her birthday. Would I have got married in the football season? Anyway, it was Rochdale reserves.

— Bill Shankly

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The following are images from various association football-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 2The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 3Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 4Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 5Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 6When first introduced in 1891, the penalty was awarded for offences within 12 yards of the goal-line. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 7Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 8The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 9Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland. (from Women's association football)
Image 10Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 11The official record attendance for a women's football match was set at Camp Nou on 22 April 2022, with 91,648 people watching Barcelona defeat Wolfsburg 5–1 (pictured). (from Women's association football)
Image 12Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 13Striker Cristiana Girelli and coach Rita Guarino of Juventus in 2019. Juventus is one of the most storied and successful football clubs in Italy. (from Women's association football)
Image 14Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 15An early draft of the original hand-written 'Laws of the Game' drawn up on behalf of The Football Association by Ebenezer Cobb Morley in 1863 on display at the National Football Museum, Manchester. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 16From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 17Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 18Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 19United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 20A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 21"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 22Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 23Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 24Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 25Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 26Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 27Cricket and Foot-Ball, one of the earliest books about association football, published by Beadle & Co. in New York in 1000 It contained the rules and laws of the game (from History of association football)
Image 28Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 29FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)

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The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals.

The matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the opening and final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These 16 teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. (Full article...)

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... that professional goalkeeper Scott Brown lost his father to Parkinson's, witnessed the birth of his son, and then signed with Aberdeen in the space of ten days? (29 March 2021)
... that AFC Wimbledon were promoted for a sixth time since their formation in 2002 when they won the 2016 Football League Two play-off Final? (6 February 2021)
... that the French football club GPSO 92 Issy was founded by three Peruvian sisters in 1997? (8 April 2021)
... that Coventry City's winning goal in the 1987 FA Cup Final was an own goal scored in extra time off Gary Mabbutt's knee? (30 January 2021)
... that some of the Sheffield Wednesday team participated in a conga on the M4 motorway after winning the 2005 Football League One play-off Final? (19 February 2021)
... that thousands of football players are trafficked every year? (7 February 2021)