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Football

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Football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a single spherical ball, known as the football.
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.
The primary rule 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^[5]
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.
restart). Although players usually use their feet to move the ball
around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their hands or
arms.
In typical 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 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. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart.

At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2005–06 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match.^[7] The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper,^[8] 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 in order
to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions
are referred to as outfield players, in order to discern them from the
single 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
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.^[9] 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.

History

Games revolving around the kicking of a ball have been played in many countries throughout history. According to FIFA,
the "very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific
evidence was an exercise of precisely this skilful technique dating
back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC in China (the game of cuju)."^[11] Various forms of football were played in medieval Europe, though rules varied greatly by both period and location.
The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century
efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played at
the public schools of England.
The Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University
in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent
codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written
at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury
schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many
clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the
English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up
with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857,^[12] which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.^[13]
These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.^[14] The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse.
The Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between
October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive
set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the
representative from Blackheath,
withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at
the previous meeting, the first which allowed for the running with the
ball in hand and the second, obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking
an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby football clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, or subsequently left the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game.^[14] These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football
being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by
its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules
until there was little difference between the games.
An offside rule had not been included in the 1863 rules. In 1867, a "loose" offside rule based on the Cambridge rules was introduced, permitting forward passing.^[15] Consequently, in the late 1860s "scientific" team play and ball passing strategies started to evolve, which created the modern game as we know it. Teamwork and passing were the innovation of the Royal Engineers.^[16]^[17]^[18] By 1869, they were "work[ing] well together", "backing up" and benefiting from "cooperation".^[19].By
1870 the Engineers were the first team to use ball passing strategies:
"Lieut. Creswell, who having brought [the ball]] up the side then
kicked it into the middle to another of his side, who kicked it through
the posts the minute before time was called"^[20] Passing was a regular feature of their style^[21] and their skills included "turn[ing] the ball" to colleagues and "irreproachable organisation" of forwards and defenders.^[22] By early 1872 the Engineers were the first football team renowned for "play[ing] beautifully together".^[23]
The laws of the game are currently determined by the International Football Association Board^[24] after a meeting in Manchester of The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association. The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by C. W. Alcock and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of C. W. Alcock. England is home to the world's first football league, which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.^[25]Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association.^[26] The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the International Football Association Board
in 1913. The board currently consists of four representatives from FIFA
and one representative from each of the four British associations. (IFAB). The Board was formed in 1886
The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and the North
of England. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association
(FIFA), the international football body, was formed in
Today, football is played at a professional level all over the
world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow
their favourite teams,^[27] while billions more watch the game on television.^[28]
A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level.
According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240
million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football.^[29] Its simple rules and minimal equipment requirements have no doubt aided its spread and growth in popularity.
In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations; it is therefore often claimed to be the most popular sport in the world. ESPN has spread the claim that the Côte d'Ivoire national football team
helped secure a truce to the nation's civil war in 2005. By contrast,
football is widely considered to be the final proximate cause in the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras.^[30] The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade devolved into rioting in March 1990