Association football

Association football (a.k.a. soccer in the U.S.) is the correctly specific title of the type of football that is played almost wholly with the feet. It is also known as soccer in some countries, especially in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The sport originated in England and takes its name from The Football Association (the FA), which formulated the Laws of the Game in 1863. Association football is the world's most popular spectator sport and is generally known worldwide as football (as in Great Britain, France, and Ireland). This translates as Fußball (Germany and Austria), fútbol (Spain and Latin America), futebol (Portugal and Brazil), and футбол (Russia). A major exception is Italy where the sport is known as calcio (to kick; from a medieval version of the sport called Calcio Fiorentino).

A football match is played on a large, grassy field (also known as the pitch) by two teams of eleven players each. Broadly, the team consists of one goalkeeper, three or four defenders, three or four midfielders, and two to four forwards. Apart from the goalkeeper, no player is allowed to handle the ball during play. Pitch dimensions vary but are generally 110 to 120 yards long and 70 to 80 yards wide. The goalkeeper defends a rectangular goal which is 24 feet wide and eight feet high.