Portal:Association football

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Association football, commonly known as football, or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily 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 get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and across the goal line), thereby scoring a goal. When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then 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, 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 or JFA) 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. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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82 winning squad at Villa part during the 25 year celebrations

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and they have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founding members of the Football League in 1888 and the Premier League in 1992.

They are one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in England, having won the First Division Championship seven times and the FA Cup seven times. Villa are also one of only four English clubs to win the European Cup, which they did in 1982. Aston Villa is the fourth most successful club in English football history, having won over 20 major honours, although most of these were won before the Second World War.

They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with local rivals Birmingham City and the Birmingham Derby between the two teams has been contested since 1879. Less heated rivalries exist with the other West Midlands clubs. (Full article...)

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Gilberto Silva

Gilberto Aparecido da Silva, commonly known as Gilberto Silva, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.

He began his football career in 1997 with América Mineiro, where good form earned him a move to Atlético Mineiro in 2000. He became a star player for Atlético, playing for three years in the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. He came to particular prominence when he helped the Brazilian national team win the 2002 FIFA World Cup, playing in all seven of Brazil's matches.

In August 2002, for a fee of £4.5 million, he joined Arsenal with whom he won the 2004 FA Premier League, and two FA Cup trophies. In his first five seasons with the club he played 208 games and scored 23 goals, including scoring Arsenal's first competitive goal at the newly built Emirates Stadium on 19 August 2006. He was made vice-captain of Arsenal in 2006 and is contracted to the club until June 2009. In 2007 he was selected as Brazil captain for the Copa América tournament, which Brazil went on to win. (Full article...)

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) (in French Confédération Africaine de Football) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the Grand Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan by the national football associations of: Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa. following formal discussions between the aforementioned associations at the FIFA Congress held on 7 June 1956 at Avenida Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.

Representing the African confederation of FIFA, CAF organizes runs and regulates national team and club continental competitions annually or biennially such as the Africa Cup of Nations and Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which they control the prize money and broadcast rights to. CAF will be allocated 9 spots at the FIFA World Cup starting from 2026 and could have an opportunity of 10 spots with the addition of an intercontinental play-off tournament involving 6 teams to decide the last 2 FIFA World Cup places (46+2). (Full article...)

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... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... that Carlton Town F.C., now competing at the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, was once denied promotion by a hat-trick scored by future England international Jamie Vardy?
... that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?

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Chelsea F.C.

Credit: Flickr user Ray Boosen

Arjen Robben and Petr Čech of Chelsea F.C. parade with the Premier League trophy at the end of the 2005-06 season. This was the second season in a row that Chelsea had won the title.

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He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right.

— George Best, commenting on David Beckham's ability in 2000

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

Image 1Chelsea, a women's football club of London, England in 2020. (from Women's association football)
Image 2"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 3From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 4An 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 5Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 6Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 7The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 8Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 9When 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 10Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 11FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 12Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 13Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 14A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 15Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 16Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)

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Official poster

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934.

The 1934 World Cup was the first in which teams had to qualify to take part. Thirty-two nations entered the competition; 16 teams would qualify for the final tournament. Reigning champions Uruguay boycotted the tournament as only four European teams had accepted their invitation to the 1930 tournament. Italy beat Czechoslovakia 2–1 to become the second World Cup champions and the first European winners. (Full article...)

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Aston Villa F.C.

History (1874–1961)

History (1961–present)

Seasons

Statistics and records

Villa Park

List of players

List of managers

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... that Manjappada, a supporters' group of Kerala Blasters FC, coordinated and brought forty-one busloads of their fans across Kerala to the venue for the opening match of the 2019–20 season? (26 January 2021)
... that Phil Chisnall moved from Manchester United to Liverpool in April 1964, becoming the last player to be transferred directly between the two clubs? (26 March 2021)
... that both of Scunthorpe United's substitutes failed to score their penalties in the shootout, which saw them lose the 1992 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final? (21 April 2021)
... that Claude Callegari gained cult-hero status among English football fans for his speeches about Arsenal? (24 April 2021)
... that Irish sportswoman Carol Breen has played internationally in both association and Australian rules football? (17 March 2021)
... that when Irene del Río was called up to the Spain women's national football team squad, she was the only player who did not compete in the country's top division? (28 April 2021)