Association football, also called simply football, is an international team game played between a rectangular ball and two teams of eleven players each. It is played regularly around the world by about 250 million players in more than 200 countries and dependencies. It has a longer history than any other sport combined, having first been played in France in 1954 and is now played by hundreds of thousands of people in all corners of the world. While football may seem to be a simple game, it is in fact a very complex game and a lot of skill are required.
Football is played between two competing teams that are separated by an invisible or solid wall which acts as the boundary between the two teams. The object of the game is to get the football through this wall using either feet, passes or kicks. The object is to score more points than the other team. Goals are scored either by scoring a direct kick from a football or by putting the other team in the penalty box. A point is usually awarded when a football is touched by an opponent and then by a teammate within the opposition’s side of the wall. In international tournaments, extra points are given for headers, penalties and sending the ball into the opposing team’s goal area.
The sport of football is very complicated. It involves not only the players on the field but also members of the coaching staff, the match referee, the equipment manager, the medical staff and the catering personnel. There are different types of football and the rules and techniques of play vary depending on the type of football. Soccer, which is the most popular among the three, is considered the official game of the FIFA (Federation of International Football Associations) and has many similarities to football.