Soccer, which is known as football to people outside of the United States, captures the hearts and minds of billions of people around the world. People have been playing some form of soccer for thousands of years, and the World Cup remains one of the most popular sporting events.
History
Football's roots date to the second and third centuries B.C. when people during the Han Dynasty in China kicked a leather ball stuffed with feathers into a small goal, according to the International Federation of Association Football. The game as we know it today gained mass popularity in the 1800s in Europe as England formed association football clubs and began playing the sport competitively in teams. Since then, professional soccer has exploded on the international stage, as 208 countries now make up FIFA, the governing body of soccer.
Geography
Soccer is the most popular international sport, but in the United States it remains one of the least popular major professional sports, behind football, baseball, basketball and sometimes even hockey. Major League Soccer is the United States’ official professional soccer organization, and is composed of 15 teams throughout the country and one in Canada.
Game Play
Soccer is a simple game to understand when compared to other popular sporting events. Teams of 11 players vie for a small leather ball, attempting to kick it into their opponent’s goal at the end of the field. Players can kick the ball, hit it with their head or any part of their leg, but they cannot touch the ball with their hands or any part of their arms. The team with the most number of goals at the end of the game wins. In many cases, games tied at the end of regulation time go into an overtime period. Depending on the type of game, a tie can be the final result.
Rules
Compared to more complex games such as football or basketball, the rules of soccer are also relatively easy to understand. Besides the basic rule about not touching the ball with the hands or arms, the other main rules of football deal with illegal contact and players’ positions on the field. Offside, for example, is a major rule that prohibits a player from being on his opponent’s side of the field and being behind the last defender when the ball is delivered to him. Illegal physical contact includes intentionally pushing, holding, tripping and striking other players with the hands, arms and legs.
World Cup
The World Cup is perhaps the most popular sporting event in the world after the Olympics, and takes place every four years, alternating every two years between the women’s event and the men’s. The World Cup is governed by FIFA and only open to official FIFA members. Teams must qualify for the event through a series of qualifying games and tournaments. The event begins with 32 teams competing in pool play--competition among four teams in which each team plays each other once--after which the top two teams from each pool go on to a single-elimination tournament.
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