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. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. 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. Men's since the 1900 Olympics and women's since the 1996 Olympicsĥ-a-side since 2004 and 7-a-side from 1984 to 2016Īssociation football, more 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. Football pitch (also known as football field, football ground, soccer field, soccer pitch or 'pitch')
