Nov 20, 2025 · Football, also called soccer, is a game in which two teams of 11 players, using any part of their bodies except their hands and arms, try to maneuver the ball into the opposing team’s goal.

Before long, it had proved more popular than either of them. In full, it was known as gridiron football, but most people never bothered with the first word. As a result, American association-football players …

3 days ago · The U.S. Soccer Federation formed in 1913, affiliated with FIFA, and sponsored competitions. Between the world wars, the United States attracted scores of European emigrants …

What is the origin of football? Modern football originated in Britain in the 19th century. Though “folk football” had been played since medieval times

1 day ago · FIFA, world governing body of association football (soccer), founded in Paris in 1904. FIFA is headquartered in Zürich, and its membership includes more than 200 national football associations.

5 days ago · The folk football games of the 14th and 15th centuries, which were usually played at Shrovetide or Easter, may have had their origins in pagan fertility rites celebrating the return of spring.

“Folk football,” a game played throughout Europe in which competing teams would attempt to move a ball toward a final destination, provided the origin of most football games, including soccer. The folk …

Professional soccer leagues, in which players were paid, began in the late 1880s. They formed first in England and then in other countries. By 1900 people were playing soccer throughout the world. In …

Nov 28, 2025 · Jack Rollin is a writer and freelance journalist. He is the author of Soccer at War, 1939–45 and Soccer in the 1930s: Simple or Sublime?.

Zinedine Zidane is a French football (soccer) player who led his country to victories in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. He later found success as a manager.