ABOUT SPORTS: FOOTBALL

What is football ?

Football, also called soccer, is probably the world's most popular team sport. It is played by over 150 million men and women of all ages in more than 200 countries. A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves.

Where did football originate from ?

England invented a game of running around kicking a ball in the mid-19th century (although the Chinese claim to have played a version centuries earlier). They called it Fooball not because the ball is played with the feet, but because the game is played on foot rather than on horseback. The term soccer more commonly used in America now, was old English slang based on shortening a reference to the game's formal name, Association Football (as distinct from Rugby Football).

International Football Tournaments

World Cup Winners

• Brazil: 5 times times winners

• Italy: 4 times winners

• Germany: 4 times winners

• Argentina: 2 times winners

• Uruguary: 2 times winners

• France: 1 time winner

• England: 1 time winners

• Spain: 1 time winners