The Basics of Association Football and the Different Modes of Play

Association football, otherwise called simply football association, is a competitive team game played between two teams of eleven players each. It’s played on a rectangular field, with goalposts at both ends. The object of the game is to score more points than the other team and to be the first team to bring all their team members together at the end of the match to “lock” or “take the lead”.

Different codes of play have different rules for playing football. Most Soccer games played internationally follow the rules of FIFA, which is the governing body of football. Other soccer leagues follow the rules of the National Association Football Franchises (NASF). Professional and semi-professional soccer games are mostly played by independent clubs, known as “cup” leagues.

In Association football, the ball is placed inside a big ball (or “soccer ball”), which is played at one end of the field. Each team then attempts to “kick the ball” (“kicker”) towards their opponents’ goal using a “punching” ball, which is designed to be hit against the ball and bounce. The object of the game is to “get the ball into the open” (“goal”) net. The game is played scoreably, with referees counting goals through a system of hand signals and bell/ whistle blowing. Professional and semi-professional soccer matches differ from Association football in that they do not use regular football balls but use specially designed rugby balls.