Football is played by thousands of teams all over the world, with both men and women. It is the most popular sport in the world. Football teams are sometimes from towns or cities, but countries also play football, and every four years they play the world cup. All you need to practice football is a ball, but when you play a professional game of football, there are some rules.
A professional game of football is 90 minutes long and it is split into two halves. The first half is 45 minutes long, then there is a 15-minute break, and the second half is 45 minutes long. The game is played on a grass pitch, with a goal net at both ends. There are always two teams, and the team that wins is the team that scores the most goals. A goal is scored by putting the ball into the other team’s goal net. If both teams score the same amount of goals, the game ends in a draw.
There are always two teams of 11 players, and they play in different positions on the pitch. The different positions are Goalkeepers, Midfielders, and Forwards. There is only ever one goalkeeper on each team, and they are the only person who can use their hands and feet. Their aim is to stop the ball going into the net. They sometimes wear gloves. There are usually 4 defenders on each team, and their aim is to stop the other team’s forwards scoring goal. Each team usually has 2 forwards, and their aim is to score goals. Finally, each team usually has 4 midfielders, whose aim is to help the defenders stop goals, but also to help the forwards score goals. The players work together by passing the ball to each other.
Each team can also have 7 substitutes. These players can replace another player on the pitch at any time of the game. The manager of each team decides who to bring on and who to bring off. The manager is also the person who decides who plays in what position. Professional football teams usually have a manager.
There is also a referee on the pitch, whose job it is to keep the game under control. If there is a foul, the referee might give a free kick or a penalty to the other team. If one player fouls another player badly, the referee might give them a yellow card or a red card. If a player gets two yellow cards or just one red card, they must leave the field. The referee also stops the game if any player gets injured, until the injured player has recovered or been replaced by a substitute. At the end of the first half and the second half the referee might add some time onto the end, to make up for lost time. This is called ‘stoppage time’. The referee can also give ‘throw ins’ or ‘corners’ to a team if the ball leaves the pitch.
Football is usually played in a league, and the aim of each team is to win the league. If a team wins a match, they are given 3 points, if they draw they are given 1 point, and if they lose they are not given any points. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the league. Sometimes teams play in a knockout tournament, where if they lose once, they are out, and the team that wins goes into the next round. Usually, if a team wins a league or a tournament, they are given a trophy, although this is not a rule.
These are the basic rules of professional football.