Ball in and out of play

n league competitions, games may end in a draw, but in some knockout competitions if a game is tied at the end of regulation time it may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of (known officially in the Laws of the Game as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament. Goals scored during extra time periods count toward the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament (with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score).

Duration and tie-breaking methods

The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, and is at the sole discretion of the referee. The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, toward the end of the half the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time he intends to add. The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signaled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between and Trailing 1–0 and with just two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty. Villa's goalkeeper kicked the ball out of the ground, and by the time the ball had been recovered, the 90 minutes had elapsed and the game was over

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as AC Milan and as just Milan in Italy, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and five other Englishmen^[2] and has since spent most of its history in the top flight of Italian football (only two years in Serie B in the eighties).

Milan have won 18 officially recognized international titles, tied with Boca Juniors as having the most in the world. The club have won what is today known as the UEFA Champions League on seven occasions; only Real Madrid have won it more times (9).^[3] As far as Italian competitions are concerned, Milan are the second most successful club with 17 league titles; only Juventus have won more (27).^[4] AC Milan have won four world titles, more than any other club in the world. They have won the Intercontinental Cup 3 times , and the FIFA Club World Cup once.

Other important titles won by Milan include the European Super Cup a record five times, and the Cup Winners' Cup twice; however, they have never reached the UEFA Cup final (only two semi-finals). This is the only official trophy in existence that AC Milan has never won. In Italy, they have won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as five Italian Super Cups. AC Milan is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represented eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs before its disbandment.^[5]

Their home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The ground, which is shared with rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with total capacity of 80,018.

Serie A (officially known as the Serie A TIM, for sponsorship reasons) is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top echelon of the Italian football league system operating for eighty years from 1929 to the present. It is regarded as one of the elite leagues of the footballing world.^{[citation needed]} Historically, Serie A has produced the highest number of European Cup finalists. In total Italian clubs have reached the final of the competition on a record of twenty-five different occasions, winning the title eleven times.^[1] As of 2008, Serie A is ranked third among European leagues by UEFA, based on the performance of Italian clubs in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup,^[2] and second in the IFFHS rating.^[3]

In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, to just one solid league for the 1929–30 season onwards; the Serie A system carries on today. The championship titles won before 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC as a championship in the same way the ones since then are.

The league hosted some of the world's most famous clubs: Juventus, Milan, Internazionale, Roma, Napoli, Fiorentina, Lazio. Juventus, Milan and Inter were all founding members of the G-14 a group representing the largest and most prestigious European football clubs; Serie A was the only league to produce three founding members.^[4] More players have won the coveted Ballon d'Or award while playing at a Serie A club than any other league in the world.^[5] Milan is one of two clubs with the most official international titles in the world

Real Madrid C.F.

simply as Real Madrid)are a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. It is the most successful team in Spanish football and was voted by FIFA as the most successful club of the 20th century, having won a record thirty-one La Liga titles, seventeen Spanish Cups, a record nine European Cups and two UEFA Cups. Real was a founding member of FIFA and the now-defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club Association.

Founded in 1902, Real Madrid has since spent all of its history in the top flight of Spanish football. In the 1940s, the club, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Ciudad Deportiva were rebuilt following the Spanish Civil War. The club established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football during the 1950s. In the 1980s, the club had one of the best teams in Spain and Europe (known as La Quinta del Buitre), winning two UEFA Cups, five Spanish championships in a row, one Spanish cup and three Spanish Super Cups.

The club's traditional home colours are all white. Its crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernise or re-brand; the current crest is a modified version of the one first adopted in the 1920. Real's home is the 80,354-person-capacity Santiago Bernabéu football stadium in downtown Madrid, where it has played since 1947. Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid's members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. Real is the world's richest football club (€366m) in terms of revenue.

Real Madrid started when football was introduced to Madrid by the professors and students of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, which included several Oxbridge graduates. They founded Football Club Sky in 1897, playing on Sunday mornings at Moncloa. It split into two clubs in 1900: New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Español de Madrid. The latter club split again in 1902, resulting in the formation of Madrid Football Club on 6 March 1902.^[3] Three years after its foundation, in 1905, Madrid FC won its first title after defeating Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup final. The club became one of the founding sides of the Spanish Football Association on 4 January 1909, when club president Adolfo Meléndez signed the foundation agreement of the Spanish FA. After moving between grounds the team moved to the "Campo de O'Donnell" in 1912.^[5] In 1920, the club's name was changed to Real Madrid after King Alfonso XIII granted the title of Real (Royal) to the club.^[6]

In 1929, the first Spanish football league was founded. Real Madrid lead the first edition until the last match, a loss to Athletic Bilbao meant they finished runners-up to Barcelona.^[7] Real Madrid won its first League title in the 1931–32 season. The Whites won the League again the following year, becoming the first side to have won the championship twice

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club, based at Old Trafford in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and is one of the most popular football clubs in the world. The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the exception of the 1974–75 season. Average attendances at the club have been higher than any other team in English football for all but six seasons since 1964–65.^[3]

Manchester United are the reigning English champions and European and Club World Cup holders, having won the 2007–08 Premier League, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, and the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. The club is one of the most successful in the history of English football and has won 21 major honours since Alex Ferguson became manager in November 1986. In 1968, they became the first English club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1. They won a second European Cup as part of a Treble in 1999, before winning their third in 2008. The club also holds the record for the most FA Cup titles with 11.^[4]

Since the late 1990s, the club has been one of the richest in the world with the highest revenue of any football club,^[5] and is currently ranked as the richest and most valuable club in any sport, with an estimated value of £897 million (€1.333 billion / $1.8 billion) as of September 2008.^[6] Manchester United was a founding member of the now defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs,^[7] and its replacement, the European Club Association.

List of English football transfers 2006–07

This is a list of English football transfers for the 2006-07 season. Only moves from the Premiership and Championship, as well as any other prominent moves from the lower leagues are listed.

The summer transfer window ran from the end of the 2005-06 season, with a few transfers taking place prior to the season's complete end, the first prominent move went through on May 2. The window closed on the August 31. The mid-season transfer window opened on January 1, 2007, and ran for the entire month, until January 31. Players without a club may join one, either during or in between transfer windows. Clubs below Premiership level may also sign players on loan at any time. If need be, clubs may sign a goalkeeper on an emergency loan, if all others are unavailable.

Chelsea broke the record for the highest transfer fee paid by an English club, as well as their own transfer record when they paid £30 million for Andriy Shevchenko, slightly eclipsing the £29.1 million Manchester United paid for Rio Ferdinand in 2002.^[1] It also became the sixth highest costing transfer of all time.^[1] Dietmar Hamann's transfer to Bolton Wanderers became the shortest in English footballing history, with him only being at the club for one day, before having a "change of heart" and joining Manchester City the following day.^[2] In total, Premiership clubs spent the highest amount on transfers in the summer since the transfer window system was introduced.

Current FIFA affiliates

There are currently 208 men's national football teams affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world's football governing body, through their national football associations. They are eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup and matches between them are recognized as official international matches. Based on their match results over the previous four-year period, the FIFA World Rankings, published monthly by FIFA, compare the relative strengths of the national teams.

Each of these national teams is also affiliated to one of the six confederations, according to their continental zones:

• Asia - Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
• Africa - Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)
• North and Central America and the Caribbean - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)

List of top-division football clubs in CAF countries

This is a list of top-division association football clubs in CAF countries. CAF, the African football confederation, includes all African countries as members.

The French Overseas Department of Réunion and the autonomous island of Zanzibar have their own football associations which are associate members of CAF (but not members of FIFA). Mayotte, a French Overseas Territory, Saint Helena, a British Overseas Territory, and Western Sahara, a disputed territory, are not members of CAF or any other football confederation.

Each of the CAF member countries have their own football league systems. The clubs playing in each top-level league compete for the title as the country's club champions, and also for places in next season's CAF club competitions, i.e., the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. Due to promotion and relegation, the clubs playing in the top-level league in many countries are different every season.

The champions of the previous season in each country are listed in bold.

• For clubs playing at lower divisions, see the separate articles linked to in the relevant sections.
• For clubs belonging to any of the other five continental football confederations of the world, see List of football (soccer) clubs.

Etymology

See also: Names for association football and Football (word)

The rules of football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863, and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as a slang abbreviation of the word "association", often credited to former England captain Charles Wreford-Brown.^[46]

Today the sport is generally known simply as football in countries where it is the most popular football code. In countries where other codes are more popular, the sport is more commonly referred to as soccer, and indeed is referred to as such in the official names of the governing bodies in the United States and Canada. FIFA, the sport's world governing body, defines the sport as association football in its statutes,^[47] but the term most commonly used by FIFA and the International Olympic Committee is football.

Domestic competitions

The governing bodies in each country operate league systems, normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results. Teams are placed into tables, placing them in order according to points accrued. Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament. At the end of a season, the top team is declared the champion. The top few teams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of the teams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division. The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may be eligible also to play in international club competitions in the following season. The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura, awarding a champion for each.

The majority of countries supplement the league system with one or more cup competitions. These are organised on a knock-out basis, the winner of each match proceeding to the next round; the loser takes no further part in the competition.

International competitions

The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period.^[40] The 2006 FIFA World Cup took place in Germany; in 2010 it will be held in South Africa.^[41]

There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only,^[17] however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professional players have been permitted, albeit with certain restrictions which prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men's tournament is played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team;^[42] but that practice will cease in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic competition is not generally considered to carry the same international significance and prestige as the World Cup. A women's tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women’s Olympic tournament. It thus carries international prestige considered comparable to that of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

After the World Cup, the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores de América in South America. The winners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup.

FIFA Club World Cup

The FIFA Club World Cup, formerly known as the FIFA Club World Championship, is a football competition contested between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations, although, since 2007, the champions of Oceania must play a qualifying play-off against the champion club of the host country.

The first competition took place in Brazil in January 2000. It was intended by FIFA to be a replacement for the Intercontinental Cup (also known as the Toyota Cup), which was contested annually in Tokyo, Japan by the champions of Europe via the Champions League and South America via the Copa Libertadores.

The second competition was penciled in for Spain in 2001, to feature 12 teams. This was canceled owing to a combination of factors, most importantly the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL. It was then intended to hold the event in 2003, but this also failed to happen. FIFA eventually agreed terms with the Toyota Cup to merge the two competitions, with the first installment of the relaunched Club World Championship held in Japan between December 11 and December 18, 2005.

The competition was then renamed as FIFA Club World Cup since 2006 event, which held annually in Japan until 2008. The 2009 and 2010 events will be hosted by the UAE.

In February 2008, FIFA introduced a Club World Champion Badge of Honour, featuring an image of the trophy, which the reigning champion is entitled to display on its kit until the final of the next championship. Initially, all four previous champions were allowed to wear the badge until the 2008 final^[1], where Manchester United gained the sole right to wear the badge by winning the trophy.

2007 Copa America

Dunga took the Brazilians to Venezuela, for the 2007 Copa America. They were placed in a group with Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile. In Group B, Brazil surprisingly lost to Mexico 2–0, then bounced back with a comfortable 3–0 victory over Chile which three goals came from Robinho, and won 1–0 against Ecuador which also scored by Robinho in a penalty kick. They advanced to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Chile again 6–1. The Semi-Final was against Uruguay, and the game ended 2–2, and Brazil won 5-4 on penalties. Their opponent in the final was Argentina. Brazil and Argentina met in the finals, and Argentina were heavy favourites. But in the 4th minute of the final Júlio Baptista scored a stunner, surprising the Argentine team. Then in the 45th Minute, defender Roberto Ayala scored an own goal. The first half ended 2–0, and later in the 69th minute, Dani Alves received the ball from a counter attack move, shooting it first time and making it 3–0. After the event, Robinho finished as the Golden Boot winner in addition to being named the best player in the tournament.

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s). The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 final.^[1]

Of the 18 tournaments held, seven nations have won the title. Brazil are the only team that have played in every tournament and have won the World Cup a record five times. Italy are the current champions and have won four titles, and Germany are next with three. The other former champions are Uruguay, winner of the inaugural tournament, and Argentina, with two titles each, and England and France, with one title each.

The most recent World Cup was held in Germany in 2006, and was won by Italy, who defeated France in the final. The next World Cup will be held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.

After the result of 2006, the team was criticized by many Brazilians. Some, such as Pelé, blamed coach Parreira and Ronaldinho for the team's early elimination.^[17] The night after Brazil's defeat, vandals burned and destroyed a 7-meter tall fiberglass and resin statue of Ronaldinho in the Brazilian city of Chapecó, which had been erected in 2004 to celebrate Ronaldinho's first election as FIFA World Player of the Year.^[18] Roberto Carlos^[19] and Juninho each announced their retirement from the team and Juninho asserted that it was time for the players over 30 to retire from the team.^[20] Cafu, the Brazilian captain, made an infamous comparison between the team of 2006 and the team at 1982 World Cup, one that is remembered as one of the greatest teams that lost a World Cup.^[21] Two days after the loss, Ronaldinho and Adriano partied through the night in Barcelona, increasing the feeling of the Brazilians that they were betrayed by their national team.^[22] This reaction contrasted with other players such as Rogério Ceni, who was ashamed of the game and said "some defeats are marked by struggle, but we lost in an infelicitous way, that wasn't what we had hoped for",^[23] and Zé Roberto, who cried and said that "the unity that we had outside the pitch, was lacking inside it".^[24] On July 19, Parreira resigned as the team coach.

Oceania Football Confederation

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six "continental" confederations of international football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

Of the six confederations, the OFC is the smallest and is predominately made up of island nations where football is not the most popular sport. Consequently, the OFC has little influence in the wider football world, either in terms of international competition or as a source of players for high-profile club competitions. In 2006, the OFC's largest and most successful nation, Australia, transferred to the Asian Football Confederation, leaving New Zealand as the largest federation within the OFC.

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations (French: Union des associations européennes de football) is the administrative and controlling body for European football. It is almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA (usually pronounced /juːˈeɪfə/ ew-AY-fə.

UEFA represents the national football associations of Europe, runs Europewide national and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions. Several national football associations which are geographically in Asia or mostly in Asia belong to UEFA rather than the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). These nations are Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Russia and Azerbaijan (Israel and Kazakhstan are former AFC members). Cyprus chose to be classed as a European football nation - it had the choice of Europe, Asia or Africa.

UEFA is the biggest of six continental confederations of FIFA. Of all the confederations, it is by far the strongest in terms of wealth and influence over the global game. Virtually all of the world's top players play in European leagues in part due to the salaries available from the world's wealthiest football clubs, particularly in England, Spain, Italy and Germany. Many of the world's strongest national sides are in UEFA. Of the 32 available spots in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 14 were allocated to UEFA national teams, and currently 14 of the top 20 teams in the FIFA World Rankings are UEFA members.

CONCACAF

CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the continent-wide governing body for football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Three South American entities, the independent nations of Guyana and Suriname, and the French department of French Guiana, are also members.

CONCACAF was founded in its current form in 1961 by the fusion the NAFC and the CCCF, and it became one of the six continental confederations affiliated with FIFA. Its primary administrative functions are to organize competitions for national teams and clubs, and to conduct World Cup qualifying tournaments.

Confederation of African Football

The Confédération Africaine de Football (English: African Football Confederation), (Arabic: الاتحاد الإفريقي لكرة القدم‎) is the administrative and controlling body for African football. It is almost always referred to by its acronym CAF (usually pronounced /kæf/).

CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental national and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those competitions.

CAF is one of the biggest of six continental confederations of FIFA. Although it is just three years younger than the UEFA, CAF still has a long way to go in order to improve the quality of the national and local competitions, and therefore, overcome a lot of naturally occurring obstacles, or other burdens such as; limited resources and either complete or partial lack of infrastructures, besides the high cost of transportation through different sides of the continent. Nevertheless, Africa produced skilled players and teams that match, and sometimes exceed Europeans, but, these isolated cases should not be self-deceptive into believing that Africa have achieved European standards in all the domains of football. CAF has been given 5 slots out of the 32 available since the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and increased to 6 in 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

CAF was founded on 8 February 1957 in Khartoum, Sudan by the Egyptian, Ethiopian, South African and Sudanese FAs, following former discussions between the Egyptian, South African and Sudanese FAs earlier in 7 June 1956 in Avenida Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. The headquarters were few months in Khartoum until a fire outbreak in the offices of the Sudanese Football Association when the organization moved to Cairo. Youssef Mohammad was the first General Secretary and Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem the president. Its administrative center since 2002 is in 6th of October City, Cairo. It was initially made up of 4 national associations. Currently there are 55 associations, 53 full members beside Réunion Island and Zanzibar as associates. (see the bottom of this page or List of CAF national football teams).

Asian Football Confederation

he 46 member Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of football in Asia, excluding Cyprus and Israel, and including Australia.

The AFC was founded on 8 May 1954 in Manila, Philippines, and is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. (Nations with both European and Asian territory, such as Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia, are instead covered by UEFA; Armenia, Cyprus and Israel, which lie entirely in Asia, are also UEFA members.) The main headquarters is located in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The current president is Mohammed Bin Hammam of Qatar.

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (French for International Federation of Association Football), commonly known by its acronym, FIFA (usually pronounced /fiːfə/ or /fiːfæ/), is the international governing body of association football. Its headquarters are in Zürich, Switzerland, and its current president is Sepp Blatter. FIFA is responsible for the organization and governance of football's major international tournaments, most notably the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930.

FIFA has 208 member associations, which is 16 more than the United Nations and 3 more than the International Olympic Committee, though 5 fewer than the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The need for a single body to oversee the worldwide game became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. FIFA was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904 — the French name and acronym persist to this day, even outside French-speaking countries. Its first president was Robert Guérin.

FIFA presided over its first international competition in 1906, but this met with little approval or success. This, in combination with economic factors, led to the swift replacement of Guérin with Daniel Burley Woolfall from England, by now a member association. The next tournament staged, the football competition for the 1908 Olympics in London was more successful, despite the presence of professional footballers, contrary to the founding principles of FIFA.

Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina and Chile in 1912, and Canada and the United States in 1913.

FIFA, however, floundered during World War I, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation was run by Dutchman Carl Hirschmann. It was saved from extinction, but at the cost of the withdrawal of the Home Nations (of the United Kingdom), who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent World War enemies. The Home Nations later resumed their membership.

The FIFA collection is held by the National Football Museum in England.

Domestic competitions

The governing bodies in each country operate league systems, normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results. Teams are placed into tables, placing them in order according to points accrued. Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament. At the end of a season, the top team is declared the champion. The top few teams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of the teams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division. The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may be eligible also to play in international club competitions in the following season. The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura, awarding a champion for each.

The majority of countries supplement the league system with one or more cup competitions. These are organised on a knock-out basis, the winner of each match proceeding to the next round; the loser takes no further part in the competition.

Some countries' top divisions feature highly paid star players; in smaller countries and lower divisions, players may be part-timers with a second job, or amateurs. The five top European leagues—Serie A (Italy), La Liga (Spain), the Premier League (England),^[44] the Bundesliga (Germany) and Ligue 1 (France)—attract most of the world's best players and each of the leagues has a total wage cost in excess of £600 million.

International competitions

The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period.^[40] The 2006 FIFA World Cup took place in Germany; in 2010 it will be held in South Africa.^[41]

There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only,^[17] however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professional players have been permitted, albeit with certain restrictions which prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men's tournament is played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team;^[42] but that practice will cease in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic competition is not generally considered to carry the same international significance and prestige as the World Cup. A women's tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women’s Olympic tournament. It thus carries international prestige considered comparable to that of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

After the World Cup, the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores de América in South America. The winners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup.