Football 101: Basic Rules Explained
Football, or soccer ball, as Americans love to call it, is the most popular sport of all time. The tremendous popularity of football comes from its simplicity and the huge number of industries and businesses that revolve around it.
According to a 2018 world football report conducted by the well-known Neilsen company, nearly half of the world’s 7.7 billion population are interested in football, and roughly a fifth participate in some form or another.
Still, despite its massive popularity, some people have never watched or played football before. For those, we are going to talk about the basics of football in this article.
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Football Field (Pitch)
A football pitch should have a rectangular shape with clear lines and boundaries. FIFA, the authority that governs international football, doesn’t require specific dimensions for football fields; it only requires a minimum of 90 x 45 and a maximum of 120 x 90 dimensions for normal football fields. However, for international matches, FIFA requires specific dimensions of 100 x 64 or 110 x 75.
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Match Time
A normal football match has two halves, 45 minutes long for each (90 minutes in total). The referee adds some minutes (added time) at the end of each half, depending on the wasted time during the match.
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The Referees
Basically, a football match has four referees: one on the pitch, two on the sidelines, and a fourth one outside the pitch as an observer. Nowadays, with the new technology of VAR, a set of referees assist the field one in taking more accurate decisions with the help of high-end cameras.
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Football Players
Each football team has 11 players, one goalkeeper and 10 players, with the possibility of 3 substitutes from players on the bench. The 10 players’ formation varies according to the playing plan made by the coach, but a basic football team formation has defenders, midfielders, and forwards. Each player has clear responsibilities depending on his\her position. Top players are qualified to guide their teams, cover different positions, and score goals.
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The Ball
Attention to detail is what the football world is about; even the ball itself comes in specific dimensions to meet the FIFA requirements. As per FIFA standards, size 5 balls should have 32 panels divided into 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. The official ball weight is between 420 and 445 grams, with an air pressure of 0.8 bar. As for size 5, the circumference is 68.5 cm to 69.5 cm.
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The Players’ Equipment
What is great about football is its simplicity. A football player only needs to have the basics like a shirt, shorts, proper football shoes, and socks with shin guards under them to protect their legs from any external kicks.
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The Match
As mentioned before, a football match lasts for 90 minutes, divided into two halves. It starts from the pitch’s middle circle with a kick-off. When the first half is finished, both teams take a break for 15 minutes; then the second half starts with both teams changing ends and playing against the opposite side.
The number of goals each team scores determines the winner. Winning the match is the core of the football game and its most exciting part. The referee’s end of the match whistle is the reason for the happiest and saddest moments of football fans.
Nowadays, football match results don’t concern each team’s fans only. With the surge of sports betting websites, a match result in the UK Premier League could determine how much money an online gambler in the US would win. Recently, new casino sites in the UK have started offering a sports betting section for their customers to test their football sense and try their odds.
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Goal
When the ball crosses the goal line entirely, a goal is scored. The team with the highest number of goals is the winner.
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Penalty Kick
As per FIFA standards, a penalty kick is awarded if any of the team players commit an offence in their penalty area. A player places the ball in the penalty spot with all the players outside the penalty box.
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Corner Kick
A corner kick is taken from the corner areas of the pitch. It is awarded when the ball passes over the goal line, having last touched a player of the defending team.
Conclusion
With all that we have discussed, still, football is considered an easy-to-understand sport. It might take you only one single match to comprehend its basics. We invite you to join the club of football fans and feel the excitement.