what is soccer

Soccer, also known as association football, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. The sport is played in accordance with a set of rules and is considered the worlds most popular sport, played by over 250 million people in more than 200 countries. It is particularly popular in Europe, Central and South America, and Africa, though it has a growing influence in North America and Asia. Soccer is played on a large grass field with a goal at each end, and the key rule is that, with the exception of the goalie, players cannot touch the ball with their hands or arms, they can only kick, knee, chest, or head the ball to advance it or score a goal. The sport is known as soccer in North America, but is called football in most of the rest of the world, and its full name is Association Football.