Difference Between

Football vs Soccer

Football is the most popular game in the world with almost every country having its national team that plays with other national teams to quality for the FIFA world cup, which is the most prestigious tournament in the world. What the world calls football is known as soccer in US, while football is an altogether different game in US that is even more popular than soccer. You are not to blame If you are puzzled with what is soccer and what is meant by football in US. However, if you know about NFL and its craze in US, you know what the real difference between football, as the world knows it and football as is played in US.

Firstly, football is a game played in all parts of the world and is perhaps the most popular sport on the planet. But while the rest of the world calls it football, Americans prefer to call it soccer. But even Americans are forced to call it football when their national soccer team is participating in FIFA world cup or Olympics in any other country. It is only when a football game or a tournament is being played in US that commentators refer to it as soccer tournament. Thus, it is clear that there is virtually no difference between what Americans call soccer and the rest of the world calls football.

However, the confusion between soccer and football lies because of the sport of football that is played in US. The premier championship of football in US is NFL, which is a professional football competition in which different teams of private franchisees compete for the title.

What Americans call soccer, is known as football all over the world. It is a game played between two teams, comprising 11 players each on a rectangular field, and the objective of the teams is to send the spherical ball across the goal post of the opposing team with legs of players alone. Players of a team make moves passing football to each other and running towards the opponent’s goal post, where finally one player dodges the goalkeeper of the opposing team and kicks the ball past the goal post. This is how soccer (and football in the rest of the world) is played.

Let us now look at how Americans play their football. Like football in the rest of the world, there are two teams with 11 players each, and players kick the ball (which is ellipsoidal), but are also allowed to carry it with hands. The goal is to carry the ball past the goalpost of the opposing team keeping it in one’s possession. American football is a very physical game that involves pushing and fighting for the possession of the ball, which is why we see players properly dressed and using protective gear. Because of a high number of collisions, players wear protective gear (padding on shoulders also elsewhere) to prevent injuries.