Football vs Soccer
The difference between football and soccer depends on what part of the world you are in. Football is the most popular game in the world with almost every country having its national team that plays with other national teams to qualify for the FIFA world cup, which is the most prestigious tournament in the world. What the world calls football is known as soccer in the US. Football is an altogether different game in the US that is even more popular than soccer. You are not to blame if you are puzzled with what is meant by soccer and what is meant by football in US. However, if you know about NFL and its craze in the US, you will know what the real difference between the football, as the world knows it, and the football as is played in the US is.
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 inside the 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 what the rest of the world call as football.
However, the confusion between soccer and football lies because of the sport of football that is played in the US. The premier championship of football in the US is NFL, which is a professional football competition in which different teams of private franchisees compete for the title.
What is Soccer?
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 the legs of the players alone. Players of a team make moves by passing the football to each other and running towards the opponent’s goal post. Once they are there 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.
What is Football?
Let us now look at how Americans play their football. Like the football in the rest of the world, there are two teams with 11 players each, and the players kick the ball, which is ellipsoidal. However, the players are also allowed to carry it with their hands, which is not a part in the original football game. 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.
What is the difference between Football and Soccer?
• Acceptance of the Name:
• Soccer is the name Americans use to refer to the game the rest of the world call football.
• Americans use the name football to the game that is more like Rugby that is played in other countries.
• Using Hands and Feet:
• In soccer, the players are allowed to use only their feet.
• In American football, the players can use both feet, as well as hands.
• Physical Contact:
• While both are physical games, there are penalties for unnecessary contacts in soccer.
• In American football, players falling upon each other is very common.
• Protective Gear:
• In soccer, there is no use of extensive protective gear as the players only use their legs to play.
• Protective gearing is used in American football because it involves a lot of rough physical contact.
• Number of Players:
• Both American football and soccer have 11 players for a team.
• Scoring:
• To score a goal in soccer, one team has to kick the ball into the goal of the opposing team.
• To score a goal in American football, one team has to either kick the ball past the opponent’s touch line or carry it by hand over the touch line.
• Ball:
• The ball that is used in soccer or the sport known as football in the rest of the world is spherical in shape.
• The ball that is used in American football is ellipsoidal.
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