Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport

Team sport

A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...

 played between two teams of eleven players

Football player

A football player, footballer is a sportsperson that plays one of the different types of football.The main types of football that are played include American football, Association football , Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, Rugby league, Rugby union.It has been...

 with a spherical ball. At the turn of the 21st century, the game was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries, making it the world's most popular sport.

The game is played on a rectangular field

Association football pitch

An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...

 of grass or green artificial turf

Artificial turf

Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...

, with a goal

Goal (sport)

Goal refers to a method of scoring in many sports. It can also refer to the physical structure or area of the playing surface where scoring occurs....

 in the middle of each of the short ends.