外国人最想和你聊的时事话题：足球

　What is football　什么是足球
     The game of football is any of several similar team sports, of similar origins which involve advancing a ball into a goal area in an attempt to score. Many of these involve kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal, though not all codes of football using kicking as a primary means of advancing the ball or scoring. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". Unqualified, the word football applies to whichever form of football is the most popular in the regional context in which the word appears, including American football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league, rugby union and other related games. These variations are known as "codes".
     The various codes of football share the following common elements:
     ·Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players； some variations that have fewer players (five or more per team) are also popular.
     ·A clearly defined area in which to play the game.
     ·Scoring goals or points, by moving the ball to an opposing team's end of the field and either into a goal area, or over a line.
     ·Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts.
     ·The goal or line being defended by the opposing team.
     ·Players being required to move the ball-depending on the code-by kicking, carrying, or hand-passing the ball.
     ·Players using only their body to move the ball.
     In most codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts. Other features common to several football codes include: points being mostly scored by players carrying the ball across the goal line； and players receiving a free kick after they take a mark or make a fair catch.
     Peoples from around the world have played games which involved kicking or carrying a ball, since ancient times. However, most of the modern codes of football have their origins in England.
     Association football has generally been known as "soccer" in the U.S, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant, while in francophone Quebec, where Canadian football is more popular, the sport of association football is known as le soccer and the Canadian code as football. Of the 45 national FIFA affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, almost all now use "football" in their organizations' official names, although Canada and the United States the national football organizations continue to use the name "Soccer" in their titles, and several others have only recently "normalized" to using "Football", including:
     ·Australia's association football governing body changed its name in 2007 from using "soccer" to "football".
     ·New Zealand also changed in 2007, saying "the international game is called football".
     ·Samoa changed from "Samoa Football (Soccer) Federation" to"Football Federation Samoa" in 2009.
     "American football" is always called "football" in America (USA).
     足球（football）是足球运动或足球比赛的简称，当然它也指足球比赛中的用球。足球运动是一项古老的体育活动，源远流长。最早起源于中国古代的一种球类游戏"蹴鞠"（kemari），后来经过阿拉伯人传到欧洲，发展成现代足球。不少国家将足球定为"国球"（national ball）。
     国际足球联合会世界杯比赛(FIFA World Cup Competition)，简称世界杯足球赛（旧译世界足球锦标赛world championship soccer），是由国际足球联合会(international football federation，简称FIFA)统一领导和组织的世界性的足球比赛。每届比赛从预赛（preliminary contest）到决赛（finals）前后历时3个年头，参加预选赛的国家已近100个。它是世界上规模最大、影响最大、水平最高的足球比赛，也是世界上观众最多的体育比赛项目。