In the United States, it’s referred to as Soccer, and for the rest of the world, it’s football, but where did this sport come from? There is not one clear origin of Soccer. Many ancient societies had games similar to the way we play Soccer today.
In ancient China, Cuju or Ts’u-chü was a game that combined modern Soccer, volleyball, and basketball. Players tried to get a ball into a central hoop without using their hands while ensuring the ball did not touch the ground. According to FIFA, it is the earliest kicking game with recorded evidence of its existence
Since at least 1650 BC, Mesoamerican cultures have played a game called Pitz. In this game, players strike the ball with their hips, forearms, or feet and try to score in Stone hoops attached to the walls of the court. Pitz seems to be a mix of modern Soccer, basketball, and racquetball. Most of the time, it was used as part of a ritual in Mesoamerican cultures.
However, the first modern soccer games played in Britain were between the locals of east England in the 700s. This game involved kicking around the severed head of a Danish prince that they had defeated in a war.
In 1500s Italy, a game called “Calcio Storico Fiorentino” was played in which teams of 27 players kicked, carried, or passed a ball across a goal line. This version of the game was closer to the modern version of Soccer.
Fast-forward to the 1800s. On October 26, 1863, the Football Association was formed when eleven London schools and clubs came together to establish a single set of football match rules.
Once the Football Association or “Association Football” was created, newspapers sought a shorter phrase for the term, including referring to it as “Assoc” and “soc,” but the term eventually grew into “soccer.”
The first official international football match was played in 1872. It was between the national teams of Scotland and England in Glasgow, Scotland, and ended in a 0-0 draw. Sixteen years later, in 1888, the penalty kick was introduced as a new rule to the official game.
The game of Soccer finally began to grow rapidly and was officially brought to the Olympic games in 1900. Four years later, delegates from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland established FIFA or Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
Women soccer players only got their chance to play professionally in 1991 when FIFA held “The First FIFA World Championship for Women”, although the first unofficial women’s World Cup occurred in 1970 in Italy.
Today, regardless of whether you call it football or Soccer, the sport is played globally by men and women with millions of fans. The sport’s legacy will continue for generations.
