Football started in the late 1800s in the United States as a college sport. Princeton and Rutgers played the first college football game in 1869. This game was similar to soccer. In 1871 students at Harvard University invented their own game. It combined soccer and the English game called rugby.

The modern games of both rugby football and association football comes from 19th-century England. Kicking a ball goes back to the Middle Ages. Association football spread to many other parts of Europe, and was brought to the rest of the world with colonization.

Soccer (also known as football) is the most popular sport in the world. It is played between 2 teams of 11 players, with the objective being to put the ball in the opponents goal more often than they do yours. The general rules of football as we know them today have been around since 1863. Soccer balls were originally made from animal bladders.

The game of football first originated around the year 476 BC in China. When it began, it was referred to as Cuju. Till date, it continues to be one of the most popular, the most watched and the most played sport around the world.