The word association was used to distinguish their specific sport from other popular games of the day such as “rugby football.” The word soccer comes from a slang abbreviation of the word association, which British players of the day adapted as “assoc,” “assoccer” and eventually soccer or soccer football.

Brits coined the term soccer in the late 1800s to refer to Association Football, the sport we now know as soccer/football. "Soccer" was picked as a way to differentiate from another kind of football—Rugby Football. For a similar reason, "soccer" became the favored term in America, a way to differentiate against Gridiron Football.

Football is called soccer due to a linguistic journey. In 19th-century England, “Association Football” was abbreviated as “Assoccer” and later became soccer. In America, it distinguished itself from American football.

American football (a term recorded in the 1870s) is based on rugby and had already taken off by the time association football became popular in the US. For whatever reason, the name soccer stuck for association football and football for the gridiron sport.

Soccer- the most popular sport in the world – was originally known as “association football.” Newspapers seeking a shorter phrase began to refer to it as “assoc.” That name was soon shortened to “soc” and then grew back a bit to “soccer.”