If you are thinking ‘Soccer’ is from Spain or England, then it is not the case at all. In the history, soccer exists as one of the oldest sports. If we look at the true origin of soccer, we would see it dates back to 206 B.C.
Soccer Originated from China
According to many historians, the origin of soccer was from China. Many claim that it was the solders in China who founded the game and multiple accounts seem to back the claim.
The history claims that back in the days, the game was played among the Chinese player and it was known as ‘Tsu’chu’. The literal meaning of the term was “kicking the ball”.
The Chinese history suggests that the game had been introduced as part of the training for the Chinese soldiers as a supplement training. At that time, it was the Han Dynasty when it was introduced as a practice for the soldiers.
Other Ancient Cultures also Had Similar Games
Other ancient cultures also show records of games that were played involving a ball. However, those games mainly involved the usage of a ball and hands. However, Tsu’chu was the first game where the usage of hands was not allowed and was not added to the rules.
The history of Tsu’chu confirms that the game comprised of players scoring goals against each other. The goals were scored in a net that was connected to a two poles made of bamboo. With the help of the bamboo poles, the net was lifted by 30 feet into the air.
Changes in Modern Soccer
Although the majority of the details of Tsu’chu match the modern day soccer, the size of the goal and the net has shrunk tremendously. Now, the goal post is 24 feet wide and 8 feet high. Yes, the game is still played without using hands and touching the ball with hands is allowed under allowed conditions.
History shows that the changes to the game were made as it reached Europe and England. By the time it reached England, its name was changed to Folkball. It was played in different places such as streets and pits between rival teams and squads in the medieval period.
Even at that that time, the players were to put the ball using their feet into a designated place considered the goal. However, the distance between the goal points was much longer than the old times. At times they could comprise of a few miles. Sometimes, the house of the captain of a squad would be set as a goal mark.
Folkball was banned in 14th Century
As the distance between the goal points was in miles, it would become a huge hassle for the residents of the area due to all the commotion caused by the players. Over time, as the game gained more recognition, it became an even bigger of a problem.
The biggest problem with the game was no rules for the game were recognized apart from the “no using hands” rule. Therefore, every time the game was played, the rules for the goals and the distance between the goal points would vary.
As the game continued becoming a major source of commission, it was banned in the 14th Century.
Official Rules were introduced in 1863
It was the year 1863 when official rules were introduced for soccer. This was the first time the game was introduced as an organized play in England. The rules were in made in such a way that they differed from the association soccer and rugby soccer. With the efforts made by England, it was for the first time soccer was reborn as a modern game.
Over time, more clubs continued joining the Football Association (F.A.) and kept admitting to its rules. As more leagues kept forming, it became necessary that each league would have players wearing uniforms.
Therefore, the uniformed leagues started to emerge and then the year 1872 arrived when the first-ever FA Cup was held.
Then in the year 1888, a 128 teams participated to form a league and it was loved by people from all over England. Soon, the news of the game’s success reached all the way to the European countries. Eventually, the game ended up finding its way to South America, which seems to be a dominating region in terms of soccer players.
With more participation coming in from all over the world, it was in 1907 when the F.A. had found itself comprising of 12 official leagues all over the world.
The Foundation of FIFA
Then in 1904, the foundation of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) was laid. Seven members reportedly formed FIFA and it was done in Paris, France.
These members were countries that comprised of Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Holland, France, and Belgium. By 1930, the number of members for the FIFA had risen tremendously. By 1930, FIFA had a total of 40 members and that is when the first World Cup took place.
The first world cup had taken place in Uruguay but due to the constant recession and economic pressure, many countries were not able to participate. There were only four teams from Europe that managed to make it to the world cup and France and Belgium were two of them.
In the first World Cup, the two countries that competed against each other in the finals were Argentina and Uruguay. Both were the most favorite teams in the World Cup and Argentina was the one that ended up taking the trophy home.
Argentina had scored 4 goals against 2 goals of Uruguay to name the World Cup to their name. Argentina had defeated the United States of America by 6-1 in the semi-finals to enter the finals against Uruguay.
After 1930, the United States has not been able to enter the semi-final round for FIFA let alone enter the finals.
Since the start of the FIFA World Cup, it is Brazil hat has won the most amount of World Cups, taking 5 cups home. It is followed by Germany and Italy that have won 4 World Cups each.
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