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A Brief History of Soccer
History of Soccer Before Officially a Sport
Although the official rules of soccer were founded in England, we do not know exactly where it originated. Yet from what we know of the history of soccer, the earliest forms of soccer were seen in Asia close to 3,000 years ago.
These forms of the sport were not played with the same rules that we use today, but we can see resemblances.
One early form of soccer was an ancient Chinese game called cuju. This game was played with 2 to 10 players. The players were allowed to touch the ball with any part of the body except the hands. They would shoot a ball at a minuscule hole to score. points were also deducted for fouls (the worse the foul the more points deducted). In the end, the team with the most points won.
Asia, however, was not the only continent throughout the history of soccer to play sports that resembled soccer in those days. In some areas in South America they were using rubber balls to play a sport that vaguely resembled soccer as we know it.
Also, the Greeks and Romans were said to have a game that was very similar to soccer. It was played with 27 players on each team. It is not an established fact that they had the game, but some believe it to be true.
Other than this, there seems to be little evidence in the history of soccer that shows the game made its way into Europe until around 1000 AD.
As soccer began to move toward Europe, it began to look a little more like modern soccer. It was still a brutal sport, though. Many injuries occurred in virtually every game. For this reason, people of higher class began to dislike the sport.
Soccer was banned in England during the reign of King Edward (1307-1327). Anyone who was caught playing soccer at this time was thrown into prison. This did not stop people from playing soccer.
Soccer continued to grow, though it was banned by many other kings and queens of England who came into power after King Edward. Many players were imprisoned and otherwise punished for playing the sport throughout the history of soccer.
The Invention of Soccer
After a few centuries had gone, soccer became more popular and was no longer banned. Schools in England began to make teams that would play each other. The idea of tournaments started to spread outside of the schools. However, tournaments were still hard to have as rules varied wherever you were.
Finally, in the year 1863 a man from England named Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who had previously established the Barnes Club, called a meeting for the founders of many soccer clubs to decide the official rules of soccer. On the 8th of December of 1863 the official rules of soccer were established.
Though some changes were later made to the rules, this moment in the history of soccer has credited Ebenezer Cobb Morley as the founder of soccer as we know it.
From there soccer continued to gain popularity and is now unquestionably the most popular sport in the world.
World Cup Soccer
After much growth in popularity and the invention of many soccer clubs, in 1904 the first international match outside England in the history of soccer was played in Paris between France and Belgium. This led to the founding of FIFA, the international soccer organization, on May 22, 1904.
Soccer had recently been established as an Olympic sport. It had seen its first Olympic match in the year 1900. Yet, after the 1928 Olympics it was agreed that soccer would not be played in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, due to lack of interest in the United States.
FIFA decided that it was time for an international soccer tournament. Therefore they set the first World Cup to be played in Uruguay in 1930.
The World Cup is played every four years.
The World Cup grew in popularity at an incredible rate and is now the most popular sports event on the planet.
