Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. The reigning champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the 2022 tournament.
Union of European Football Associations is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as some Asian countries such as Israel, Cyprus and Armenia. UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.
Fabien Alain Barthez is a French racing driver and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. At club level, he played football in both France and England with Toulouse, Marseille, AS Monaco, Manchester United, and Nantes. At international level, he represented the France national team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000, and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, representing his nation at a total of three editions of both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship; he also reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, after which he retired from international football.
Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional football coach, pundit, former player and a sports broadcaster who currently works with CBS Sports. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time, and one of the greatest players in Premier League history. He has been named Arsenal's greatest ever player. Henry was runner-up for both the Ballon d'Or in 2003 and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. He was named the FWA Footballer of the Year a record three times, the PFA Players' Player of the Year a joint-record two times, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year six consecutive times. He was also included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI once and the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2004, Henry was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.
The France national football team represents France in men's international football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation, the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colors and imagery reference two national symbols: the French red-white-blue tricolour and Gallic rooster. The team is colloquially known as Les Bleus. They play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and train at INF Clairefontaine in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF, is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 41 member associations represent countries and territories mainly in North America, including the Caribbean and Central America, and, for geopolitical reasons, three nations from the Guianas subregion of South America—Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. The CONCACAF's primary functions are to organize competitions for national teams and clubs, and to conduct the World Cup and Women's World Cup qualifying tournaments.
EA Sports FC, titled until 2023 as FIFA, is a football video game franchise developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. As of 2011, the EA Sports FC franchise has been localized into 18 languages and available in 51 countries. Listed in Guinness World Records as the best-selling sports video game franchise in the world, the EA Sports FC series has sold over 325 million copies as of 2021. On 10 May 2022, it was announced that EA and FIFA's partnership of 30 years would come to an end upon the termination of their licensing agreement. Since 2023, the series has been named EA Sports FC, with EA Sports FC 24 being the inaugural installment under the banner. FIFA 23 was the last entry to the franchise under the FIFA name.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, futsal and beach soccer in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the Grand Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan by the national football associations of Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sudan, following formal discussions between the aforementioned associations at the FIFA Congress held on 7 June 1956 at Avenida Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.
La Berrichonne de Châteauroux, commonly referred to as La Berrichonne or simply Châteauroux, is a French association football club based in Châteauroux. The football team is a part of a sports club that consists of several other sports and was founded in 1916. The team currently plays in the Championnat National, the third division of French football. The club has played only one season in Ligue 1; the 1997–98 season.
Toulouse Football Club is a French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse located within the city.
Football in Luxembourg is governed by the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF), which is a member of FIFA and UEFA. The FLF organises the men's, women's and futsal national teams, in addition to the main domestic competitions, the National Division and the Luxembourg Cup.
The 2010–11 season is the 78th season of competitive professional football in France. The league season began on 6 August 2010 for the Championnat National and Ligue 2 and on 7 August for Ligue 1 and the Championnat de France amateur. The season concluded on 26 May 2011 for Ligue 2, 27 May for the Championnat National, and 28 May for Ligue 1 and the Championnat de France amateur. The men's French national team began play on 11 August contesting a friendly match against Norway, while the women continued their quest for qualification to the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup by facing Iceland on 21 August.
The 2010–11 Championnat de France amateur was the 13th edition since its establishment. Colmar were the defending champions. Due to the elongated appeals process involving each clubs' eligibility, the groups and fixtures were unveiled to the public on 15 July 2010 and the season began on 7 August and ended on 28 May 2011. The winter break was in effect between 18 December and 15 January 2011. There were 12 promoted teams from the Championnat de France amateur 2, replacing the 13 teams that were relegated from the Championnat de France amateur following the 2009–10 season. A total of 69 teams currently competes in the league with 12 clubs suffering relegation to the fifth division, the Championnat de France amateur 2. All non-reserve clubs that secured league status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate in the competition.
The 2010–11 Championnat de France amateur 2 was the 13th edition since its establishment. The reserves of Metz were the defending champions. Due to the elongated appeals process involving each clubs' eligibility, the groups and fixtures were unveiled to the public on 15 July 2010 and the season began on 21 August and ended on 4 June 2011. There were 22 promoted teams from the regional leagues of the Division d'Honneur, replacing the 22 teams that were relegated from the Championnat de France amateur 2 following the 2009–10 season. A total of 130 teams competed in the league with 22 clubs suffering relegation to the sixth division, the Division d'Honneur. All non-reserve clubs that secured league status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.
Raphaël Xavier Varane is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester United. Considered as one of the best defenders of his generation, Varane is known for his defensive prowess and speed.
Wendie Thérèse Renard is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both Division 1 Féminine club Lyon and the France national team.
Fayçal Fajr is a French and Moroccan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Saudi Professional League club Al Wehda. He plays for the Morocco national team.
The 2018–19 season was the 87th season in the existence of FC Metz and the club's first season back in the second division of French football. In addition to the domestic league, Metz participated in this season's editions of the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue.
Carnejy Antoine is a professional footballer who as a striker for Israeli Premier League club Hapoel Haifa. Born in France, he plays for the Haiti national team.
