Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who almost exclusively 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 called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among 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 by defeating France.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process along with hosts Germany for the finals tournament. It was the second time that Germany staged the competition and the first as a unified country along with the former East Germany with Leipzig as a host city, and the 10th time that the tournament was held in Europe.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals.
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing body. The competition has been held every four years and one year after the men's FIFA World Cup since 1991, when the inaugural tournament, then called the FIFA Women's World Championship, was held in China. Under the tournament's current format, national teams vie for the remaining 31 slots in a three-year qualification phase. The host nation's team is automatically entered as the first slot. The tournament, called the World Cup Finals, is contested at venues within the host nation(s) over about one month.
The Germany national football team represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900. Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.
The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Argentina as of December 2024. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent the longest time ranked first.
Arjen Robben is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. Known for his dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long-range shots, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest wingers in the history of the sport.
Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. It is the oldest football club in continental Europe. The team competes in the Swiss Super League.
Gerald Asamoah is a German football executive and former professional player who works as the first-team manager of Schalke 04.
Philipp Lahm is a German former professional footballer who played as a full-back. Considered by many to be one of the greatest full-backs of all time, Lahm was the longtime captain of Bayern Munich, having led them to numerous honours including the 2013 UEFA Champions League as part of the Treble.
Piotr Artur Trochowski is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. According to his 2010 FIFA World Cup profile he is a playmaker known for "his speed, agility, tricky dribbling and refined technique."
The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.
Brent Sancho CM is a Trinidadian former professional football player and politician. In February 2015, he became the Minister of Sports for his home country, Trinidad and Tobago.
Félix Alexander Borja Valencia is an Ecuadorian football coach and former player who played as a forward. He is the current assistant manager of El Nacional.
Zlatko Junuzović is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. From 2006 to 2017 he played for the Austria national team. He was known as a free-kick specialist.
Thomas Müller is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. He plays as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Müller has been praised for his positioning, finishing, playmaking, work-rate, and consistency in both scoring and creating goals.
Ria Dawn Percival is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. Born in England, she played for the New Zealand women's national team and represented New Zealand 166 times, more than any other player, male or female. She previously played for FFC Frankfurt and FF USV Jena of the Bundesliga, FC Basel in the Swiss league and West Ham United.
Trine Bjerke Rønning is a former Norwegian footballer. She has previously played for Trondheims-Ørn and Kolbotn. Since making her Norway women's national football team debut in October 1999, she has won over 150 caps. Rønning represented her country at the 2005, 2009 and 2013 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship, after being a non-playing squad member in 2001. She also played at the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cups, as well as at the 2008 Olympic football tournament. In February 2015 she was appointed captain of the national team.
The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the first time and by a North American country for the third time. Matches were played in six cities across Canada in five time zones. The tournament began on 6 June 2015, and finished with the final on 5 July 2015 with a United States victory over Japan.
