Differences Between Football & Soccer

Outside of the United States, soccer is known as football. In fact the term 'soccer' was coined in England as an abbreviation for association football. However in the United States, football is something entirely different. While the differences between American football and soccer are perhaps known to most, a brief clarification can help clear any confusion.

  1. Use of Hands

    • In soccer, the use of hands is not permitted by any player on the pitch (playing field in soccer) except the goalkeeper. In soccer the ball is passed, possessed and shot into goal by using your feet, head, legs and torso. In football, ironically, the ball is passed, moved and carried across the goal line completely by hand.

    Gradual Gains vs. Instant Results

    • General George S. Patton was fond of saying that Americans were good at tank warfare because we played football. However in the Vietnam War some special forces commanders made their troops play soccer because it demonstrated the way the Viet Cong fought. The point is that in football, ground is fought for and gained gradually while in soccer a team can be defending its own goal one moment and scoring at the opposite end of the pitch in the next.

    Interrupted Play vs. Continuous

    • American football games can be lengthy affairs. First down, second down, timeouts and other play stoppages are all part of the game. In soccer however once the whistle has blown the game runs for two 45 minutes halves with a few minutes of time added at the end for injuries, substitutions and other brief stoppages. Some believe soccer's inability to catch on widely in the U.S. has much to do with advertisers not liking to have to go 45 minutes without a commercial break.

    Contact

    • Soccer and football are both contact sports. However the contact in football is much heavier. A soccer tackle is meant to dispossess an opposing player of the ball while a football tackle is meant to take an opposing player to the ground. Subsequently football players wear helmets and are padded up like modern-day gladiators while soccer players merely wear chin protection.