Football is one of the oldest and most popular games played around the world. The history of this game dates back several centuries. Many similar games were played in different parts of the world and were known by various names. For instance, in China a similar game was known by the name Cuju, in Japan it is known by the name, Kemari and in Greece it was known as Episkyros.Top Football Teams: Several countries have their football teams that play at international level to compete with each other. A number of football tournaments are held each year and based on these the football teams are ranked. The ranking keeps changing based on the performance of the teams. However, there are certain teams that continue to hold top ranks year after year. France, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Netherland, Chile, Belgium, Portugal and England are among the countries that have the best football teams in the world. What is FIFA? FIFA that was established in the year 1904 stands for Federation Internationale de Football Association which is French for International Federation of Association Football. It is headquartered in Zurich. The initiative for the formation of FIFA was taken to monitor international football matches among the teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherland and Spain. Its arena expanded and over the time it has become the international governing body of association football, beach soccer and futsal. Today, it organizes some of the major international football tournaments including the Football World Cup. As many as 211 national associations have its membership. Contrary to the popular notion, FIFA does not define or control the rules of the game. It is only responsible for organizing tournaments and promoting them for revenue generation. The rules and laws of the game are set by International Football Association Board. FIFA conducts a grand awards ceremony every year. This is held to recognize the achievements of the best team and player during that year. FIFA Ballon d'Or is awarded to the best male player and FIFA World Player of the Year is awarded to the best female player. Football is a game of international acclaim. No other sport or game is as popular among the masses as football. Football tournaments are known to be grand events and football fans across the globe eagerly await these events. Football players have huge fan following. Their fans shower immense love on them and they return the same by showing gratitude. Just like every other game, football also has certain set of rules that define the way it should be played and determine as to which team emerges winner. A football match is played for a total of 1 hour 45 minutes. This includes a 15 minutes break in between the match. So, the total playing time is 90 minutes. The match is played in two halves comprising of 45 minutes each. Each team consists of a total of 11 players that include 10 outfield players and one goal keeper. Players wear football boots and shin pads during the match. The goalkeepers wear padded gloves in addition to it. The football field must either have natural or artificial grass. The pitch size may vary however it should necessarily be within 100-130 yards long and 50-100 yards wide. To score points, the football must go into the opponent's goal. The goal comprises of a frame which is 8 feet high and 8 yards wide. Goal can be scored using any part of the body apart from the hand, arms or shoulder. Players are not allowed to use their hands to handle to ball at any point in time during the match. Goal keeper is the only player who is allowed to handle the ball with any part of the body including hands. It goes without saying that the team with the maximum goals wins the game. In case scores are equal by the end of the 90 minutes stint then the match will end as a draw. However, there are certain football matches where in a penalty shoot is given to determine the winner.