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128-557: The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup , commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup ( USOC ), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held during the 1913–1914 season as the National Challenge Cup , with Brooklyn Field Club winning a trophy donated by Thomas Dewar for the promotion of American soccer. It

256-423: 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

384-628: A stele of c.  375–400 BCE in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship trophy. Athenaeus , writing in 228 CE, mentions the Roman ball game harpastum . Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence. They all appear to have resembled rugby football , wrestling , and volleyball more than what

512-493: A French XI team in 1920, and also made up most of the England team against a Scottish Ladies XI in the same year, winning 22–0. Despite being more popular than some men's football events, with one match seeing a 53,000 strong crowd in 1920, women's football in England suffered a blow in 1921 when The Football Association outlawed the playing of the game on association members' pitches, stating that "the game of football

640-442: A caution ( yellow card ) or dismissal ( red card ). A second yellow card in the same game leads to a red card, which results in a dismissal. A player given a yellow card is said to have been "booked", the referee writing the player's name in their official notebook. If a player has been dismissed, no substitute can be brought on in their place and the player may not participate in further play. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while

768-574: A competitive game, and involved the kicking of a mari , a ball made of animal skin. In North America, pasuckuakohowog was a ball game played by the Algonquians ; it was described as "almost identical to the kind of folk football being played in Europe at the same time, in which the ball was kicked through goals". Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on

896-505: A deadlock; some competitions may invoke replays . A game tied at the end of regulation time may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shoot-outs (known officially in the Laws of the Game as "kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of

1024-420: A draw may be settled in extra time and eventually by a penalty shootout or by replaying the fixture. Another perceived disadvantage is that most competitors are eliminated after relatively few games. Variations such as the double-elimination tournament allow competitors a single loss while remaining eligible for overall victory. However, losing one game requires the competitor to win more games in order to win

1152-400: A goal has been scored or not; this was brought in to prevent controversy. Video assistant referees (VAR) have also been increasingly introduced in high-level matches to assist officials through video replays to correct clear and obvious mistakes. There are four types of calls that can be reviewed: mistaken identity in awarding a red or yellow card, goals and whether there was a violation during

1280-640: A latex bladder for pressurisation, but modern balls at all levels of the game are now synthetic. As the Laws were formulated in England, and were initially administered solely by the four British football associations within IFAB , the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in imperial units . The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though use of imperial units remains popular in English-speaking countries with

1408-456: A match between the losers of the semifinal matches called third place playoffs , the winner therein placing third and the loser fourth. Many Olympic single-elimination tournaments feature the bronze medal match if they do not award bronze medals to both losing semifinalists. The FIFA World Cup has long featured the third place match (since 1934 ), though the UEFA Euro has not held one since

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1536-529: A meeting attended by representatives from Eton , Harrow , Rugby , Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club , formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to

1664-426: A penalty kick. Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs , goal kicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks. A standard adult football match consists of two halves of 45 minutes each. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time. The referee

1792-500: A possible match-up with the top seed until one round later. MLS' format is identical, except that the conference quarterfinals is a best-of-three series. In some situations, a seeding restriction may be implemented; from 1975 until 1989 in the NFL , and from 1994 until 2011 in MLB there was a rule where at the conference or league semifinal, should the top seed and last seed (wild card) be from

1920-517: A qualifying tournament or were selected based on league standings. A rule change enacted in 2016 removed U.S. Open Cup entries for teams that were majority-owned by another team in a higher tier, which mostly affected USL Championship teams operated by MLS as reserve or developmental squads. The first round of the 2020 edition was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The tournament

2048-437: A quarter-final from the previous year . Sometimes the remaining competitors in a single-elimination tournament will be "re-seeded" so that the highest surviving seed is made to play the lowest surviving seed in the next round, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, etc. This may be done after each round, or only at selected intervals. In American team sports, for example, the NFL employs this tactic, but MLS , NHL and

2176-426: A random factor is always present in a real-world competition, this might easily cause accusations of unfairness. Variations of the single-elimination tournament include: Other common tournament types include: Stoppage time 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

2304-416: A relatively recent history of metrication (or only partial metrication), such as Britain. The length of the pitch, or field, for international adult matches is in the range of 100–110 m (110–120 yd) and the width is in the range of 64–75 m (70–80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 90–120 m (100–130 yd) in length and 45–90 m (50–100 yd) in width, provided

2432-576: A similar ancient game ( cuju , or tsu chu ) was played by women during the Han dynasty (25–220 CE), as female figures are depicted in frescoes of the period playing tsu chu . There are also reports of annual football matches played by women in Midlothian , Scotland, during the 1790s. Association football, the modern game, has documented early involvement of women. In 1863, football governing bodies introduced standardised rules to prohibit violence on

2560-435: A simple coin toss to decide which team hosts each match for most rounds. When the draw has more than two teams involved, such as the fourth round, U.S. Soccer uses a sealed envelope system. Four envelopes are opened, the first and second are home one and two followed by away one and two. This can be modified due to teams not applying to host and previous round winners not being able to be paired against each other. The following

2688-564: A truce to the nation's civil war in 2006 and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouaké , an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time. By contrast, football is widely considered to have been the final proximate cause for the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras . The sport also exacerbated tensions at

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2816-432: A variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws. The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards . An athletic supporter and protective cup is highly recommended for male players by medical experts and professionals. Headgear

2944-695: Is 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5, for example this is used for 16 seeds in the World Snooker Championship and 32 seeds in the World Darts Championship . Some tournaments stray from this, for example it is not the procedure that is followed in most tennis tournaments, where the 1 and 2 seeds are placed in separate brackets, but then the 3 and 4 seeds are assigned to their brackets randomly, and so too are seeds 5 through 8, and so on. This may result in some brackets consisting of stronger players than other brackets, and since only

3072-644: Is a single-elimination tournament that has been contested by at least 80 teams since the 2014 edition . This pool consists of the American clubs in the professional leagues , which are Major League Soccer , the league now known as the USL Championship , USL League One and National Independent Soccer Association as well as amateur teams from the Premier Development League (now USL League Two ), National Premier Soccer League ,

3200-547: Is a table of the leading career goal scorers in the U.S Open Cup during the modern professional era (1995–present). ESPN+ had exclusive broadcast rights for the 2019 and 2022 Open Cups. Prior to 2019, the tournament had little broadcast exposure, with the final and select matches being broadcast on ESPN networks and all other matches streamed through the USSF's YouTube channel. On March 1, 2022, U.S. Soccer and Turner Sports announced an 8-year exclusive multimedia rights deal for

3328-533: Is first - for example, if sorting the numbers 1-4 ascending, if 4 and 3 meet in the first round, 3 and 1 will lose in the first round and 2 will lose in the second, selecting 4 as the largest number in the set, but insufficient comparisons have been performed to determine which is greater, 1 or 3. Despite this, the candidate that loses in the final round is commonly considered to have taken second place (in this case, 2). When matches are held to determine places or prizes lower than first and second, these typically include

3456-471: Is generally called (with or without hyphenation) the quarter-final round; this is followed by the semi-final round, in which only four are left, the two winners of which then meet in the final or championship round . The round before the quarterfinals has multiple designations. Often it is called the round of sixteen , last sixteen , or (in South Asia) pre-quarterfinals . In many other languages

3584-468: Is governed by FIFA . Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA . Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA in England) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with

3712-410: Is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by

3840-438: Is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury. Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player, such as jewellery or watches. The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials. A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during

3968-405: Is positioned on each goal line, midway between the two touchlines. The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 7.32 m (24 ft) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2.44 m (8 ft) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws. In front of the goal is the penalty area. This area

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4096-816: Is quite unsuitable for females and should not be encouraged." Players and football writers have argued that this ban was, in fact, due to envy of the large crowds that women's matches attracted, and because the FA had no control over the money made from the women's game. The FA ban led to the formation of the short-lived English Ladies Football Association and play moved to rugby grounds. Women's football also faced bans in several other countries , notably in Brazil from 1941 to 1979, in France from 1941 to 1970, and in Germany from 1955 to 1970. Restrictions began to be reduced in

4224-461: Is rare in English itself, with noticeable use in American debate tournaments. The round before the round of sixteen is sometimes called round of thirty-two in English. Terms for this in other languages generally translate as "sixteenth final". Earlier rounds are typically numbered counting forwards from the first round, or by the number of remaining competitors. If some competitors get a bye ,

4352-506: Is recognisable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football , the antecedent of all modern football codes , these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking it. Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world, FIFA has described that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The history of football in England dates back to at least

4480-643: Is the dominant region in women's football, with the United States winning the most FIFA Women's World Cups and Olympic tournaments. Europe and Asia come second and third in terms of international success, and the women's game has been improving in South America. Association football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game . The game is played using a spherical ball of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) circumference, known as

4608-455: Is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is called "additional time" in FIFA documents, but is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time , while lost time can also be used as a synonym. The duration of stoppage time is at the sole discretion of

4736-401: Is the world's most popular sport. The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game , a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference . The two teams compete to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal (between

4864-435: Is thought to have been borrowed from the slang of Rugby School . Initially spelt assoccer (a shortening of "association"), it was later reduced to the modern spelling. This form of slang also gave rise to rugger for rugby football, fiver and tenner for five pound and ten pound notes , and the now-archaic footer that was also a name for association football. The word soccer arrived at its current form in 1895 and

4992-404: Is to score goals; defenders , who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders , who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, to distinguish them from the goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which

5120-421: The football (or soccer ball ). Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by

5248-421: The 1980 edition . Sometimes, contests are also held among the losers of the quarterfinal matches to determine fifth to eighth places. In one scenario, two "consolation semifinal" matches may be conducted, with the winners of these then facing off to determine fifth and sixth places and the losers playing for seventh and eighth; those are used often in qualifying tournaments where only the top five teams advance to

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5376-524: The American Soccer Pyramid took part in the competition proper, with each league narrowing its delegation separately in the spring before the competition officially began in the summer. In some cases, additional teams played in qualifying rounds to gain entry. One example was found with MLS clubs, as only the top six from the previous regular season received automatic bids, while the bottom U.S.-based MLS teams faced each other to qualify for

5504-527: The Caribbean and Oceania regions (except Australia ) have yet to make a mark in international football. When it comes to men's national teams, Europeans and South Americans continue to dominate the FIFA World Cup, as no team from any other region has managed to even reach the final. These regional trends do not hold true for the women's game, as the United States women's national team has won

5632-573: The NBA do not (and neither does the NCAA college basketball tournament ). Although MLB does have enough teams (12) in its playoff tournament where re-seeding would have made a large difference in the matchups; only the WNBA's at the minimum, which is at least four from each conference for a total of 8. The NBA's format calls for the winner of the first-round series between the first and eighth seeds (within each of

5760-608: The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), and MLS Next Pro – as well as amateur clubs in the earlier rounds of the tournament that qualify through their respective leagues. The overall champion is awarded $ 300,000 in prize money and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup , while the runner-up receives $ 100,000, and the furthest-advancing team from each lower-division league receives $ 25,000. MLS teams have dominated

5888-498: The United States Adult Soccer Association , and US Club Soccer . The qualifying rounds have evolved over the years. Amateur and lower-league teams play in months leading up to the formal tournament rounds, with qualifying winners advancing to face USL clubs in geographical pairings in what most recently has been termed the "second round". The winner of each match progresses to the next round and

6016-635: The 1960s and 1970s. The Italian women's football league was established in 1968. In December 1969, the Women's Football Association was formed in England, with the sport eventually becoming the most prominent team sport for women in the United Kingdom. Two unofficial women's World Cups were organised by the FIEFF in 1970 and in 1971 . Also in 1971, UEFA members voted to officially recognise women's football, while The Football Association rescinded

6144-576: The FIFA Women's World Cup four times, more than any other women's team. Football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams, while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. Football has

6272-910: The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association , the Football Association of Wales , and the Irish Football Association . FIFA , the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to the Laws of the Game of the Football Association. The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the IFAB in 1913. The board consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of

6400-467: The Game while the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick . The referee may punish a player's or substitute's misconduct by

6528-475: The IFAB Laws. Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes ), one of whom must be the goalkeeper . Competition rules may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team, which is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are

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6656-430: The Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees . In many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise. Goal line technology is used to measure if the whole ball has crossed the goal-line thereby determining whether

6784-748: The Laws of the Game. The most prestigious senior international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup . The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games . The two most prestigious competitions in club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League , which attract an extensive television audience worldwide. The final of

6912-479: The Laws of the Game: to represent their team in the coin toss before kick-off or penalty kicks . The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they must use both their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their body (notably, "heading" with

7040-416: The U.S. Open Cup starting in the 2024 edition , instead opting to send their MLS Next Pro teams. However, on December 20, 2023, U.S. Soccer announced that they had denied MLS the necessary waiver to allow affiliated MLS Next Pro teams to play in the tournament. A compromise announced on March 1, 2024, allowed eight MLS teams to participate with senior squads and eleven to be represented by MLS Next Pro teams;

7168-514: The U.S. as Open Cup champion was 2007's winner, New England Revolution . Starting in 2016, lower-division professional clubs owned by higher-division professional clubs are no longer eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup. This removed the MLS reserve clubs in USL from the 2016 competition, after issues of clubs holding back players from their USL sides in 2015 in order to keep them eligible to play for

7296-618: The United States men's and women's national teams. Cindy Parlow Cone, president of U.S. Soccer, confirmed in a separate interview that the new deal would include the Open Cup. Early round U.S. Open Cup matches will air on the Bleacher Report app and the Bleacher Report Football YouTube channel. Single-elimination tournament In English , the round in which only eight competitors remain

7424-461: The United States in the early 1900s. While U.S. Soccer had initially administered the competition, in 1985 they handed over management to the USASA. In 1995, U.S. Soccer resumed its administration of the competition. Maccabee Los Angeles of California and Bethlehem Steel of Pennsylvania both won the cup a record five times, while Greek American AA of New York and Seattle Sounders FC are tied for

7552-480: The United States. A notable exception is New Zealand, where in the first two decades of the 21st century, under the influence of international television, "football" has been gaining prevalence, despite the dominance of other codes of football, namely rugby union and rugby league . The term soccer comes from Oxford "-er" slang, which was prevalent at the University of Oxford in England from about 1875, and

7680-460: The ban that prohibited women from playing on association members' pitches in England. Women's football still faces many struggles, but its worldwide growth has seen major competitions being launched at both the national and international levels, mirroring the men's competitions. The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991: the first tournament was held in China, featuring 12 teams from

7808-410: The beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play: A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in the Laws of

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7936-534: The beginning of the Croatian War of Independence of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade degenerated into rioting in May 1990. Women's association football has historically seen opposition, with national associations severely curbing its development and several outlawing it completely. Women may have been playing football for as long as the game has existed. Evidence shows that

8064-404: The buildup, direct red card decisions, and penalty decisions. The ball is spherical with a circumference of between 68 and 70 cm (27 and 28 in), a weight in the range of 410 to 450 g (14 to 16 oz), and a pressure between 0.6 and 1.1 standard atmospheres (8.5 and 15.6 pounds per square inch ) at sea level. In the past the ball was made up of leather panels sewn together, with

8192-750: The champions of these two club competitions would contest the Intercontinental Cup to prove which team was the best in the world. In the 21st century, South America has continued to produce some of the best footballers in the world, but its clubs have fallen behind the still dominant European clubs, which often sign the best players from Latin America and elsewhere. Meanwhile, football has improved in Africa , Asia and North America , and nowadays, these regions are at least on equal grounds with South America in club football, although countries in

8320-556: The competition since the league began play in 1996. No lower division team has won the Open Cup since the Rochester Rhinos in 1999, and the most recent lower division team to reach the final was Sacramento Republic FC in 2022 . The most recent champions of the competition, Los Angeles FC , won their first title after defeating Sporting Kansas City in the 2024 final . From 1996 to 2023, MLS teams had participated in every Open Cup competition. The 2022 U.S. Open Cup marked

8448-453: The competition, seeding is often used to prevent this. Brackets are set up so that the top two seeds could not possibly meet until the final round (should both advance that far), none of the top four can meet prior to the semifinals, and so on. If no seeding is used, the tournament is called a random knockout tournament. Standard seeding pairs the highest and lowest, then second highest and second lowest and so on, for an 8 seed tournament this

8576-425: The course of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is five in 90 minutes, with each team being allowed one more if the game should go into extra-time; the permitted number may vary in other competitions or in friendly matches . Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or timewasting at

8704-453: The eighth century. The modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England. The Cambridge rules , first drawn up at the University of Cambridge in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge , at

8832-420: The end of a finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not take further part in a match. IFAB recommends "that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven players in either team". Any decision regarding points awarded for abandoned games is left to the individual football associations. A game is officiated by a referee , who has "full authority to enforce

8960-405: The end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared with 1 point awarded to each team, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out . Internationally, association football

9088-544: The first round of the Cup, with the winners meeting all 16 USL Pro and NASL teams in the second round. The 16 U.S.-based MLS teams entered in the third round. In 2013 the competition was expanded to 68 teams. All U.S.-based Division I, II and III teams participated in the tournament proper: 16 from Major League Soccer, six from the North American Soccer League and 12 from USL PRO. The remaining 34 spots in

9216-420: The forehead) other than their hands or arms. Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though players may not pass to teammates who are in an offside position. During gameplay, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling , passing the ball to a teammate, and by taking shots at

9344-528: The formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules. These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street , London. The only school to be represented on this occasion

9472-531: The four British associations. For most of the 20th century, Europe and South America were the dominant regions in association football. The FIFA World Cup , inaugurated in 1930 , became the main stage for players of both continents to show their worth and the strength of their national teams. In the second half of the century, the European Cup and the Copa Libertadores were created, and

9600-695: The game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team's players is known as a formation . Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager . There are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game, each containing a collection of stipulations and guidelines. The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football for both sexes, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors and people with physical disabilities are permitted. The laws are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on

9728-425: The goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee for an infringement of

9856-404: The highest global television audience in sport. In many parts of the world, football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans , local communities, and even nations. Ryszard Kapuściński says that Europeans who are polite, modest, or humble fall easily into rage when playing or watching football games. The Ivory Coast national football team helped secure

9984-687: The instigation of Alcock. England is also home to the world's first football league , which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor . The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and Northern England . Laws of the Game are determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The board was formed in 1886 after a meeting in Manchester of

10112-759: The lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s, with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games. The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup , which was founded by the footballer and cricketer Charles W. Alcock , and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match also took place in 1872, between Scotland and England in Glasgow , again at

10240-578: The loser is eliminated from the tournament. Most MLS clubs now enter play in the third round, played in April, matched geographically with the winners of the second round. The highest eight ranked MLS teams enter in the Round of 32 in May. Pairings in each round are done by draw within geographic areas, until a final bracket of 4 teams each in 4 geographic regions is established. After the fourth round, no new teams are introduced, leading to quarterfinals in June,

10368-614: The men's tournament is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. Association football is one of a family of football codes that emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity. Within the English-speaking world, the sport is now usually called "football" in Great Britain and most of Ulster in the north of Ireland, whereas people usually call it "soccer" in regions and countries where other codes of football are prevalent, such as Australia, Canada, South Africa, most of Ireland (excluding Ulster), and

10496-708: The modern era were the Richmond Kickers of the USISL (the predecessor to the A-League, later known as the USL First Division , USL Pro, United Soccer League, and now as the USL Championship ) in 1995, one year before the start of MLS. D.C. United were the first MLS team to win in 1996. The tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 2012 with all MLS teams in the United States receiving an automatic berth; previously, MLS participants were determined through

10624-534: The nature of the game. The Laws of the Game are published by FIFA, but are maintained by the IFAB. In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of association football. Within the United States, Major League Soccer used a distinct ruleset during the 1990s and the National Federation of State High School Associations and NCAA still use rulesets that are comparable to, but different from,

10752-399: The next round; or some method of ranking the four quarterfinal losers might be employed, in which case only one round of additional matches would be held among them, the two highest-ranked therein then playing for fifth and sixth places and the two lowest for seventh and eighth. The number of distinct ways of arranging a single-elimination tournament (as an abstract structure, prior to seeding

10880-426: The offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player, substitute, substituted player, and to non-players such as managers and support staff. Rather than stopping play,

11008-655: The official title of the tournament to the "Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup". The winners of the tournament were awarded the Dewar Cup , donated by Sir Thomas Dewar for the promotion of soccer in the United States in 1912, until it was retired due to poor condition in 1979. It was brought back into use by the United States Adult Soccer Association in 1997, but is now back on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas , and

11136-414: The opportunity to face every other player/team. Also, if the competitors' performance is variable, that is, it depends on a small, varying factor in addition to the actual strength of the competitors, then not only will it become less likely that the strongest competitor actually wins the tournament, in addition the seeding done by the tournament organizers will play a major part in deciding the winner. As

11264-470: The original thirteen laws of the game. The sticking point was hacking, which a twelfth club at the meeting, Blackheath FC , had wanted to keep, resulting in them withdrawing from the FA. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, and instead in 1871, along with Blackheath, formed the Rugby Football Union . The FA rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and

11392-604: The other. If a small number of teams play in a single elimination tournament, sometimes a consolation bracket is included to allow the eliminated teams to play more than once. This was the format of the Little League World Series until 1992. The format is less suited to games where draws are frequent. In chess , each fixture in a single-elimination tournament must be played over multiple matches, because draws are common , and because white has an advantage over black. In association football , games ending in

11520-424: The parent MLS club. Players are only allowed to play for one club in any US Open Cup season. Amateur clubs remain eligible to enter even if they are owned by professional clubs. Initially, "hybrid affiliate" clubs—i.e., lower-division professional clubs that are staffed but not owned by higher-division clubs—also remained eligible, but those clubs were also banned effective with the 2016 competition. This last change

11648-432: The pitch does not become square. In 2008, the IFAB initially approved a fixed size of 105 m (115 yd) long and 68 m (74 yd) wide as a standard pitch dimension for international matches; however, this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented. The longer boundary lines are touchlines , while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines . A rectangular goal

11776-437: The pitch, making it more socially acceptable for women to play. The first match recorded by the Scottish Football Association took place in 1892 in Glasgow . In England, the first recorded game of football between women took place in 1895. Women's football has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom. Association football continued to be played by women since

11904-437: The player spends the most time. For example, there are central defenders and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of

12032-400: The players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa . Trailing 1–0 with two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty kick. Villa's goalkeeper deliberately kicked the ball out of play; by

12160-587: The players into the tournament) is given by the Wedderburn–Etherington numbers . Thus, for instance, there are three different arrangements for five players: However, the number of arrangements grows quickly for larger numbers of players and not all of them are commonly used. Opponents may be allocated randomly (such as in the FA Cup); however, since the "luck of the draw" may result in the highest-rated competitors being scheduled to face each other early in

12288-407: The posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and that only within the penalty area . The team that has scored more goals at

12416-409: The recent winners of the tournament have been awarded a new, different trophy. Despite this, the name of each winning club is still added to the base of the original Dewar Cup. The National Challenge Cup was the first truly national cup competition in the United States, as previous cups had been effectively relegated to regional status by the difficulties in coordination and travel caused by the size of

12544-469: The record for most consecutive cup victories at three. The old NASL did not participate in the Open Cup. Since MLS' debut in 1996, MLS clubs have won the cup in all but one of those years. The Rochester Rhinos of the 2nd division A-League were surprise winners in 1999, defeating four MLS clubs, including the Colorado Rapids 2–0 in the championship match. The first professional team to win in

12672-416: The referee may allow play to continue if doing so will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within "a few seconds". Even if an offence is not penalised due to advantage being played, the offender may still be sanctioned for misconduct at

12800-419: The referee. Stoppage time does not fully compensate for the time in which the ball is out of play , and a 90-minute game typically involves about an hour of "effective playing time". The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, towards the end of the half, the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time they intend to add. The fourth official then informs

12928-571: The regular season (or did not take place, in some cases). In international fencing competitions, it is common to have a group stage . Participants are divided in groups of 6–7 fencers who play a round-robin tournament, and a ranking is calculated from the consolidated group results. Single elimination is seeded from this ranking. The single-elimination format enables a relatively large number of competitors to participate. There are no "dead" matches (perhaps excluding "classification" matches), and no matches where one competitor has more to play for than

13056-526: The remaining two MLS slots. Beginning in 2012, the competition was expanded from its previous 40 teams to 64, with the qualifying process radically changed. The National Premier Soccer League received six places, plus the possibility of a seventh in a playoff against a team from the amateur US Club Soccer setup. Nine clubs from the USASA earned places, as did 16 USL Premier Development League teams. Each of these organizations has its own qualifying process to determine its entrants. These 32 teams competed in

13184-440: The respective six confederations. The World Cup has been held every four years since; by 2019 , it had expanded to 24 national teams, and 1.12 billion viewers watched the competition. Four years later , FIFA targeted the 32-team 2023 Women's World Cup at an audience of 2 billion, while about 1.4 million tickets were sold, setting a Women's World Cup record. Women's football has been an Olympic event since 1996 . North America

13312-435: The return of the competition after the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , ending 106 years of consecutive play. On December 15, 2023, MLS announced that affiliated reserve teams from MLS Next Pro would be sent in place of MLS teams for the 2024 edition. U.S. Soccer subsequently denied the request, ruling that MLS teams must compete in the 2024 edition of the U.S. Open Cup. The competition

13440-446: The round at which they enter may be named the first round , with the earlier matches called a preliminary round , qualifying round , opening round , or the play-in games . Examples of the diverse names given to concurrent rounds in various select disciplines: Notes: The knockout round of the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament: Without any additional matches, the only position a single-elimination tournament can reliably determine

13568-544: The rules. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart. At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2022–23 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.85 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers , or forwards, whose main task

13696-399: The same division, they cannot play each other; in that case, the top seed plays the worst division champion; the second-best division champion plays the wild card team. This is due to the scheduling employed for the regular season, in which a team faces any given divisional opponent more often than any given non-divisional opponent – the tournament favors match-ups that took place fewer times in

13824-553: The semifinal round in August, and a final match to determine the champion in September. Every match, including the final, lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time . If no clear winner has been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time is played. If the score is still level after extra time then the winner is decided by a penalty shoot-out . Through the 2011 edition, eight teams from each level of

13952-554: The sexes are so widely divided are all on the side of emancipation , and I look forward to the time when ladies may sit in Parliament and have a voice in the direction of affairs, especially those which concern them most." Honeyball and those like her paved the way for women's football. However, the women's game was frowned upon by the British football associations and continued without their support. It has been suggested that this

14080-558: The teams participating in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup will not send teams to the Open Cup. The eight MLS participants are defending Open Cup champions Houston Dynamo and the seven highest-ranked teams in the 2023 regular season standings who did not qualify for the Champions Cup. D.C. United will not send a representative due to their lack of a MLS Next Pro affiliate. Through the 2010 U.S. Open Cup, U.S. Soccer used sealed bids to award home matches. From 2011, U.S. Soccer uses

14208-1060: The term for these eight matches translates to eighth-final (e.g., in these European languages: "huitième de finale" in French , "achtste finale" in Dutch, octavos de final in Spanish , Achtelfinale in German , åttondelsfinal in Swedish , ottavi di finale in Italian , oitavos-de-final in Portuguese , optimi de finală in Romanian , osmifinále in Czech , osemfinále in Slovak , and osmina finala in Serbo-Croatian ), though this term

14336-447: The time it was recovered, the clock had run out and the game was over, leaving Stoke unable to attempt the penalty. The same law also states that the duration of either half is extended until a penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed; thus, no game can end with an uncompleted penalty. In league competitions, games may end in a draw. In knockout competitions where a winner is required, various methods may be employed to break such

14464-538: The time of the first recorded women's games in the late 19th century. The best-documented early European team was founded by activist Nettie Honeyball in England in 1894. It was named the British Ladies' Football Club . Honeyball is quoted as, "I founded the association late last year [1894], with the fixed resolve of proving to the world that women are not the 'ornamental and useless' creatures men have pictured. I must confess, my convictions on all matters where

14592-476: The top 32 players of 128 are seeded in Tennis Grand Slam tournaments, it can happen that the 33rd-best player in a 128-player field could end up playing the top seed in the first round. An example of this occurring was when World No. 33 Florian Mayer was drawn against, and defeated by, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships , in what was also a rematch of

14720-653: The tournament field were filled by amateur teams from the Adult Council category–16 from the Premier Development League, eight from U.S. Adult Soccer Association regional qualifying, eight from the National Premier Soccer League, one from US Club Soccer and one from the United States Specialty Sports Association . The process for determining the site for the Open Cup tournament semifinals and final

14848-422: The tournament or be the champion. Goals scored during extra time periods count towards the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament, with goals scored in a penalty shoot-out not making up part of the final score. In competitions using two-legged matches , each team competes at home once, with an aggregate score from

14976-470: The tournament. In a single-elimination tournament without any seeding, awarding the second place to the loser of the final is unjustified: any of the competitors knocked out before getting to play the losing finalist might have been stronger than the actual losing finalist. In general, it is only fair to use a single-elimination tournament to determine first place. To fairly determine lower places requires some form of round-robin in which each player/team gets

15104-613: The transmission of cuju outside of China, especially the form of the game popular in the Tang dynasty , the period when the inflatable ball was invented and replaced the stuffed ball. Other East Asian games include kemari in Japan and chuk-guk in Korea, both influenced by cuju . Kemari originated after the year 600 during the Asuka period . It was a ceremonial rather than

15232-438: The two conferences the league has) to face the winner of the first-round series between the fourth and fifth seeds in the next round, even if one or more of the top three seeds had been upset in their first-round series; critics have claimed that this gives a team fighting for the fifth and sixth seeding positions near the end of the regular season an incentive to tank (deliberately lose) games, so as to finish sixth and thus avoid

15360-439: The two matches deciding which team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the most goals in the leg they played away from home. If the result is still equal, extra time and potentially a penalty shoot-out are required. Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play . From

15488-516: Was Charterhouse . The Freemasons' Tavern was the setting for five more meetings of The FA between October and December 1863; the English FA eventually issued the first comprehensive set of rules named Laws of the Game , forming modern football. The laws included bans on running with the ball in hand and hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Eleven clubs, under the charge of FA secretary Ebenezer Cobb Morley , ratified

15616-428: Was canceled entirely in August 2020, with all qualified teams automatically qualified for the following year ; however, the 2021 Open Cup was canceled as well, due to schedule congestion as an effect of the pandemic. The tournament resumed in 2022 with 71 professional clubs out of a total field of 103, both modern-era records. On December 15, 2023, Major League Soccer announced that its teams would no longer enter in

15744-429: Was changed in 2013. In past years, the sites for the final three matches of the tournament had been determined through a sealed-bid process, but in 2013 the hosts of those games were determined by a coin flip. Home teams throughout the entire tournament were determined by random selection. Since 2008, the champion of the U.S. Open Cup has earned the right to play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup . The first team to represent

15872-533: Was first recorded as in exercise in the Zhan Guo Ce , a military history from the Han dynasty . Cuju players would pass the ball around, having to avoid it touching the ground at any point. It was then passed to a designated player, who attempted to kick it through the fengliu yan , a circular goal atop 10–11 meter poles. During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), cuju games were standardised and rules were established. The Silk Road facilitated

16000-419: Was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca . Kicking ball games arose independently multiple times across multiple cultures. The Chinese competitive game cuju ( 蹴鞠 , literally "kickball"; also known as tsu chu ) resembles modern association football as well as a mix of basketball, and volleyball. This is the earliest form of a kicking game for which there is historical evidence. The game

16128-504: Was motivated by a perceived threat to the "masculinity" of the game. Women's football became popular on a large scale at the time of the First World War , when female employment in heavy industry spurred the growth of the game, much as it had done for men 50 years earlier. The most successful team of the era was Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. of Preston, England . The team played in one of the first women's international matches against

16256-471: Was proposed by the Houston Dynamo , which were the senior club to Rio Grande Valley FC Toros in the first such arrangement in the U.S. game; that arrangement ended after the 2021 season, and those two teams would be drawn against each other in 2022. The competition dates back to 1913–1914, when it was known as the "National Challenge Cup". In 1999, U.S. Soccer honored patron Lamar Hunt by changing

16384-598: Was renamed and dedicated to North American Soccer League (NASL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) executive Lamar Hunt by the United States Soccer Federation in 1999 . In its current format, the U.S Open Cup is contested by approximately 100 clubs from the professional leagues sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation – Major League Soccer (MLS), the United Soccer League's Championship and League One divisions,

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