Athletics usually attract those with a competitive nature, and sports are the domain where competitive people can excel to become the modern day celebrity-icons known as professional sports players. Young children across the world practice playing their sport with friends in their neighborhood. What sport are most of these would-be athletes playing, what is the most popular sport in the world?football soccer ball

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport played today. The term soccer first appeared in the 19th century as for Association Football, and is used in the United States commonly, but the term football is used by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s world governing body and by most of English speakers throughout the world.

A survey in 2001 by FIFA 2001 showed more than 240 million people play the sport of football in over 200 countries across almost every part of the globe. Because of this some have named football the world’s favorite pastime, but instead we are naming football the world’s most popular sport!

It was recently reported that Google and Nike have partnered to launch Joga, a social networking website for football (soccer) enthusiasts. This is no wonder since football is the most popular and most played sport in the world!