The cups

A national team level, the most important tournament is the World Cup, which takes place since 1930. Prior to the creation of the World Cup, particularly during the 1920s, the football competition of the Olympic Games was considered a high competition sport, but currently remains a secondary tournament where players under 23 allowed with up to 3 players above that age limit per team. A female level, the equivalent of the World Cup is the Women's World Cup.

A level of confederations of FIFA , the major tournaments are the Copa America ( South America) and Euro (Europe ), and , standing at a lower level , are the African Cup of Nations (Africa ) , Cup gold CONCACAF (North America , Central and the Caribbean) , the Asian Cup (Asia ) and the Nations Cup OFC (Oceania ) .

The most important tournament for young players is the World Cup U -20 , which receives ranked teams from the South American U -20 (South America ), the UEFA European Championship U-19 ( Europe), Youth Championship CAF ( Africa), U20 CONCACAF Championship (North America , Central and the Caribbean) , the Youth Championship AFC (Asia ) and the U20 Championship OFC (Oceania ) .

clubs

In each country football clubs often federate associations or leagues in organizing official tournaments between them, where the champions of each country and the teams participating in international tournaments arise . There is no single system of each national league tournaments and organizes them according to their traditions. In general , most countries have two major tournaments a year : Argentina ( Apertura and Clausura ) ( the season starts according to the European calendar) , Mexico ( ditto, but in reverse order ) , Colombia (Opening , Ending and Copa Colombia ) , Spain (Liga and Copa del Rey) , Italy ( Serie A and Coppa Italia , etc.). In some cases the champions of both tournaments vying annual " Super Cups " and " Recopas " apart. England has a major league system ( the Premier League) and then several glasses in which teams from different divisions. Brazil has a system of state championships ( São Paulo , Rio de Janeiro , Minas Gerais , Rio Grande do Sul , etc . ) , In addition to a National League ( Brasileirão ) . There is only one annual championship tournaments divided into two half (Apertura and Clausura) in Mexico .

Globally the most important competition is the World Cup FIFA Club which takes place since 2005 and in which the champions of the various conferences that make up the FIFA participate . At the continental level the most important competitions are the Copa Libertadores (South America ) Champions League UEFA (Europe ) Champions League CAF (Africa ) Champions Cup CONCACAF ( Latin North , Central and the Caribbean) , the Champions League AFC (Asia ) and the Champions League OFC (Oceania ) . Also highlights the continental level secondary competitions in South America and Europe : the Copa Sudamericana and the Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup ), respectively.