Soccer is the most popular sport in the entire world.

Here's a basic overview of the rules to play:

Each team consists of 11 players. One and only one of these players is the goalkeeper.

Here are examples of formations (click to cycle through):

The goalkeeper may use his hands, but no one else is allowed to.

The goalkeeper may not use his hands outside the second box surrounding his goal

When the ball goes out of the outer white lines, the team who touched it last does not recieve the ball .

The other team gets to throw it in (by throwing the ball over their head)

A goal is scored if the ball, in any way other than directly by a throw-in, goes into the net.

The game starts on the very center of the field.

One team recieves the ball first half, and the other team recieves it second half.

If one player passes the ball to his teammate standing behind the last opposing player* it is an offside penalty.

In this case, the opposing team recieves the ball.

*The goalkeeper is never counted as the last opposing player.