Ball games arose independently in different cultures. The Chinese cuju resembled modern football. Players could use any part of the body except their hands to throw the ball through a hole in the net.
Similar games existed in Japan, Korea, Ancient Greece and Rome, North America, and so on. Football became truly popular in the 19th century in England. At that time, it was practiced mainly in colleges, but there were already attempts to establish the first rules of the game. By the end of the 19th century, it had spread so much that the number of clubs in the Football Association exceeded a hundred.
In 1904, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the governing body for this sport, was founded in Paris. Initially, it included Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. In 1930, the Uruguayans became the first winners of the FIFA World Cup. This marked the beginning of a new era in the history of football.
Now the game is rightfully considered the most popular in the world. Thus, according to a survey conducted by FIFA in the early 2000s, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. It also has the largest sports television audience on the planet.