Street football

Informal football variant

This article is about association football. For American football, see street football (American). For the game prior to the 19th century, see Medieval football.

"Jumpers for goalposts" redirects here. For the Ed Sheeran film, see Jumpers for Goalposts: Live at Wembley Stadium.

A group of boys playing football near Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo, Egypt A group of men on a concrete football pitch in Tripoli, Libya A boy dribbling on an urban football pitch in Soweto, South Africa

Street football or street soccer is an informal variation on the game of association football, typically played in outdoor urban settings such as streets, playgrounds and car parks.[1] The term encompasses a variety of different formats, which do not necessarily follow the requirements of a formal game of football, such as a large field, field markings, goal apparatus and corner flags, eleven players per team, or match officials (referee and assistant referees). Often street football is played as a pick-up game, without fixed timing and with players joining and leaving at any point.[2][3] Many renowned footballers stated that they learned to play football on the street, including the likes of Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Pelé, Giuseppe Meazza, Éamon Dunphy, Eusebio, Dejan Savićević, and Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.[4][5][6]

## Background

[edit]

Street football, Venice (1960)

Street football is more similar to beach football and futsal than to association football. Often the most basic of set-ups will involve just a ball with a wall or fence used as a goal, or items such as clothing being used for goalposts[2][7] (hence the phrase "jumpers for goalposts"). The phrase was used by Ed Sheeran in his 2015 documentary Jumpers for Goalposts: Live at Wembley Stadium as a nod to playing the concerts at Wembley Stadium,[8] the "home of football."[9]

Children playing with an improvised ball in Tanzania

In some cases, a standard ball is not available and street football depends on a ball made out of garbage, such as discarded plastic.[10][11] Handwalla Bwana, describing street football in the Kakuma refugee camp said "We used to make a garbage ball. We used to go through the garbage cans and make as much soccer ball as we could" and attributed use of the garbage ball to being better with his feet.[12][13] Johan Cruyff has said "Footballers from the street are more important than trained coaches."[14]

The ease of playing these informal games on the streets and open spaces make football the most popular sport in the world.[15]

## Video games

[edit]

In 2005, video game publisher Electronic Arts introduced FIFA Street, a franchise based on street football and freestyle football. FIFA Street series focuses on flair, style and trickery, reflecting the cultures of street football and freestyle football played in streets and backlots across the world.

In 2019, Electronic Arts added a Volta gameplay mode to FIFA 20. It shares similarities to the FIFA Street series and has a storyline of a street football player playing through the ranks, both making new friends and losing old ones along the way.[16][17]

## See also

[edit]

* Streetball
* Homeless World Cup

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Street football.

1. ^ cs.yothin (6 February 2023). "THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STREET FOOTBALL, FREESTYLE FOOTBALL & URBANBALL FIGHT". URBANBALL. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
2. ^ a b Meseguer, Pedro (November 7, 2016). "El fútbol callejero" (in Spanish). Alicante: Futbol Jobs. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
3. ^ "Fútbol Callejero: Historia, trucos, jugadas y mucho más" (in Spanish). 12 January 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
4. ^ Salmon, Ken (November 10, 2021). "Street soccer and the first teams of legendary players". 90soccer.com. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
5. ^ Croke, Ruaidhrí. "Ghosts and goalposts: The soul of street football in Dublin's Gloucester Diamond". The Irish Times.
6. ^ Vlaisavljević, Luka (16 September 2018). "Željko i Dejo dobijaju grafit tamo gdje se dribling cijeni "više od života"" (in Serbian). Vijesti. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
7. ^ Kummetz, Pablo (October 19, 2004). "Fútbol callejero para la integración social" (in Spanish). Berlin: Deutsche Welle. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
8. ^ "Watch the trailer for Ed Sheeran's exuberant concert film 'Jumpers for Goalposts'". USA Today. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
9. ^ Horne, John; Manzenreiter, Wolfram (11 January 2013). Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup. Routledge. ISBN 9781135140212 - via google.ca.
10. ^ Thélia, Jerome (9 June 2014). "One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Soccer Ball | Op-Docs | The New York Times". YouTube. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
11. ^ Berlin, Jeremy; Hilltout, Jessica (2013-02-01). "Joy Is Round". National Geographic Magazine. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
12. ^ Pentz, Matt (28 October 2016). "Handwalla Bwana could be the next Seattle soccer star. But first he must conquer his American Dream". Seattle Times.
13. ^ "New Homegrown Player Handwalla Bwana sits down for first interview". Sounders FC. 12 January 2018. 2 minutes 44 seconds. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
14. ^ FIFA.com. "Welcome to FIFA.com News - They said It: Johan Cruyff". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
15. ^ "Street Soccer" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2019. "Soccer is the undisputed # 1 game in the world and the primary way kids around the world developed their ball skills was through "street soccer". World-class players came out of this environment."
16. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (8 June 2019). "Confirmed: FIFA 20 has a FIFA Street mode called Volta Football". Eurogamer. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
17. ^ Horti, Samuel (8 June 2019). "FIFA 20 has a FIFA Street-style mode called Volta, EA confirms". PC Gamer. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Association football

Chronology|

| Modern code|

* History
* Timeline
* First league
* First international
* Oldest clubs
* Oldest competitions
* Attempts to ban the sport

|

Ancestors|

* Caid
* Cuju
* Calcio Fiorentino
* English school games
* Episkyros
* Harpastum
* La soule
* Marn Grook
* Medieval
* Ba
* Camping
* Cnapan
* Cornish hurling
* Old Division
* Royal Shrovetide
* Uppies and Downies

Rules|

| Current|

* Away goals rule
* Ball
* Ball in/out
* Corner kick
* Duration of the match
* Equipment
* Field
* Fouls and misconduct
* Free kick
* Goal kick
* Goal difference
* Offside
* Penalty kick
* Penalty shoot-out
* Players
* Referee
* Assistants
* Scoring
* Start and restart
* Throw-in

|

Former|

* Sheffield rules
* Cambridge rules

Board|

* IFAB

Equipment|

* Ball
* Boots
* Kit
* Away colours
* Third jersey
* Throwback uniform

Variants of
the game|

* Amputee
* Beach
* College
* Crab
* Five-a-side
* Futsal
* Indoor
* Freestyle
* Keepie uppie
* Footbag
* Paralympic
* Powerchair
* Jorkyball
* Roller
* Rush goalie
* Seven-a-side (Sevens)
* Swamp
* Street
* Three-sided
* 3v3 Soccer
* Walking

Positions|

* Goalkeeper
* Defender
* Midfielder
* Forward

Strategy|

* Formation
* Tactics

Skills|

* Bicycle kick
* Curl
* Nutmeg
* Rabona
* Step over

Terminology|

* Anti-football
* Catenaccio
* Tiki-taka
* Total football
* Zona mista
* Equaliser

Memorabilia|

* Trading cards

Organised supporters|

* Barra brava
* Curva
* Hooliganism
* Torcida
* Ultras
* Chant

Comparisons|

* Futsal
* Rugby union

Main associations|

* FIFA
* Africa
* Asia
* Europe
* North & Central America
* Oceania
* South America

Olympic|

* Summer Olympics
* Youth Olympics

Lists|

| Men's|

* Competitions
* Families
* Players
* Top scorers
* Clubs
* National teams

|

Women's|

* Competitions
* Families
* Players
* Top scorers
* Clubs
* National teams

Related topics|

* 12th man
* Alcohol
* Association football films
* Beautiful Game
* Captain
* Child abuse
* Culture
* Ethnicity
* Football club
* Geography
* Homosexuality
* IFFHS
* Names
* Politics
* Professionalism
* Racism
* Retired numbers (list)
* Rivalries (list)
* RSSSF
* Smoking
* Squad number
* Stadiums (list)
* Stars on badges
* Transfer
* World XI

* Category
* Commons
* Portal
* WikiProject

* v
* t
* e

Team sports

* Sport
* Governing bodies
* National sport
* Sportspeople

Invasion games|

| Basket sports|

* Basketball
* beach
* deaf
* 3x3
* water
* wheelchair
* Cestoball
* Dueball
* Korfball
* Netball
* Fast5
* indoor
* wheelchair
* Rezball
* Ringball
* Slamball

|

Football
codes|

* Association football
* amputee
* beach soccer
* freestyle
* futsal
* Indoor soccer
* minifootball
* paralympic
* powerchair
* roller soccer
* socca
* street
* teqball‎
* Australian rules football
* AFLX
* Lightning football
* Metro footy
* Nine-a-side
* Rec footy
* Gaelic football
* Ladies'
* Circle rules football

Gridiron codes|

* American football
* eight-man
* flag
* nine-man
* six-man
* sprint
* touch
* wheelchair
* Arena football
* Canadian football

Hybrid codes|

* Austus
* Eton wall game
* International rules football
* Samoa rules
* Speedball
* Swedish football
* Universal football
* Volata

Medieval/historical
football codes|

* Ba game
* Caid
* Calcio fiorentino
* Camping
* Cnapan
* Cornish hurling
* Cuju
* Harpastum
* Kemari
* La soule
* Lelo burti
* Marn grook
* Pasuckuakohowog
* Royal Shrovetide
* Uppies and downies

Rugby codes|

* Rugby league
* masters
* mod
* nines
* sevens
* tag
* wheelchair
* Rugby union
* American flag
* beach
* mini
* sevens
* snow
* tag
* Tambo
* touch
* tens
* X
* Touch
* Wheelchair

Other related codes|

* Cuju
* Kī-o-rahi
* Jegichagi
* Yubi lakpi

Stick-and-ball
sports|

* Bando
* Cammag
* Gateball
* Hurling
* Camogie
* Super11s
* Shinty–Hurling
* Indigenous North American stickball
* Iomain
* Knattleikr
* Knotty
* Lacrosse
* box/indoor
* field
* intercrosse
* women's
* Ritinis
* Shinty
* Shinty–Hurling

Hockey sports|

* Ball hockey
* Bandy
* rink
* Broomball
* Field hockey
* indoor
* Floor hockey
* Floorball
* Ice hockey
* pond
* power
* ice sledge
* Ringette
* Rinkball
* Roller hockey
* in-line
* quad
* Rossall hockey
* Shinny
* Street hockey
* Underwater hockey
* Unicycle hockey

Polo sports|

* Auto polo
* Cowboy polo
* Cycle polo
* Elephant polo
* Hobby horse polo
* Horseball
* Motoball
* Pato
* Polo
* Arena polo
* Chovgan
* Snow polo
* Polocrosse
* Segway polo
* Yak polo

Other ball sports|

* Angleball
* Cycle ball
* Dodgeball
* Flickerball
* Gain-ground
* Balle à la main
* Ballon au poing
* Jeu de paume
* Longue paume
* Goalball
* Handball
* beach
* Czech
* field
* wheelchair
* Kaatsen
* Kin-Ball
* Lagori
* Mesoamerican ballgame
* Pelota mixteca
* Prisonball
* Pushball
* Quidditch
* Roll ball
* Tamburello
* Tchoukball
* Ulama
* Valencian pilota
* Llargues
* Whirlyball
* Yukigassen

Bat-and-ball
games|

* Baseball
* Baseball5
* Brännboll
* Corkball
* Cricket
* One Day
* Test
* Twenty20
* Danish longball
* Indoor cricket
* Kickball
* Lapta
* Matball
* Oină
* Over-the-line
* Pesäpallo
* Rounders
* Schlagball
* Softball
* Fastpitch
* 16-inch
* Stickball
* Stoolball
* Town ball
* Vigoro
* Vitilla
* British baseball
* English baseball
* Welsh baseball
* Wiffle ball
* Wireball

Net and wall games|

* Ball badminton
* Biribol
* Bossaball
* Fistball
* Fives
* Eton
* Rugby
* Footbag net
* Football tennis
* Footvolley
* Jianzi
* Jokgu
* Newcomb ball
* Peteca
* Sepak takraw
* Throwball
* Volleyball
* beach
* indoor
* sitting
* standing
* pioneerball
* snow

Tag sports|

* Kabaddi
* Kho kho
* World Chase Tag

Water sports|

* Synchronized swimming
* Underwater football
* Underwater rugby
* Water polo
* canoe
* inner tube
* Yacht racing

Other non-ball sports|

* Airsoft
* Bo-taoshi
* Buzkashi
* Combat (juggling)
* Curling
* wheelchair
* Guts
* Hornussen
* Jereed
* Makura-Nage
* Paintball
* Roller derby
* Synchronized skating
* Tug of war
* Ultimate

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template