Why Is Football Called Soccer by Europeans?

By Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer Updated: 12 June 2023

Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer

Amelia Walker is a Senior Content Writer at Betting.US. She has a law degree and deep knowledge of the gambling laws in the United States. Her mission is to keep players informed about responsible gambling, while her passion for sports helps her create useful guides. Amelia has over a decade of experience in betting, which has positioned her as a trusted voice among our readers.

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• Football or Soccer: The Big Debate
• Was Football Originally Called Soccer?
• A Deep Dive into The History
• British Influence on Soccer
• U.S. Soccer vs European Football
• Terminology Shifts Over Time
• Frequently Asked Questions

Here in the US, American football is football, and soccer is soccer. However, in Europe, soccer is usually called football. So, why is football called soccer in Europe? In today’s blog, we’re going to look at the reason why the terminology differs, and how cultural differences around the world have led to different ways of naming the world’s most popular sport.

Football or Soccer: The Big Debate

Should you call it football or soccer? That’s the big debate, and in this section, we’ll uncover the reason behind the different names for the same sport.

The simple version is that Europeans call it “football” because the game is primarily played with the feet. Americans on the other hand adopted “soccer” to avoid confusion with American football. However, there’s more to it than that, as you’ll see from the rest of this post.

Was Football Originally Called Soccer?

Was football originally called soccer? It’s actually more complicated than that. Modern soccer’s roots can be traced back to England, and in medieval times, ball games were played to pass the time. In the early 19th century, soccer like we know it today emerged, and in 1863, the Football Association (FA) was formed. The FA’s purpose was to develop a uniform set of rules for the game, and soccer was, from then, known as association football.

Interestingly, the term “soccer” is an abbreviation of “association” with the “-er” added, which was common in British slang at the time. While “association football” was the original name of the game, “soccer” gained popularity in England as a more informal, colloquial term. And that’s the meaning of the word soccer!

The sport was introduced to the United States in the late 1800s, and the name “soccer” was simply kept, as it made it easier to differentiate it from American football. However, over time, people in England started to call it just “football” for simplicity, and the name stuck.

Early soccer pioneers like Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who drafted the first official rules for the game, and Charles Wreford-Brown, a former England captain, played a significant role in the sport’s development, although it’s unclear if they had any significant input into the polarization of “football” rather than “soccer.”

As the sport spread across the world, each country adapted it to their culture and often developed their own names for the game. For example, in Vietnam it’s called đá banh and in Italy, it’s calcio.

A Deep Dive into the History

In the previous section, we looked at why is football called soccer, and showed you the origins of the term. However, it’s actually a lot more complex than that, and we managed to uncover some pretty interesting information. After the FA was formed in 1863, aristocratic boys from different schools around England started to play the game competitively against each other. They also played rugby, and officially, the sports became known as associated football and rugby football.

However, this could often be confusing, as both games ended with the word “football.” To combat this, the aristocratic boys decided to shorten the names of both games. Rugby football became “rugger”, and association football became “soccer”.” One historian, Szymanski, said:

“It was a fad at Oxford and Cambridge to use “er” at the end of many words, such as foot-er, sport-er, and as Association did not take an “er” easily, it was, and is, sometimes spoken of as soccer.”

The researcher goes on to note that the term soccer was widely used in England for the first half of the twentieth century. It became even more prevalent after World War II, something, he suspects, was driven by the large number of American soldiers that were working with Allied forces.

However, in the 1980s, Brits started to hate the word soccer. They started to argue that American culture had made its way into the country too much, and this is when football really started to become the dominant term in England and other European countries.

British Influence on Soccer

British influence on soccer has been significant from the beginning; they are credited with creating the game, after all. England played a major role in establishing the rules and shaping the game we know it today, and one of the reasons why soccer is so popular around the world is down to a reason that may surprise you: the British Empire.

As British expatriates traveled and settled in various countries around the world, they introduced the game to the places they moved to. This meant huge communities in places like Africa and Asia started to develop a passion for it, and it wasn’t long before it started to spread to countries outside of the British Empire, too.

However, is football and soccer the same? The answer is yes. The only difference is the terminology used. In many countries influenced by British culture, or those that were once colonized by the Brits, “football” remains the dominant term. However, in places like the United States, where American football is a major sport, “soccer” is used to differentiate the two games.

While soccer hasn’t historically been the most popular game in the US, it’s rapidly growing in popularity. Today, it’s played at most major colleges, and the signing of some major players from Europe and South America has brought even more attention to the game. If you want to start betting on soccer, check out our page on the best soccer betting sites.

U.S. Soccer vs European Football

The differences between U.S. soccer and European football are minimal, but that hasn’t always been the case. While the sport’s fundamentals have always largely been the same, there are some notable differences. In Europe, for example, football is deeply ingrained into the culture. The fans are incredibly passionate, and the game’s colorful, rich history means soccer clubs end up representing local communities.

In contrast, soccer in the United States has a much shorter history. Initially, it really struggled to pick up, and Americans simply preferred American football and other US-focused sports.

However, over the past decade, this has started to change, and the sport has been growing steadily in recent years. Major League Soccer (MLS) has expanded quickly, and the US is now one of the fastest-growing soccer hubs worldwide, attracting talent from all around the world.

Despite the differences in popularity and cultural significance, both U.S. soccer and European football fans share a common love for the game. The sport continues to evolve, bridging the gap between continents and bringing people together through a shared passion. We saw this especially during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when American support for the game reached its all-time high.

It’s likely we’ll see this continue, as more US kids are given the opportunity to play the game at school alongside football and other sports.

Terminology Shifts Over Time

As we’ve gathered, the terminology used for soccer has shifted a lot over time, and different regions around the world have their own unique names for the game.

For example, in Australia, the term “soccer” is used to differentiate the sport from Australian rules football, while in South Africa, the term “diski” is sometimes used as a colloquial name for soccer.

In Italy, “calcio” derives from the word “calciare,” which means “to kick,” emphasizing the action of kicking the ball. Other countries use names that closely resemble “football” or “soccer,” doing their best to avoid deviating from the original name of the game. Examples include “futebol” in Brazil and “voetbal” in the Netherlands.

Here’s a table that showcases the different names used for soccer in some countries: