Soccer Leagues and Organizations

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AP Photo/Paul White
USA's Jozy Altidore goes to score a goal as he is challenged by Spain's Carlos Puyol, right, during
their Confederations Cup semifinal soccer match in Bloemfontein, South Africa, June 24, 2009.

Soccer: The World's Sport on the Web

The sport of soccer, known as football in most other countries, has earned its title as "the world's sport" for obvious reasons. Although Major League Soccer (MLS) is still trying to build soccer's popularity in the United States, the enthusiasm and intensity surrounding the sport is the most widespread in the world. Whether you want to see what the fuss is about, are a confused soccer parent, or just can't get enough of the sport, this guide takes you to the Web's best soccer sites. For a Spanish-language version of the Guide, click here.

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Rules and History of Soccer

It's always helpful to know what you're watching before you watch it. This section sorts out all of ... read more »

Soccer Leagues and Organizations

As the world's game, soccer has many competitions played all over the globe. It can be tricky to keep track of them all. This section can help you make sense of soccer's organizational structure and help you find the competitions that matter most to you.

Dulcinea's Insight

International confederations preside over cup competitions among domestic leagues and international teams; they also handle World Cup qualifying matches.

There are six confederations: North/Central America (CONCACAF); South America (Conmebol); Europe (UEFA); Asia (AFC); Africa (CAF); and Oceania (OFC).

National federations govern domestic leagues and cups, as well as national teams. For example, the U.S. Soccer Federation governs the MLS, USL, and U.S. Open Cup for professional teams, and runs the U.S. National Team. Federations are also responsible for soccer as a whole in their country, overseeing amateur, youth and school competitions, and trying to increase soccer's presence.

To find an index of national federations, use the "Countries" tab on the top, right-hand side of the FIFA homepage. Each country's profile features news, stats, standings, world rankings, and a link to the official federation site. Note that these links are not always in English.

To find professional club leagues, use FIFA's country profile pages mentioned in the previous insight. Each profile features a table and fixture list for the premier domestic league.

All the sites in this section feature history pages, news, stats, league table (standings), schedules, and team profiles.

Dulcinea's Picks

For international soccer ...

FIFA governs international soccer, establishing rules and holding cup competitions for men's, women's, and beach soccer. It has extensive coverage of the World Cup, including travel guides for fans who want to make the trip. Its terrific "Classic Football" section has articles and video on the game's great players, teams, and World Cups.

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UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) governs European soccer, which includes non-European countries such as Israel, Russia, and Turkey. Its marquee international event is the European Championship, a quadrennial event featuring the top 16 national teams. The site features ticket and visiting information for Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria. UEFA also runs the Champions League and UEFA Cup for the top professional clubs in Europe.

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CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) is the federation to which the United States belongs. CONCACAF holds the Gold Cup every two years for national teams and the Champions' Cup every spring for club teams.

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For European professional leagues ...

The English Premier League is the most watched sporting league in the world, featuring famous teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool. Look for information about The Football League, the feeder league to the Premiership.

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Soccer-Spain is the Web's English alternative to La Liga's official site. Spain's La Liga, currently first in UEFA's rankings of European leagues, is famous for its exciting and free-flowing style of play. Its official site is in Spanish, but Soccer-Spain does a good job of delivering all of the content you'd expect from a league page without the slick design.

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Italy's Lega Nazionale Professionisti and its top-level league, Serie A, is the home to the defending European Champions, A.C. Milan. The league is known for its conservative style of play and rampant corruption, such as the Calciopoli that saw defending champions Juventus demoted to Serie B.

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The German Bundesliga is the most attended soccer league in the world, drawing an average of 40,000 fans per game. It has also had the most scoring among the major European leagues for the last 17 years.

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FrenchLeague.com is home to the French Ligue 1, known for its low-scoring games and for being dominated by Olympique Lyonnais, the 6-time defending champions. In an attempt to increase scoring, the league has offered cash incentives to teams that win by multiple goals; more information can be found on the "Attacking Play Table."

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For American professional soccer ...

Major League Soccer is the premier American club league with 12 (soon to be 13) teams in the United States and one in Toronto. Unlike most other leagues across the world, MLS has a postseason playoff to determine the league champion, and it does not have a promotion/relegation system.

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The United Soccer Leagues comprises the First Division, Second Division, and Premier Development Division, which make up the second, third, and fourth tiers of American soccer, respectively. There is also a Women's League (W-League), which, since the demise of the WUSA in 2004, has been the premier women's soccer league in North America.

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