World Cup fever has hit Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, as the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup is jointly hosted across 16 cities. My husband is glued to the TV, as the games have begun, so what better time for me to write a FIFA inspired survey! First up, is it soccer or football? The sport we know today is often said to have begun in 1863, when England's newly formed Football Association wrote down a set of rules. At the time, it was the most widely played game of its kind in the country, but it wasn't the only one. Rugby football, named after an English boarding school, was a variation that allowed players to carry and run with the ball to advance it toward the goal. The game played under the Football Association's rules thus became known as association football. Inevitably, the names would be shortened to distinguish between the sports of "rugger" (rugby football) and "assoccer" (association football). The latter term was further shortened to "soccer" (sometimes spelled "socker"). However, "soccer" never became much more than a nickname in Great Britain. By the 20th century, rugby football was more commonly called rugby, while association football had earned the right to be known as just plain football. Meanwhile, in the U.S., a sport emerged in the late 19th century that borrowed elements of both rugby and association football. Before long, it had proved more popular than either of them. In full, it was known as gridiron football, but most people never bothered with the first word. As a result, American association-football players increasingly adopted soccer to refer to their sport. Depending on where you live, it is now known as either soccer or football. What do you call it?

Here is some more fun trivia about soccer (or football). Which of these did you know?