FIFA.com

Modern football was born in 1863 when the English Football Association was founded yet the roots of the game stretch back centuries. Indeed there is evidence they were kicking a rudimentary ball around more than 2,000 years ago in China. Other countries have their own claims to have played the first football - ancient Greece and Rome included - but it was in England where the village contests of medieval times evolved into popular ball games in the public schools of the 19th century. By 1863, the first basic rules were established. Tripping opponents was forbidden and handling the ball would soon follow suit. The new sport did not look back.