History UsefulNotes / AssociationFootball

Footballers at the highest level are extremely well paid, especially in Britain. As of 2019, the average wage of a Premier League footballer is £60,000, and the median wage is £50,000 per ''week''.[[note]]For those not up on statistics, the median is the point on a distribution in which half of the examples are above it and half are below it.[[/note]] They are also frequently stereotyped as being [[DumbJock complete morons]], something not helped by the fact that a lot of players come from more deprived areas, start their careers in their mid-to-late teens, and are consequently not all that well educated. That said, a number of footballers have proved to be highly intelligent, usually going on to become managers. However, others play it very, very straight.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OFC_Champions_League OFC Champions League]] – Oceanian equivalent to UEFA Champions League
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Club_World_Cup FIFA Club World Cup]] – ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, the World Cup for clubs, contested by each continent's champion ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and the champion of the host nation]]), undergoing a format change which will make it more similar to its national team counterpart. However, despite the fact that they outstrip South America on a 3-to-1 ratio (having won 12 of the 16 editions played as of 2019) and the attractiveness of the "World Champions" title, [[AmericansHateTingle European clubs look ]]''[[AmericansHateTingle way ]]''[[AmericansHateTingle down on it]] for a variety of reasons, ranging from a perceived lack of competitiveness[[note]]which is not unsubstantiated, as it is a short tournament running the power gamut among its participants as opposed to a season-long one in which the contestants are more or less on the same level - especially in the knock-out rounds[[/note]] to the fact that it is held in December (mid-season in most countries), while in South America (especially in Brazil) is probably [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the most important honour a team can win]], especially with the attractiveness of winning against the victor of the UEFA Champions League.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Am%C3%A9rica Copa América]] – South America's equivalent to UEFA Euro. It is actually the world's oldest ongoing international football competition[[note]]Technically the Olympic Games are older, but it has been an under-23 tournament since 1992. The oldest in absolute terms was the Home Championship, contested between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1883 until its discontinuation in 1984[[/note]], predating both the UEFA Euro and the World Cup, having its start in 1916.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Am%C3%A9rica_Femenina Copa América Femenina]] – [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Literally translates]] as "Women's Copa América" (or "Women's Americas Cup")

Played in over two hundred different countries, the game has captured the attention of billions of people; UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup is one of the most widely viewed sporting events on Earth, up there with other major soccer competitions like the UsefulNotes/EuropeanChampionship, the UsefulNotes/UEFAChampionsLeague and the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague. The only other sports events that get close to soccer numbers are the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, the UsefulNotes/CricketWorldCup, and the UsefulNotes/{{Olympic|Games}}s. Which has the highest numbers depends on how you count and is SeriousBusiness.

* UsefulNotes/CopaLibertadores – South America's equivalent to the UEFA Champions League. One of the most popular sporting tournaments in the world, while not as glamorous to the Champions League, it is beloved on its native South America and seen as more "hardcore" and "old-school" compared to the more polished champions league: its harsher conditions -- rough surface, thick grass, high altitude (for playing in the Andes, ''especially'' Bolivia), extremes of cold and heat and of rain and dryness are taken for granted -- extremely unfriendly crowds which put a lot of pressure on visiting teams, players which are simultaneously [[UnnecessaryRoughness very aggresive]] and willingly to bend the rules, dubious refereeing, more equality (financially and skill-wise) between the clubs, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking pitch invasions by dogs]].

* UsefulNotes/CopaLibertadores – South America's equivalent to the UEFA Champions League. One of the most popular sporting tournaments in the world, while not as glamorous to the Champions League, it is beloved on its native South America and seen as more "hardcore" and "old-school" compared to the more polished champions league: its harsher conditions -- rough surface, thick grass, high altitude (for playing in the Andes, ''especially'' Bolivia), extremes of cold and heat and of rain and dryness are taken for granted -- extremely unfriendly crowds which put a lot of pressure on visiting teams, players which are simultaneously [[UnnecessaryRoughness very aggresive]] and willingly to bend the rules, dubious refereeing, and more equality (financially and skill-wise) between the clubs.

* UsefulNotes/CopaLibertadores – South America's equivalent to the UEFA Champions League.