Soccer for the Uninformed, Part 1: Leagues and Tournaments

I have several friends who cant grok my love of futbol( nee soccer). The fact of the matter is, it is one of the simplest games in existence. All you need is a ball and a goal. Not too different from life really. But I have found a lot of people I talk to in basic conversation get tripped up on several aspects of the game, among them, the multiple layers of what has become the international sport (Some people say its the rules, but that’ll be for another post).

Futbol competition can be divided into three parts: League play and tournaments play, and friendly play. League play is very much what you would expect, teams representing cities or municipalities, vying for a league championship. However very much unlike American football and very much like baseball, countries may have one or more leagues, at varying levels of recognition and prestige. Typically, when you see a team traveling internationally, like for example, Manchester United, they are coming from a Major league in side of their respective country.

Tournament play in futbol is a multi-tiered affair. Separate from league competition, tournaments are held at national and international levels. These tournaments can also can have preconditions about participation and winning of other tournaments. To explain this, I will use examples of various club tournaments and how they interrelate.

To start lets use an american soccer team, the Seattle Sounders FC. the Sounders enter a national tournament, the U.S. Open Cup. This tournament is open to any competitive team. After competing fiercely against other teams from around the country, some that also participate in Major League Soccer and some that are in lesser leagues, they win the tournament. They hoist the cup, get the ticker tape, and everyone goes home. Because they won that tournament they have also qualified for an continental tournament, called CONCACAF Champions League. This tournament is held by the international futbol organization FIFA’s north american arm, CONCACAF( which stand for Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). Now the Sounders would play the winners of other National club tournament from other countries like Canada, Mexico, or Panama in this tournament.

Lets say, the Sounders win CONCACAF Champions League. This would be great, but they wouldn’t be done yet. Winning Champions League would qualify them for yet another tournament, the FIFA World Club Championship. The participants in the World Club Championship are the winners of each of the regional tournaments, like CONCACAF. this allows the best clubs in the world to compete against each other to determine the best club in the world.

Finally, there is the friendly match. A friendly match exists outside of league and tournaments. The clubs play for the fun of it, and for their fans enjoyment. Much like a pickup game, there are no extra periods, no sudden death penalty kicks, they play with the time they are allotted and everyone goes home. Why watch a friendly? Because you may see clubs you might not see otherwise compete against each other.

I have noticeably left out things like the U.S. Men’s National team and The World Cup. I will discuss these in another post.

I hope this explains some of how the various forms of play take place. a lot of this can overlap. there is a lot to watch, and its a lot of fun.

Aug 07, 2011