THE HISTORY Soccer is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a round ball and is known as football in most countries outside of the United States It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries, making it the world's most popular sport No one knows exactly when soccer was created, but according to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, international soccer's governing body, the earliest versions of the game can be traced back 2,000 years to ancient China However, modern soccer traces its origins back to medieval England Soccer was banned in England during the reign of King Edward (1307-1327) Anyone who was caught playing soccer at this time was thrown into prison This did not stop people from playing soccer Soccer continued to grow, though it was banned by many other kings and queens of England who came power after King Edward Many players were imprisoned and otherwise punished for playing the sport throughout the history of soccer into Village ball game contests slowly evolved into a more organized sport by the 19th century The newly formed English Football Association wrote the first official Search soccer rules on the 8th ofSoccer DecemberWord This association governs English soccer today The rules have changed the Soccer areislisted at the bottom of the page over Find the years, but thewords basicthat game still the same In 1904 thein the Soccer word search grid Circle each letter separately and keep in first international match outside England in the history of mind that letters in each Soccer word may be used in more than one soccer was played in Paris between France and Belgium word When the Soccer Word Search puzzle is complete, read This ledthe to the foundingletters of FIFA, remaining leftthe tointernational right, top tosoccer bottom, to learn an interesting fact about soccer still organization, on May 22, 1904 The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, commonly G known N I asKFIFA, C isItheKgoverning S O body C Cof E R I S association soccer FIFA organizes and regulates all of the main soccer competitions in the world It also has control C I A L L H E D F O O C T B A over any rule changes Each year, FIFA names one player the World Player of the Year This is arguably the greatest T playing N E career V E C I P M Y L O L R R recognition that an individual soccer player can receive during his L E I A N M O S S T P R A E The World Cup is the biggest and most important soccer competition T T ItDis an D international S O S competition, G F T with D N F D each team representing its own nation Each country in the world also has its own national competitions E Y W D R A C W O L L E Y C between clubs Soccer first appeared in the Olympic Games in 1908 R M L F P I D A E A R R N A I I S O S T B I H E L K F R The 2016 UEFA European Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 or simply Euro 2016, O quadrennial N D O international U G F B E football H T I T D will be the 15th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the men's championship of Europe organized by UEFA It is scheduled O U A to Tbe held B Ein France T H from L 10 E F C E M June to 10 July 2016 Spain are two-time defending champions For the first time, the O T P B S T P O P E U K L A European Championship final tournament will be contested by 24 teams, having been A LwillTcontest Y Ka group I C K R S P expanded from the 16-team format used since P 1996EtheNfinalists O S byI a knockout L R Tstage I including N G N I N N U stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed three rounds and the final France was chosen asTtheHhost 28 May 2010 will be H nation L Lon A B D N The A matches H E W H played in ten stadia in ten cities: Bordeaux, Lens,OLille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, SaintL S T A E L C E W O R L D Étienne, and Toulouse It will be the third time that France hosts the tournament, after the inaugural tournament in 1960 and the 1984 finals The French team has won the European WORDS ABOUT SOCCER Championship twice: in 1984 and 2000 The winning team earns the right to compete at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Russia CL NIN EA TS HERE ARE THE 24 TEAMS Group A Group B C O R NE ET Y MI NU TE S OL YM PIC EV R H O D P U C D L R O W Teams Albania France Teams England Romania Russia Switzerland Slovakia Wales Group C Group D Teams Teams Germany Croatia Northern Ireland Czech Republic Poland Spain Ukraine Turkey Group E Group F Teams Belgium Italy Austria Republic of Ireland Hungary Sweden Iceland Portugal OF THE CITIES ON THE MAP : Bordeaux Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, SaintÉtienne and Toulouse UNSCRAMBLE THE WORDS AGKLOEPEER _ ERSOCC _ LTYNEAP ATMIUDS CIKNIKG _ DILEF _ TOHS _ OCHCA RFARWOD _ ERFREEE _ RBBIDEL _ SPSA