The terms street football and street soccer encompass a number of informal varieties of association football. These informal pick up games do not necessarily follow the requirements of a formal game of football, such as a large field, field markings, goal apparatus and corner flags, eleven players per team, or match officials.
Background
Street football is more similar to beach football and futsal than to association football. Often the most basic of set-ups will involve just a ball with a wall or fence used as a goal, or items such as clothing being used for goalposts. The phrase was used by Ed Sheeran in his 2015 documentary as a nod to playing the concerts at Wembley Stadium, the home of English football. The ease of playing these informal games on the streets and open spaces make football the most popular sport in the world. Currently several common street football organisations exist. Nowadays, street football is also one method for coaching young football players and is realized with freestyle football, which has grown in popularity since the early 2000s when Nike began to focus on street football and freestyle via their TV ads. The first Street Football World Championship took place in the Mariannenplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The World Street 3s, the first international World Street Soccer Championships took place in Manchester on 25 September 2016. The United States held their first international tournament in 2014. The hosted by , took place in San Jose, California. The inaugural event consisted of freestyle football, street soccer and panna. The event drew many top professionals from around the world to judge and compete in the Bay Area.
Video games
In 2005, video game publisherElectronic Arts introduced FIFA Street, a franchise based on street football and freestyle football. FIFA Street series focuses on flair, style and trickery, reflecting the cultures of street football and freestyle football played in streets and backlots across the world.
