Your questions answered on the beautiful game...
THE BEAUTIFUL game, as coined by Brazilian football legend Pele, is the most popular sport in the world.
No wonder then that there are thousands of questions each day relating to the 11-a-side code.
With a worldwide estimate of 1.5 billion football fans watching Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup Final, it’s clear that football is among the most popular pastimes across the globe.
That being said, not all of us know in detail the beautiful game, so the experts at SeatPick.com decided to test this by using Google search volumes to see what the most searched football-related questions were in the UK and Europe, along with what the most searched question overall was.
Here are the top ten most searched football questions in the UK, followed by the number of average monthly searches:
1. How long is half-time in football? 7,700.
2. Who is the best football player in the world? 7,300.
3. Who invented football? 5,400.
4. How long is a football pitch? 3,800.
5. How long is extra time in football? 2,600.
6. What is offside? 1,700.
7. How many players are in a football team? 1,000.
8. How often can you make substitutions in football? 700.
9. What is a hat-trick in football? 350.
10. What year was football founded? 250.
As the list shows, the most searched question in the UK was ‘How long is half-time in football?’ with an estimated 7,700 search volumes per month. With the small break being the moment most fans use to go to the bathroom or grab a drink, it’s no surprise that many want to know how much time they have to do so. The answer, of course, is 15 minutes.
Second in the rankings is ‘Who is the best football player in the world?’, with 7,300 searches a month. There is a divide on this one - many fans will say it’s Argentine hero Lionel Messi, whilst others will say it’s Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo and some may have an entirely different answer!
No wonder it’s the second most popular football question in the UK.
In third place with 5,400 Google searches is ‘Who invented football?’. The sport as we know it today was founded by the Football Association in 1863, but the earliest form of football was called ‘cuju’, originating in China around 206 BC.
Ancient Greece also had a similar game called ‘episkyros’, but players were allowed to use their hands, a rule not used in cuju or modern football.
And the least searched football question in the UK is…
Trailing at the bottom of the top ten is ‘What year was football founded?’ with an estimated 250 searches per month. A popular question in pub quiz rounds. Though it’s unclear whether it refers to modern football or its Chinese origins.
Here are the top ten European countries with the highest searches, top question asked in each country and again with
the average number of monthly searches:
UK – How long is half-time in football? 7,700.
Germany – Who is the best football player in the world? 6,700.
Netherlands – How long is a football pitch? 2,900.
Russia – What is offside? 2,200.
Italy – Who invented football? 1,600.
Spain – What is offside? 1,400.
Sweden – How long is a football pitch? 1,400.
Ukraine – Who invented football? 900.
Denmark – How long is a football pitch? 900.
France – Who is the best football player in the world? 800.
It’s surprising that the UK, the ‘home’ of football, would appear first in the list.
There were 7,700 average monthly search volumes for ‘How long is half-time in football?’.
While ‘How long is a football pitch?’ is the most common question in these top 10 ten results, occurring in three countries, with a combined average monthly search volume of 5,200 searches.