Football betting guide

The origin of this sporting discipline cannot be exactly identified. The first mention in literature reaches the times when tribes of Maya and Aztecs existed in the world. At those times football was played with the heads of sacrificed people. The beginning of this discipline can be found in history of countries of South America. Other sources point at Venice, where first mini-matches of a “ragged” ball were played. The modern football moved to British Islands from those territories at the turn of XVIII and XIX centuries and earned huge popularity. First footballs were made from urinary bladders of animals. British monarchs wanted to limit the development of this discipline but it was ineffective and at the beginning of XX century football became the sport of continental character and in the middle of this century – global. Speaking about football standards and rules, they were thought up in England, namely in the Trinity University. In 1863 Football Association was created which established the single and constant rules of the game.

The English Football Union was the first organisation of such kind in the world. At the beginning of XX century (1904) the first International Football Federation was created with headquarters in Paris. Now FIFA is the International Football Federation to which 208 national federations belong. Exactly FIFA organises the most important tournaments including the World Championship and also establishes the rules of football.

The following federations act on certain continents:

• Europe – UEFA
• Africa – SAF
• Asia – AFS
• Australia and Oceania – OFS
• North America – CONCACAF
• South America – CONMEBOL

• Football matches are played on a rectangular field 100 or more meters long and 64 meters wide. Football goals are 2.44 m high and 7.32 m wide.  
• The teams come out to the field in lineups of 11 players.
• Only three substitutions in a team are possible during the whole match. The penalty area is a zone where a foul of a defender against an attacking player leads to an 11 meters penalty.
• Football referees, whom there are 6 (main, linesmen, technical) can penalise players but only the main referee can show yellow and red cards. The team which scores more goals during the regular time, 90 minutes, wins.
• If a game ends in a draw extra time is assigned 2x15 minutes.
• In case of impossibility of identification of the winner a series of penalties is assigned (5 penalties into the gates of both teams).
• If a draw turns up again after a series of penalties then the team which scores a goal and the goalkeeper of which doesn’t concede a goal – wins.

• The biggest number of goals in the history of football was scored at Madagascar in a match between the teams As Adema and Stade Olympique l’Emyme. The hosts won with the score 149-0…
• Roger Milla (Cameroon) scored a goal as the oldest footballer at Mundial at the age of 42.
• The best footballer of XX century is the Brazilian Pelé.

• 1X2 – betting for the winner of the game in regular time.
• Draw no bet – betting for the win of one or another team, in case of a draw our bet will be fully returned.
• Will score/won’t score – betting for whether a player or a team can score a goal in a match
• Quantity of free kicks – betting for the quantity of free kicks in a match
• Over/under – bet for the total number of goals in a match, which are scored by both teams in regular time or also in extra times, depending on the bookmaker.
• Handicap – the team which is thought a weak opponent gets additional points from bookmakers and its chances for victory increase and theoretically both teams have equal chances for victory.
• Under/over for a team – bet for the possibility of a team to score more or less, for instance <1,5 goals> in a match.