I always found it funny when Americans say football (soccer) is slow and boring - because that's *exactly* what I think whenever I watch *American* football. Those guys are aaaalways stopping, it's really boring! (No wonder the big attractions and sources of debate of the Super Bowl are the commercials and the mid-time musical show...)

1.5 billion people watched the World Cup final 2022

I'm American. 53. Played and coached most of my life. There is no sport that comes close (that is just my preference). I have spent years with talented athletes trying to explain many basic football concepts. For example, when I watch a game, I often don't even care where the ball is because I am watching what several players on both sides are doing without it. To break down a defense, an entire team of players need to move as one, but also move as individuals long before the ball comes near to them. It takes a long time to learn this for casual fans. A player may make dozens of amazing runs and never receive the ball as his goal is to change the shape of the defense and create space for his teammates. When you sort of get it, the game becomes exponentially more interesting. And that is only one example.

One thing I didn't hear you mention when you were talking about how cool it is that lower league teams can be drawn against top sides in a cup competition, is the fact that it's traditional to split the gate receipts for these games. The dream for a lower team is to get drawn against a team like Liverpool or Arsenal or Man Utd and play at their tiny home stadium in from of five thousand local fans, and then to bravely earn a draw (tie) meaning you get to play the replay at Anfield or Old Trafford in front of 60,000 - 75,000 and be featured on television in front of millions. These kind of draws can literally save football clubs from going under in some circumstances. Others use these windfalls to build infrastructure etc. It's wonderful to see somebody so enthusiastic hearing about a sport they didn't grow up with. It's infectious, and made me take a fresh look at it and realise how special it is. Subscribed.

Another really cool part about smaller teams meeting big teams in the National Cups is that they can possibly draw in huge crowds for the small stadiums, adding good money to the yearly cash flow

A lot of people go purposfully to the bathroom during a game to force a goal by the "goals come always, when I am in the bathroom" rule 😂 Keeping the ball is not really a popular strategy when you ask the audiance.

I wish others were as patient as you, I completely enjoyed the video. Great work. The line "soccer isn't popular in the US because they can't shove in commercials every 5mins" got me😅

As a brazillian this video is so nice, cause the things that are been teaching are so natural for us who just watch and play a lot of football from child to elders. great video bruh

Offside is actually super easy to understand. Some rules make it complicated, but if you want to understand the main concept. It's very easy: When a team attacks and a pass is played, then at the moment of this pass, draw a line where the very last defensive player is positioned. Any offensive player who is behind this imaginary line is marked as "offside", which in itself isn't illegal at all. But once an offside player receives a pass, the ball is rewarded to the defensive team. The main reason for this is simply to prevent "camping" near the enemy goal, which is very hard to defend.

You might want to look for a video on one of the big stories in German football right now: Frank Schmidt and Heidenheim. Schmidt was born in the small town of Heidenheim Southern Germany, he played for 1. FC Heidenheim, then became the coach of 1. FC Heidenheim 17 years ago and has since led them from the 5th tier all the way to the top tier for the first time this season. He is the ultimate home town hero.

Look at Leicester City's story (with Jamie Vardy) he used to work in a supermarket in lower leagues and won the prem with Leicester who also got promoted up the leagues. Madness 🎉

Luton Town FC who recently got promoted and currently plays in the Prem, were in the 5th division of English football just 10 years ago. Successive promotions from League 2 to league 1 from the 2017-2018 and the 2018-2019 season. Pretty remarkable.

Tottenham, who are in the top 6 teams in the premier league played an amateur team from the 7th level of the football pyramid (Marine) in the FA a few years ago, during covid. The players from the amateur team do had regular jobs like teachers, painters etc and they got to play again players who earn millions of pounds per year in a genuine competitive match. Fans of Tottenham also raised about £100k for the amateur team which helped them do a load of work to their stadium.

Young Lionel Messi got cought by Barcelona talent seekers and brought him to Spain at the age of 13, to Barcelona football academy. And with him .Barcelona became the first club to achieve the sextuple, winning six top-tier trophies in a single year . And Argentina is reigning world champion.

@iwrocker this video is so good. Every time you’re speculating or extrapolating you’re absolutely nailing it. I’m sending this video to so many people

A couple things: As a smug European I’ve kinda loved watching Americans react to this explainer for some time by now. While basically everyone willing to watch it is generally respectful, I haven’t seen anyone show an understanding of the game like you. Your insights were refreshing!! Secondly - and something I’ve seen work very Well on other channels with the same focus - is the European fan culture. It is a World apart from what I’ve experienced when travelling the East Coast at least (maybe Iowa is crazy, idk lol). It can be amazing to see and be swept up in your local rivalries. The songs, the chants, the spectacles, the lore, the stories, and not to mention the legacies. Some of these clubs have had rivalries that go back more than a literal(!) century. Thirdly if you want to get into floorball in an easy way, this summer Germany hosts the Euros - the European Championship in football. The video aludes to it but basically the best players in Europe leaves splits up into their nationalities and play each other. The tournament is structured a bit more like playoffs and it is just amazing. A few nations Will actually play each other for the final four spots later next week. You should give them a watch!!

I’ve seen my local team (Cardiff, Welsh but play in the English leagues), get promoted, relegated, reach 2 of the cup competitions finals in 4 years, whilst in the 2nd tier. The rollercoaster of emotions you get in non-USA sports is insane

04:56 I like that the five mile run is exactly 5 miles

I love your openmindedness and your cheerful disposition! You seem like a kind person, you give off the good vibes hahah

Man, it’s so refreshing to see your journey learning about the beautiful game! Your attitude towards it is commendable! Keep it up!

2004-05 Champions League final, Liverpool vs Milan, possibly the most edge of the seat come back of all time

11:10 Here in Portugal there is an old saying that says that "attacks win games but defenses win championships"... And Mourinho happens to be Portuguese...

The fact about the league system can be very impactful for the club and a whole community. I’m from Geneva, Switzerland and a supporter of Servette FC, our club is really old and was famous back in the 50’-70’ and 80’ where we had most of our trophies (17 times Swiss champion in total, third club with most trophies in CH) but then in the 2000’ the club had a financial crises and cause of some bad management after that, we spent 12 years between the second and third Swiss league, in 2019 we came back in first Swiss league and this year we played the Europa League, the emotions are incredible and it brings back the people from the city to the stadium, to support the club of our heart

i really like that youre adding so much to the original video, makes it really worth watching!

I noticed you referred to the Premier League as "the pros", I'm sure you were just speaking colloquially, but in fact (in England) most teams are fully professional all the way down to the 5th level.

I recommend the Welcome to Wrexham docu series. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney joined(buy) the team a few years ago. You can follow their progression up from League 5, I think they're already in League 3. It's a lot of fun and you get a little bit more understanding of the history of football and the fans' attachment to their team.

Adding to the wear and tear, the big clubs have players that play for their national team aswell. This included the Euro(or equivalent outside EU) cup and World cup with their qualifiers, so many of the big players have added games to just their club games every year. This also adds on to friendlies and training camps so the national teams can actually perform well in the qualifiers and main events.

Just this week Saarbrücken a team from the third german division made it to the semifinals in the german domestic cup. beating 2 teams from the first division and 2 teams from the second division on their way there. Its a blast having these football fairytales. Another fun fact: My favourite team Schalke made it to the knockouts in the champions league (so being in the top 16 of european football) just five years ago. We are currently in the second division, fighting against relegation to third tier. horrible mismanagement ruined the club and left us financially unable to make any big moves. But in a weird way that also is the beauty of football, you can have a meteoric rise or a horrible downfall. Thats the one thing i really miss in US Sports.

9:54 if you are interested in a very insane football match to watch, may I recommend the 2014 World Cup semifinal between Brazil and Germany. It's certainly a good example of why you can't go to the restroom during the match. I know two people that did - and ended up missing 3 goals. (The other semifinal, Argentina vs the Netherlands, was however quite the snore-fest.)

You are exactly right about the release clause issue. Thats why climbing the league ladder is much harder than it sounds, for example in Germany. In theory a small regional club can work its way up all the way to the 1. Bundesliga, but - and thats a big but - there are other hurdles than just winning the matches. Usually, a club wins matches if it has really great talented players. But since small clubs dont have much money, they mostly unable to hold great players when the big 1. division clubs with the deep pockets come and offer the player millions. In addition to this, there are other problems to go to the pro leagues, kinda in the small print. For example, to be able to enter in the 1. Liga a club needs to have a proper home stadium, that can hold at least 40,000 spectators or so. And thats another huge expense, to build something like that. Basically, it can only work if you have a really potent sponsor. Like the Leipzig club when it got Red Bull as a sponsor (or even owner), or Wolfsburg with VW as a sponsor. But on the bottom line its still better than some American pro leagues, where the teams can even stay in if they never win a game.

You have just earned a subscription, love the quality of the video and the sound. Love the way you intake how football works. Mourinho won the Champions League with a team called F C Porto from Portugal. who was an outsider back than.

Just subscribed dude. Your enthusiasm to learn the game is awesome. Next content should be you in England watching a game live. Keep rocking brother!

14:42 happens in the cup occasionally. “Giant killers“ we call those teams.

In Cup competitions, the first few rounds are between lower quality teams only, to "weed out" as many as possible. Then the best of those carry on to play against the higher ranking teams (top 3 leagues). Occasionally, a low-ranking team goes quite far, eliminating professional teams. When that occurs in my country (Portugal), those low-ranking teams are nicknamed "tomba-gigantes", which translates as "giant-toppler".

It's really nice the way you are learning it. You are clearly being mindful and really respectful to football (soccer) fans and trying to always explain why you don't understand the game. I wish the internet (mainly the trolls) were the same way. Ileraned about NFL way back in the 2000s and I was in a country where no one ever heard about NFL until about 8y ago when it exploded there. Try watching some really old games and some recent ones to see how different is the football (soccer) today. Even the ball changed SO MUCH. It is fun to see.

I'm a Brazilian, and congratulations for this video man. The explanation was awesome and your reaction too. And I laughed pretty hard about murphys's and the match, because it is really common to go for a beer or to the restroom and a team scores. Again, awesome video.

For the world cup 1994 in USA there were requests if it was possible to stop the play every 15 minutes for commercials

Formations differ based on teams and philosophies of their coaches. Some are very rigid and use only one formation every game, but it is one they seem to be very effective in. Another coach may switch around a few formations, to counter opponents and may also switch during the match, and teams may have different formations to default to when they possess the ball and another when they are out of possession.

Ha! As a long time football (soccer) player and watcher, watching this has made me have a bit of empathy about players who sat down after a tackle for the first time, never thought of it as a rest. When I used to play 11 a side I got tackled two footed and nearly flipped in the air and got straight back up, I should probably have stayed down for a few minutes, my knee clicks every time I walk since and this was 15 years ago 😅😅

Loved this, more footy content please! I'd say start reacting to some videos like most emotional football moments etc or some crazy goal highlights maybe.

I have seen a ton of american youtubers react to this video. However, tht video thou informative it was clearly made by an american that (as he said) has been watching soccer for 5 years. It has several mistakes and skips several important subjets.

Massive props to u for being so inquisitive. I think you'd be interested in watchin the Welcome To Wrexham show. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney from Always Sunny bought a low league welsh football team and are taking them up the leagues, hoping to one day get them into the English Premier League. Good introduction for Americans on the magic and culture of the beautiful game.

You’re correct with your formation assessment, it usually varies within the game. On a basic level, teams tend to have one formation when they are attacking and one formation when they are defending. The ones you see displayed like the 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 etc are typically the defensive ones, when the team DOESNT have the ball. Though that may start to change in years to come, you may see broadcasters show what teams might do in/out of possession more with their pre game graphics

U can tell someone who really got so much interest in sport or just doing it for views, u seem highly interested in football and you smart enough to pick up on it quick, guaranteed soon you'll be explaining tactics to others! Great review bro!

Sub number is now 5 instead of 3 but still, the majority of the teams play from start to finish

No commercial breaks during the game, except at half time. Instead they have advertising hoardings surrounding the perimeter of the pitch and sponsor's logos on the teams shirts that are highly visible during the games.

Hey, you actually have one of those cup fairy tale stories happening right now in Germany. Saarsbrucken, a 3rd division mid table team, knocked out one 2nd division team and 3 Bundesliga teams, including Bayern Munich that is one of the best teams in the world. Saarsbrucken is now in the semi finals and it's really awesome to see how football can gather a community around such a story. Everyone, (but their oponents ofc) is cheering for them at this point. Also, in many countries, winning the cup grants you a spot on Europa league(in Portugal it does). So from time to time you get a 2nd or 3rd division team playing international games

Also last weekend a FA cup match took place between Manchester United (Premiership team) and Coventry City (Championship Team) it was so close was very nearly a high upset the highs and lows were immense. The FA cup is synonymous for lower league teams playing higher league teams and every year there is always an upset. It is so good to watch the cup runs

Im glad you saw this video , because there is a huge point to... point. (Sorry for my poor Baguette english) The only nation in the world which doesn't have relégation system in his sports is the nation that's called "The Land of Opportunity". 😂 Man, we would be so pissed that we couldn't burn to the hell our greatest rival ! Imagine not being able to break down a close rival , that is unconceivable 😅

15:26 - that makes it look like Germany has 4 tiers only, no idea why he stopped there while giving some other countries more.^ I'm not a sports guy myself, but I know it goes right down to the suburb clubs. Which is one reason I tend to say we replaced wars with sport, from the local conflicts against "those guys over the hill/river/whatever" to playing against other nations.

hey man, im new to your channel and i love the content! cool story this season is that a team from the third tier in germany have eliminated bayern munich, eintracht frankfurt and borussia monchengladbach (all top bundesliga clubs) in the german cup. once in a while underdogs do come out with these massive upsets

Avid football fan from the states here i can attest that you are correct in your assessment of formations at around 8:50. Teams will typically start the game or showcase in the buildup a particular formation and generally try and stick to it, but it is totally fluid. The team i support, Arsenal, right now the coach has them playing in one formation when they have the ball and another formation for when they don't and it has been working very well.

As a 60-year-old English fan, I started my interest in the game in the 1960s, in the schoolyard. We called the game "soccer" back then. Soccer is an abbreviation of "asSOCiation" as in Association Football to differentiate the game from the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Rugby League Football. All of which are played in the UK.

I'm sure others have mentioned it, but what you're talking about around 15:00 is what makes a team like Luton Town such a marvel. For a tiny club to climb up to the top flight from the fifth division in a matter of a couple decades is the kind of story that only this league system allows for! Look into Girona in LaLiga too if you're interested (though they have the big time investors behind Manchester City's success, unlike Luton, which I think is owned at least partially by fans).

6:50 I would also like to point out that defenders passing the ball amongst themselves is a way to get the other team to move forwards because they want the ball back, and the hope is they will leave spaces for the attackers to exploit.

You should have a look at Dorking Wanderers, they started recently at the very bottom and are working they up. And of course you should watch Welcome to Wrexham. The FA Cup is open to the top ten tiers of English football (there are other competitions for many of the other tiers), but only a few teams from tier 10 get selected each year. It’s not often won by the lower tiers, but there’s a saying, ‘anything can happen in the FA Cup’, and it often does

My club Netherlands, Eindhoven, PSV. Four Americans play there, Dest, Tillman, Pepi and Ledezma, in the past we had Beasley. Despite the fact that it is a small sport in the USA, several American players play in the Champions league, including the four mentioned above.

My team Ipswich Town have recently been victim of an FA Cup giant killing, at home to Maidstone United 1-2, who are 5 levels below us in the league system! This was an amazing achievement for Maidstone, and will be talked about for many years to come. Additionally Ipswich were in League One (3rd level) last season and gained promotion to the Championship, and this season currently we are one of the contenders for promotion to the Premier League, this is very rare and would be an amazing achievement for Ipswich, and again would be talked about for many years.

i subbed cause u called it by its right name, football. They are also keep passing to create space or an opening so they can score. the formations changes during the game depending on the situation I.E. attacking or defending or, keeping possession etc.

Just wanted to drop by and say I loved your patience and willingness to learn. Coming from another yank who got into soccer again recently!

Just pay the release clause... Paris had to pay 222 million to Barcelona for Neymar. Barca paid 86.2 millionen to get him.

Regarding the option of founding a club and rising through the ranks, let me share an inspiring tale from the Club Dorking Wanderers. Despite starting in the depths of English football, at the 17th tier, in 1999, this club has climbed to the national league (5th Tier) through sheer determination. Led by their chairman, who wears multiple hats as manager and former player, the club has orchestrated an incredible journey, securing an astounding 12 promotions in just 23 years. It's a testament to the power of passion and perseverance in the beautiful game.

Cup games are also often a chance for top league reserve and youth players to shine, since they rarely get to start regular league games.

20:00 dont worry about the amount of games the premier league play, my team is in league 1 were we have to play 46 league games a season plus play in the 2 cup tournaments ( which we start earlier) the premier league teams dont enter until the 3rd round and there is also a smaller cup the lower leagues are entered into. 23:00 the release clause isnt in every players contract, it would be something negotiated to be added or left out when they sign the player or renew the players contract .

The wonderful thing about football (soccer) is that it's much easier to defend than to attack. To score a goal you generally have to put together some kind of move that involves a few passes and someone beating someone, plus a shot past the goalkeeper (I'm generalising, of course; there are other ways), and if the defending team stops this sequence at any point, then the attacking side has to start again. That's why football is generally very competeitive, and why lower teams can beat bigger teams (as always happens in the cups). The other wonderful aspect of football is the goal. Because scoring a goal is a rare event, and often a single goal can decide a game, it means that just getting near the opponent's goal is quite exciting, and when the opponents get anywhere near your goal, it's very nervewracking. And the release and celebration when a goal goes in is just superb.

Remember, Championship, League 1 and League 2, are all professional leagues (League 2 players earn about 4000-9000 pounds per month)

The way that they have gotten around advertisements in soccer is tons and tons of on-field advertising, on the banners next to the field, on the jerseys, next to the goals, on replay transitions, etc.

Watching you get blown away by basic football explanations makes me appreciate the game ive loved my whole life even more. Please become a football fan man, hope one day you love it as much as me

respect for calling it football

not every player will have a release clause and usually when there is one it's an astronomical price so when his team dont want to negotiate a sale of a player the team thats trying to buy him will be forced to pay around double what they normally would.

You were talking about how the cup competitions between teams from different leagues sounds really cool, because of the opportunities it provides, you couldn't be more right, these games are crucial in terms of revenue for the smaller clubs, TV money, media engagement, a chance to showcase potential talent to be sold, merchandise, and higher ticket revenue as these draw the larger crowds, and getting new fans in the door as people will be more likely to take their families to games like these types of games. It's also a great experience for the players from lower leagues to get the chance to play in packed 30/40 thousand plus stadiums which must be an amazing memory When a smaller club beats a bigger one we call that Giant killing, and everyone loves when it happens

love the enrgy. Us Europeans often overlook how new this must sound to a person who grew up in a country where the sports culture is so deeply eradicated AND fundamentally different from European Sports. Videos like this also help us look at our most famous sport from a different perspective. Not to mention the fact you are soaking in this information with the best mentality: I don't know, hence I listen and work my way through the information I gather. Here in Europe we are much more familiar with American sports' dynamics than most american people are with europan football, due to media coverage and how American culture is generally more close than European culture (here it's also fluid as it would be between California and Massachussets, I guess, also geographically speaking). It's crazy, great work, loving this.

2:07 You're right. In the Bundesliga, a player runs an average of 11 kilometers (7 miles). Running after every ball is physically impossible. 4:10 Okay, was covered later.😂

Each half is 45 minutes, so most will have bought (or smuggled in) snacks, food and drinks and then during the 15 minute break between the 2 halves you can refill.

My local team Hull City went from League 2 all the way up to the Premier League. We had a few seasons in the Premier League, relegations, promotions and went back to League 1, we're currently in the Championship pushing for the playoffs to get promotion back to the Premier League (I'd rather miss the playoffs in the hope of another exciting Championship season) I can't imagine watching a sport without promotion and relegation.

About the cups. We have this year a club in Germany from Saarbücken. It's in the 3 Liga ( 15: 37 ) right now. But in the DFB Pokal (the german national cup) they knocked out of the tournament Karlsruhe (2 Bundesliga), Frankfurt (1 Bundesliga), Bayern Munich (champions of the 1 Bundesliga for the last 11 years) and Gladbach (1 Bundesliga) simply by beating them in their games. And they are in the semifinal this year.

European Fotball is very entertaining for 2 aspects: Unlike sports like basketball, the player never trully has full control of the ball. The ball is at your feet, not in your hand. That means possession can switch rapidly (just like in hockey). The rules of football makes it so the whole thing is focused on the ball, not on your opponent (looking at u, american football). In american football its all about strength. Except for the quarter back, the rest dont require much ball skill. For crying out loud you run with a ball in your hand. Its all about how capable u are to not be drop kicked. In EU Fotball skill with the ball matters a lot. And i dont mean dribbling necessary. Go to a pitch and try to make a 30m pass.. and then have someone pass you a 30m air tall pass and try to stop the ball with your foot. You'll see the difference between catching a ball in your hand, and make a foot stop in football.

You should look up the super league and what happened When some owners tried to introduce a league like the nfl.

Very good explonation 🙂 About the Cups: In Germany we have the proverb "der Pokal hat seine eigenen Gesetze" (Translated: "the cup has his own rules"). This means that it is very possible that a team from a lower league will defeat a top club because, for example, they are more motivated or the fans encourage them from the stands. This year in the German Cup (called DFB Pokal) there is a team from the 2. Bundesliga and in the semifinals there was a team from the 3rd league (called 3. Liga) and this team from the 3rd league has the top club Bayern Munich defeated and thrown out of the cup.

Many to tier clubs use the cup matches to give the youth players an opportunity to get playing time. So there might be 6 senior players and 5 youth players, so that the manager can see them in a competitive setting.

This man correctly calls the sport, Football... for that alone u got my sub.

"I'll call it football, I'll do the right thing." Can I say it? ..... I love you LOL Greets from Germany!

Great video of your honest reaction and interest into football as an American. I would also suggest that you check out JJ Watt's recent interview in a show called the Overlap with great Premier League ex-players. He also talks about the journey of understanding football coming from the NFL to being a part-owner of an English club in the Premier League. It was a class act interview

Hi There from across the Pond, I'm from a small island called England, in the UK. My friend as a first comment while watching your "Football", video (Great Content), is the Football playing part of the Pitch/Grass where the ball is in play is 90m = 45m each half. At half time 45 minutes the teams swap sides after a 15 minutes rest. ⚽

Ok, that bit about Mourinho is not entirely true, people tend to take it far too serious because he once said that a team that scores one extra goal than the opposition wins the game and at the end of the day that is what matters. Even though he has a more defensive philosophy there is context to it that people leave out, he has always been the underdog. People also tend the forget that he has had the most inglorious gigs of modern football, FC Porto, he literally wins two European Finals back to back with a team of fishermen. Man Utd pos Fergie and that had a lot of diva issues in the locker room? he gets 2nd domestically and wins Europa with that broken team of washed overpaid players. Spurs? The eternal no winning trophies at all team? He goes on to make Kane one of the best players in the world at using his feet and gets sacked prior to a cup finals that he would've win 100% guaranteed. Roma? a team that has 4 European finals total in their history, 2 of them were back to back with Mourinho. And what about that Real Madrid time where they were faced against the strongest team that ever played football in the history of the sport? He goes on and drops 100 points (last year Barca won it with 88 points), and his team scores a record breaking 121 goals (46 from Ronaldo). He has this bigger then life persona and people like to flex on him, but he has done an unbelievable job considering the pieces he has been given. (ofc there is the overspending and missed transfers: Pogba i'm looking at you mate), but it would be interesting for you to have a look at his career if you're getting more into football because it has been one hell of a roller coaster. This is the guy that made Materazzi (Italian terminator, check his "fights" against Shevchenko) cry uncontrollably in the arms of middle aged Mourinho when he left Inter. Edit: typo in FC Port

Thank you for using the word football for the sport that is known throughout the world as football.

You should check out the US Open cup this year! That's the US's giant cup with ton's of teams from different levels. A couple years ago Sacramento Republic (a USL team) knocked off a few MLS teams and made it all the way to the final (Vamos Orlando!) There has been some weirdness this year with MLS trying to not participate but the FA forcing them to, but its a great thing and could use more support

There is a lot of tournaments in the EPL but it gives a club the shot at showcasing their youth and bench players.

If you want to watch a football game and don't know where to start, I suggest watching 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France, one of the best games ever And yes, couple leagues are really busy, England is the most football busy country of all, because you have around 40 league games (38 in Premier League, 42 in Championship etc) at least 1 Carabao Cup game (and it can go up to 5), the same with FA Cup so another 5-7 games if you go to the final and then there are European championships like Champions League, Europa League and Conference League : you have 6 group stage games and if you are good enough to go to the final, you play 13/15 games in Europe during a season I also have to mention that the best players are not only playing all these games for their club, but they also get called up to their national teams so it's another couple games for your country and if it's World Cup (or EURO/AFCON/Copa America/Gold Cup/Asian Cup) year, you have an entire additional tournament to play

About promotion/relegation: there are examples of teams that have "climbed" the whole football pyramid, from bottom to the top league. One of them is ChievoVerona (Italy), who in fact also gained access to UEFA competitions, also Heidenheim (Germany) had made quite the climb up. On the other way around, there are teams who had a glorious past and now struggle in the lower leagues, like Casale (Italy), Dresdner (Germany), Deportivo de La Coruna (Spain). In these countries a football team represents a whole city (or even a small town) so it's important for the fans to see their team doing well in the league. In the final rounds of a season, teams at risk of relegation always give their best as it they were fighting for their lives. As you mentioned, the cup is where it's most likely to see a smaller team face a bigger one. In the 2017-18 Coppa Italia, Pordenone from 3rd tier (Serie C) defeated teams from Serie B and Serie A, only being stopped by Inter (one of the strongest Serie A teams); Perugia made a similar run two years later, it was stopped by Napoli. That's why both cup and promotion/relegation are important: a league will be always fascinating at every time of the season and at every rank, and many fans will feel represented because their city team is playing in a top league or against a stronger opponent in the cup. Of course no one is forced to root for their city team; there are also cities with two or more teams, if they face each other their match is called "derby". I hope you'll get into football, once you'll find your team you'll never quit! As Eric Cantona said: "You can change your wife, your politics, your religion, but never, never can you change your favourite football team!"

A exemple that happened recently here in Brazil was that Cruzeiro, team owned by legend Ronaldo (R9), lost to Sousa, a 4th division team and are out of Brazilian Cup, it was a crazy game under heavy rain and Sousa won 2x0

Your man needs to understand that there are only two "e"s in Premier. And it's pronounced PREM-i-er, not Prem-EER.

A lot of them scenarios have happened where teams have been promoted from division 1 to the Premier league over the seasons and much lower teams have beaten Premier league teams it all adds to the magic and as long as it's not your team it's amazing to watch, we take it for granted but now when you think about it it's really a great system.

Fun fact, in the german DFB Pokal, which is like the FA Cup, this year we have two 3rd league teams, one 2 league team and only one Bundesliga Team is in the semis! Relase clause is not in every contract, it´s getting more popular but not necessary. Sometimes a club is also protecting their top players like Ferran Torres by give them a monster deal but put in a release clause with a gigantic high number like 1billion euros, so that no team can realy buy this player out of a contract. There are other players with no release clause so if a team wants to buy this player they have to negotiate the price with the owning club and sometimes they don´t come to an agreement and the player has to stay.

Generally we have 3 games a week to watch, if you just follow and watch your own team, its quite busy season for the players. A lot of managers and clubs are fighting to reduce it, its a big subject in football right now

The cups are, as you mentioned, really special. In the german cup (DFB Pokal), this year the semifinal consists of only 1 first division team, 2 teams from the 2nd division and one team from the 3rd division (they actually knocked out 1 2nd division team and 3 first division teams, including Bayern Munich, germanys most dominant team (11 consecutive league titles and 33 total)). Each round grants you a bigger amount of money and winning the title grants you a spot in the Europa League (2nd most important international competition in europe). So we might actually see a german 2nd or even 3rd division team playing International football next season (even though it's unlikely, since the remaining 1st division team is absolutely on fire and has an unbeaten season throughout national and international competitions)

In regards to the formation. The "cf" labelled on the map is actually the "CAM": Central Attacking Midfielder. A Centre Forward (CF) is another term used to describe a Striker (ST). A CF however is more versatile and offers more than a ST in terms of overall skillset (i.e. they're good at pressing, passing, leading a frontline, crossing, dribbling etc...) where as a ST is exactly what you expect them to be; someone who can strike a ball really well and get a lot of goals. All Strikers are Centre Forwards, but not all Centre Forwards are Strikers!

A small insight about national cups, like the French one (not mentioned in the video, but it's a cool concept). The Coupe the France has the same concept of the English FA Cup but technically is 10 times bigger, because the French federation also includes teams from colonies/overseas territories, like Guadalupe, Tahiti, Martinique and so on. Obviously most of the times those teams do eliminate each other in the first round, then get matched slightly upwards and get eliminated by french teams even in 3rd or 4th division, but sometimes it happens that some of those teams do live the dream ... it happened in 2019-20 that a team, Saint-Pierroise, a small team in Reunion (a small island near Madagascar) reached the round of 32 (so 16 matches left) and got eliminated only after extra time, while two teams from the 4th division reaced the quarter final (one of the two was the team elimination Saint-Pierroise). As an Italian football fun, i loved the idea to see such a match, i took a 6h bus and saw the game with the Reunion team in it... it was one of the most exiting matches i ever seen, if we consider that it was not played in a big stadium.

When an EPL team plays against EFL team this match is used to be an active scouting event for both teams youth or star players.

@iwrocker props to you for approaching this with excitement and an open mind, unlike many American footvall fans and their tired “oh, soccer is so boring, blah blah blah”. I’d love to sit with you to watch a game so I could further introduce you to the nuances of the sport. This year the Copa America is being played here in the US, so that’s a must see. And in two years we’ll have the World Cup here!