Why Do North Americans Call the Game of Football “Soccer” and What Does the Name Mean?

Football goes so far back in history that one form or another has been played by every known civilization.

In the 1800s, British football split into rugby and soccer, two games with very different rules.

Soccer started out as socca, a slang abbreviation of “association” as in “association football,” and just like rugby became rugger through slang, socca became soccer.