Where does the word "soccer" come from?

Most fútbol fans around the world are a little upset with Americans. After the World Cup of 1994, which was hosted by the U.S., the Major League Soccer (MLS) was created. But the executives in charge wanted to change some basic rules of the game.

For instance, they wanted to make the goals wider to attract more Anglo fans. Also, they came up with something called “shoot outs” as a tie breaker. Americans failed to change those rules, but they managed to change something about fútbol: its name.

To establish the difference between American football and fútbol, they called it soccer. But like most of you, I’ve always asked myself: Why soccer? According to Garry Archer, an English researcher, “’soccer’ is an English, not American word derived from the second syllable of the word ‘association.’”