Soccer started in 1863 in English schools during Cambridge rules. The rules were a lot different back then than they were now. The kids could use their hands and defend offside in haphazard ways. Earlier efforts to codify the rules were made, however, they were picked up by the football association that runs England’s FA Cup today. The term association football was made to differentiate it between rugby football, and soccer is just a shortened version of one who plays association football.
As the game became more popular in England, other countries started to get involved and iterated the game. Scotland started the brilliant idea to pass the ball more. Since soccer evolved from rugby, the British game involved more possession and plowing forward with the person with the ball.
Defense was played differently as there were almost no defenders and many midfielders and forwarders. The first international game was played between England and Scotland, however, it ended in a 0-0 draw. Soccer was not the beautiful game back then as it is today.
