The Global Game
The British Empire Effect：Football's global spread was both encouraged and hampered by Britain's empire.Places where the game took hold（Central America，South America and Europe）were far more often locations where Britain's influence was through trade，and not conquering.In countries of acute British imperialmuscle（India，South Africa，Australia and New Zealand），football never really took hold as a truly popular sport，instead，cricket and rugby became the sports of the people.
Football and Class：It is interesting to note，however，thatwhile football in England was shared by all the classes，receiving a large portion of its players from the lower classes，the sport was spread worldwide by the upper classes.One of the few studies on the matter examined the Dutch national team.From 1894 to 1905，96%of the team came from the upper class，and only 1%from the lower class.By 1918，that1%had only risen to 4%，though themiddle class rose from 3%to 18%.
K jobenhavn Boldklub：The first European football club outside of Britain and Ireland was Kjobenhavn Boldklub，a Danish squad formed in 1876.Denmark also gave continental Europe its first football association in 1889.The Danes，in fact，had a leg up on every other continental European country in football all theway toWorld War Ⅰ，winning the silvermedal at both the 1908 and 1912 Olympics（losing both times to England）.Part ofwhat helped those countries adopt the sportwas its popularity among the lower classes；while the professional ranks swelled with upper class players，the fans were distinctlymade up of theworking class.Switzerland's primary donation to the game of football came through its representatives in other countries and its established neutrality，thus Switzerland became the home for FIFA and UEFA5.
Spanish Early Clubs：Football in Spain was initiated by British immigrants，in Spain to work mines and railroads.However，national Spanish football did not come together as easily.Spain faced the challenge of establishing a national identity6，instead of regional ones.While Spain was a foundingmember of FIFA in 1904，they did not have a football association until1913，and did not field a national team until after World War Ⅰ.
Italian Early Clubs：Italian football grew out of British，Swiss and Italian upper-class foundations，and while the game today is purely run by Italians，upper class leaders still control the sport.Italy's path towards football followed roughly the same timeline as Spain's；the first football clubs appeared late in the 1800s，and the first“national”tournament，the Italian national championship，was played around the turn of the century，in this case in 1898.Italy's first powerhouse squad was Genoa，which won the first three championships.Later on，the game spread throughout the country between the start of the century and World War Ⅰ.
France and Germany Football：Football faced a different challenge in those two countries because France and Germany had cycling and gymnastics，respectively.The first national championship（played only by six teams）was held in France in 1894.From there，more and more teams sprouted up，primarily in cities with significant English or Swiss influence.However，France had no national organization until after World War Ⅰ.The first recorded football matches in Germany took place in 1874，but the Laws of the Game were only finally translated into Germany in 1891，around the time serious German football clubs were created.However，prior to World War Ⅰ，despite the large number of teams and players，football in Germany was still considered a lesser sport.
South America：In South America，football was initially picked up not by the indigenous people，but Britonswhomigrated to those countries for work.Large groups of immigrants fro Mengland came over to work on the continent'smineral supply，and the game followed.The first football game played under the FA rules in Central or South America was in 1867 in Buenos Aires by a group of British workers.26 years later，the Argentine Association Football League was formed，again using primarily British immigrants，which still exists today as the Argentine national championship（though now obviously played by Argentineans）.In Brazil，while the first teams（formed in the late 1800s）were British，the city of Sao Paolo，the greatest hotbed of football in the country，saw German，American and native Brazilian teams sprout up by the turn of the century.In one area，South American football surpassed its European/English counterparts-international unification.Forty years before the establishment of the Union of European Football Associations（UEFA），Europe's organization，the CONMEBOL was founded in 1916 in South America，the Confederacíon Sudamericana de Futbol.
USGame played by Immigrants：In the U.S.，the game developed primarily among the immigrant class.The American League of Professional Football Clubswhich established in 1894 fell apart within 3 months.Universities declined to take up the sport，and it survived mostly in neighborhoods，primarily in New England，though immigrant communities in big cities like New York，Chicago，Pittsburgh and Philadelphia helped the game thrived there，and St.Louis in particular had a strong football presence.In the 1904 Olympics held there，football was a demonstration sport，and St.Louis' players represented the U.S.In 1912，two different organizations petitioned FIFA for recognition as America's football governing authority；FIFA told the American Football Association and the American Amateur Football Association tomerge，which they did，becoming the United States Football Association（USFA）.