Soccer vs Football Field - A Comprehensive Comparison

Introduction

American football and soccer are both popular sports, but their fields couldn't be more different. While both use large, marked playing surfaces, their dimensions, layouts, and markings vary. If you have ever wondered how a soccer field compares with an American football field, you are at the right place.

Quick Summary

This guide covers the main differences between soccer and American football, including field markings, dimensions, goalposts, and playing surfaces.
An American football field is 120 yards long and 53.3 yards wide, while soccer field dimensions vary by competition and can range from 100 to 130 yards long and 50 to 100 yards wide.
Soccer fields are generally wider than American football fields, giving players more space to move across the field.
Soccer and American football also use different markings, goal structures, and field layouts because the two sports have different rules and gameplay.

Soccer vs. Football: The Differences

Left side shows soccer player in white jersey number 5 kicking ball on grass field with brick building behind, right side shows American football player in teal uniform number 30 carrying ball in stadium under lights. Text at top reads "Soccer v/s Football".

Clearly, both sports have a ton of differences from one another. Here are a few of the biggest differences between the sports:

Difference	Soccer	American Football
Name	Usually called “football” outside the U.S. and Canada	Usually called “football” in the U.S. and Canada
Game length	90 minutes, split into two 45-minute halves, plus stoppage time	60 minutes, split into four 15-minute quarters, with the game usually taking much longer in real time
Ball shape	Spherical	Prolate spheroid-shaped
Players on the field	11 players per team	11 players per team
How the ball moves	Players mainly use their feet, but can also use other parts of the body except the hands and arms	Players can run with the ball, throw it forward, or kick it
Passing	Players pass mainly with their feet	Players can pass by hand, with one forward pass allowed per play from behind the line of scrimmage
Contact	Physical contact is limited by the Laws of the Game	Tackling and other forms of physical contact are fundamental parts of the sport

Soccer Fields vs Football Fields

Unlike oval cricket fields, both sports fields are rectangular and green. So, you might think they are similar. But the similarities end there.

Left side displays soccer field layout and right side displays American football field. Text in center reads "Soccer Field" with arrow pointing left, "v/s", and "Football Field"

A soccer field and a football field differ in their dimensions, layout, markings, and overall design. Because of these differences, “football field” and “soccer field” should not be used interchangeably. The sections below explain how they differ.

Who Decides the Rules?

For international soccer, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) sets competition regulations, while the International Football Association Board (IFAB) establishes the Laws of the Game, including field requirements.

For American football, rules depend on the competition. The NFL, NCAA, and NFHS each maintain their own rulebooks and field standards for professional, college, and high school play.

Field Markings

Let’s start with the most noticeable one: the field markings. The drawn markings on the fields indicate whether the field is for American football or soccer. Both use white lines, but the layout is very different because each sport has its own rules.

Isometric 3D diagram of a green soccer field with white markings, two goals, and striped mowing pattern against light blue background.

For instance, professional soccer fields have:

Two touchlines and two goal lines
A halfway line
A center mark and center circle
Two penalty areas
Two goal areas
Two penalty marks
Two penalty arcs
Four corner arcs
Four corner areas

Top-down diagram of a green American football field with white yard lines, numbers, hash marks, and end zones on light blue background. Text at top reads "American football field markings".

While the American football fields have:

Sidelines and end lines
Yard lines marked every 5 yards
Hash marks at 1-yard intervals between the yard lines
Yard numbers in 10-yard increments
Two end zones
Two goal lines
Two sets of goalposts
A 50-yard line at midfield
Field markings that identify team and bench areas

Dimensions of the Fields

It might be difficult to tell the difference between American football fields and professional soccer fields based just on size, as they look humongous on the telly. If you're using drone footage then that's a different case. However, they do differ in dimensions. Unlike American football fields, soccer field sizes differ based on many criteria.

Side-by-side line diagrams comparing field sizes, left shows larger soccer field with goals and center circle, right shows narrower American football field with yard lines and goal posts on pale yellow background.

Here’s how their dimensions compare.

Width

Soccer field dimensions vary based on the level and competition. A standard soccer field can be 150 to 300 feet wide, or about 50 to 100 yards. For international matches, the width must be 70 to 80 yards, or 210 to 240 feet.

The American football field width does not vary at the professional level. An NFL field is 53.3 yards wide, which equals 160 feet.

You can easily convert between yards and feet with our free MO Calc app, available both for Android and iOS.

Length

Similar to width, soccer fields' lengths also vary. However, the length of an American football field is consistent regardless of the league being played.

A standard soccer field is generally 300 to 390 feet long, or about 100 to 130 yards. For international matches, the field must measure 110 to 120 yards, or 330 to 360 feet, in length.

An American football field is always 120 yards, or 360 feet, long. That total includes a 100-yard playing field, or 300 feet, and two 10-yard end zones, or 30 feet each.

Goal posts

The goal structures are another clear difference between soccer and American football. They look different, their dimensions are different, and how the players have to score using these structures is also different.

A standard soccer goal is 24 feet wide and 8 feet high, or 8 yards wide and about 2.7 yards high. The crossbar sits 8 feet above the ground, and the two vertical posts form the 24-foot opening.

Split image comparing soccer vs American football goal posts. Left side shows a soccer goal with a net on a green field and right side shows tall H-shaped American football goalposts with a football on a tee in the foreground.

In American football, the crossbar needs to be 10 feet or 3.3 yards above the ground. The crossbar's vertical uprights, which are placed above it, must be spaced apart by 18 feet 6 inches or 6.2 yards. They also have to be 35 feet or 11.7 yards tall.

This article is exclusively written for MeasurementOf.

How Scoring Works in Soccer and American Football

Soccer and American football use completely different scoring systems, even though both rely on their goal structures to score.

In soccer, a goal is worth one point. A team scores when the entire ball crosses the goal line between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar. The team with more goals at the end of the match wins.

American football has several ways to score. A touchdown is worth 6 points and is scored when a player carries the ball into the opponent's end zone or catches it there. After a touchdown, the team can attempt a 1-point extra point kick by kicking the ball through the goalposts, or a 2-point conversion by reaching the end zone again from a short distance.

A field goal is worth 3 points and is scored when a team kicks the ball through the opponent's goalposts, usually on fourth down when scoring a touchdown is unlikely. A safety is worth 2 points and occurs when the offense is tackled in its own end zone, commits certain fouls there, or causes the ball to become dead there under specific circumstances.

This difference in scoring is one reason the two sports use their fields so differently.

Field’s Surface

The playing surface is another difference between the two sports. Both soccer and American football can be played on natural grass or artificial turf, but artificial turf is more common in American football. Soccer is more often played on natural grass, although artificial or hybrid surfaces are also used at some levels and venues.

So, how big is football field compared with a soccer field? The answer depends on which soccer field you are comparing it with, but an international soccer field generally has a much wider playing surface. The length can be similar, which is why the two fields may look comparable when you see them side by side. The difference becomes much easier to notice when you look across the width.

A green artificial soccer field with a white boundary line and space for text.

Photo by Tom Van Dyck from Pexels

That difference also explains why the two sports use their space differently. Soccer needs a wide playing area because players move across the field in every direction. American football divides its field into clearly marked zones, with much of the action moving through a narrower space.

Now, given that the fields have a similar length, you may be wondering if you can play soccer on a football field or vice versa! Well, nobody's stopping you. But the available width may make it less suitable than a regulation soccer field. Many multi-use stadiums handle this by adjusting the field layout or using a larger playing surface.

Now let's recap the differences:

Comparison table titled Soccer vs Football that showcases the differences between soccer fields and football fields.

Conclusion

We've covered a lot of ground and discussed how football fields and soccer fields differ from each other. The fields vary in length, width, goalpost dimensions, layout, surface material preference, etc. These traits are what distinguish each sport's field. And once you understand these, the differences between the two become much easier to spot.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is soccer bigger than a football field?

Yes. A soccer field is generally larger in total surface area than an american football field, mainly because soccer fields are typically wider and can also vary more in length.

2. Why is football now called soccer?

The term “soccer” came from England, where “association football” was shortened to “assoc” and later “soccer.” As the sport became known simply as football in most countries, Americans kept using “soccer” to distinguish it from American football.