Which is harder/requires more skill? - Soccer or Football?

Question

This might be kind of confusing for anyone outside of the US, since you guys call soccer football.
Today I got into an argument with my friend over which was harder, soccer or football. I said soccer, he said football. He kept showing me all these plays that they do, and I kept telling him that thats more proof, since all you do in football is memorize plays, and in soccer, you have to use your head and make split second decisions all the time, and not just do your specific part.

He said all you do in soccer is kick the ball around and you can never use your hands. I just said that goalies can use their hands and hands are easier to work with anyway. You dont just kick the ball around, and even that requires way more skill than running up and down the football field. Soccer players need way more endurance, too, since we constantly have to run around, and football players get a break every other minute once a play is complete. What do you guys think??

Answer 1

Football requires skill and strategy

Soccer just skill

Answer 2

ive played both sports and thier just about equally hard. soccer you have to run but ur not pushing around anyone twice your wait at anytime in the game like pretty much the whole time in football. soccer u have to run longer but the sprints you will have to run in football while trying to avoid really big angry people that want to hurt you is just as hard. this is the same for pretty much all sports. they all are very different and have their ups and downs so you cant realy determin which is harder or better or requires more skill. soccer might be harder because you cant use your hands, but that means in that part that football requires more skill (i say that because being a receiver is in fact harder than it looks. you have to see through your face mask, run a certain route which means memorizing what play (our school number) is what.) each sport is very hard so you cant really get an argument out of that. but w/e. we are americans. we get arguments out of every stupid thing.

Answer 3

From your explanation, I don't think you understand football.

I think soccer players are fantastic athletes with great conditioning, but so too are football players. I know a lot of people think of them as 300-pound fat guys, but it's amazing the 40-yard times they put in while wearing pads. Those guys, and really all football players, are great athletes.

Your point about memorizing plays in football is true, but I don't think that diminishes the needed skills. Soccer may require more creative thinking, but football players need the skill to pull off set plays. Also, your mention of "running up and down the football field" just proves that you've never played. Believe me, after playing for years I wish it was that easy. Try blocking, running your route, having the ball thrown to you while a safety is coming up at full speed to drill you, catching the ball, and figuring out how to avoid a tackle. It's not necessarily creativity, but you better have some seriously good instincts in that situation.

Finally, I think you again miss the point when you talk about endurance. Sure soccer players are moving around, but they have plenty of slow times during the game. Most experts would agree that both sports are anaerobic, requiring short bursts of energy.

I played both for many years, and I don't think I could choose one over the other for skill level. They're just extremely different sports.

Answer 4

Well, this is one of the longest running arguments that I know of, they had the same argument back when I was in high school.

To answer your question, they are both equally as hard, but in different ways. A football player has to wear a lot of gear to protect themselves from the hard hitting plays. They train differently because of this. Yes, they may have set plays, but these plays demand timing and precision, and at the same time while you have an opponent trying to disrupt the timing and precision for said play.

Soccer, on the other hand, demands a different skill set and different training. You have to think quickly and react to what is happening. You get to only use your feet and the only protection you wear is shin guards to protect your legs. Again, like you said, the running is much different. Of course you are not sprinting all the time on the soccer field also (look at the pros in the English Premier League, Italy Series A, Spanish Prima Liga, Mexican First League, German Bundesliga, etc), they aren't always running, sometimes they are jogging, sometimes walking. It all depends on the flow of the game.

So, in answer to your question, they are both equally hard in their own way. It would be the same as arguing which is harder, a sprinter running 200m in his time or a miler running a fast one mile run? They are both hard, but they are hard in different ways and they train differently to achieve their goal.

Answer 5

I would say Soccer is harder and requires more skill compared to all football positions except the Quarterback! Being the QB in the NFL is harder than any position on the soccer field!

Answer 6

soccer no i am american but i still think soccer because americans are lazy and give up way easier than other countries. they love football but hate soccer. therefore soccer is harder and requires more skill

Answer 7

I've played both sports and I have to say that in my opinion, soccer was more difficult for me to play than football.

Answer 8

using feet takes more skill

running around the field for 90 minutes takes a better athelete.

you cant plan specific strategies for soccer, but you have to be more adaptable on the field.

football is only called football because the ball is a foot long, you hardly ever use your feet in that game....

Answer 9

Football would be my vote but in truth I don't know that much about soccer. Football is a game of both muscle and brains, the plays are as sophisticated as any chess strategy, or any war plan and every guy has to know his part at each stage of every play, it is definitely a brain game. Soccer looks too random to me to have much genuine strategy.

Answer 10

scoccer is harder than football beacuuse you can not use your hand or arms. you need to look at the ball and look were your going. you all so need more cordanation. you are useing your feet. foot ball you get a bigger scoreing zone. soccer you do not.