Geography of association football

Most European, African, and Asian countries have two principal competitions: a more prestigious league which is typically a double round-robin tournament restricted to the elite clubs, and a cup which is a single-elimination tournament open to both the elite and lesser clubs.

In the Americas, leagues are often organised as either multi-stage tournaments or separate Apertura and Clausura stages.

Several of these non-FIFA associations are included in the World Football Elo Ratings, which ranks all national association football teams from FIFA-affiliated confederations, in addition to some unaffiliated teams.

Beneath the national level, governance of football may be divided up into regional or territorial associations.

Other non-national associations represent stateless populations, diasporas or micronations.

World map of FIFA 's six continental governing bodies.
Map of the CAF 's five subregional confederations. Out of 22 members, the transcontinental Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) hosts 10 CAF associations (green dots).
Map of the AFC 's five subregional confederations. All 12 AFC associations of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) are also members of the transcontinental Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).