When did the game of soccer first start?

FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football, states that the Chinese game cuju is the oldest form of football, also known as soccer, based on scientific evidence. Cuju games were standardized during the Han Dynasty from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D.

The game of association football, or soccer, itself does not have roots in any ancient games played outside of Europe. Soccer as we know it today is largely shaped by the establishment of the Cambridge Rules in 1848. The oldest soccer competition in history is the FA cup, founded by C.W. Alcock in 1972. The first international football/soccer match was also in 1872, and was played by the teams of Scotland and England in Glasgow, Scotland.