football (soccer, rugby, American football, etc.; esp. soccer)
Archaic term for football, especially soccer. In modern Japanese, サッカー is the standard word for soccer, while フットボール may be used for other codes. 蹴球 is now mainly encountered in historical contexts or older literature.
In pre-war Japan, 蹴球 was a word that mainly referred to soccer.
football pitch; soccer field
association football; soccer
rugby
American football
A coined kanji compound from 蹴 (kick) and 球 (ball), modeled after English 'football'. The exact date of coinage is uncertain, but it was used from the Meiji era through the early Showa period before being replaced by loanwords.