noun
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.
戦前の日本では、蹴球は主にサッカーを指す言葉だった。
In pre-war Japan, 蹴球 was a word that mainly referred to soccer.