What are opinions about whether soccer is better than hockey?

Answer 1

Hockey and soccer are strikingly similar in a number of ways. Both include two teams, each attacking one goal while defending the other, a designated goalkeeper who wears special equipment and has special privileges, cumbersome-but-necessary offside rules, rabid fans, and a lot of physical confrontation (both permissible and not).

Soccer, known as (or translated as) "football" in most countries, is undoubtedly the world's most popular sport, being played at some level in nearly every country in the world (probably everywhere except Vatican City, which is technically a country, and maybe even there too) and broadcast in more languages than any other public event (except perhaps Easter or Christmas Mass from the Catholic Pope). It has been played professionally since 1885, and is the only major non-Olympic sport governed on a global scale by a single institution (IFAB).

Hockey, usually thought of as Ice Hockey but can include field hockey or floor hockey as well, is extremely popular in North America and northern Asia (Russia, et al), but is relatively obscure in much of the world (much like soccer was in the US until recently). Fans of hockey are very dedicated to their sport, at least as much as many soccer "hooligans". Hockey tends to be more aggressive and physical than soccer, because players wear more protective gear and the rules allow for it. While soccer was originally created as a "gentleman's game", hockey was intended to be more of a battlefield.

Opinions: