In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

it is the part of the field that is between but roughly equally far from the two goalies. In association football, a player who is a "left midfieler", "center midfielder", or "right midfielder" plays much of the game in the midfield, whereas an "attacker" or "forward" plays closer to the opponent's goalie and a "defender" or "back" plays closer to the player's team's goalie. In these sports, center field is the part of the sports field that is near the line that connects the midpoints of the end lines. That is, in association football or field hockey, it is the part of the field near the line that could be drawn to connect the two goalies; in American football it would connect the two uprights. In association football, a player who is a "center forward", "center midfielder" or "center back" plays much of the game along this line, whereas, from the perspective of the player's goalie's view, other players will be "left" or "right". In association football, the terms can be combined to give "left forward", "center forward", "right forward", "left midfielder, "center midfielder", "right midfielder", "left back", "center back", "right back", and even subtler combinations such as "left defensive-midfielder", "right-center back", and "center attacking-midfielder". In contrast, the term midfield in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

is used to describe the area between the

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the baseball field, diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, ...

(within the bases or near the

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s) and the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

. In baseball, center field is the part of the outfield between left field and right field, and can be reached by going in a line from home plate past second base into the outfield.

References

{{Reflist Terminology used in multiple sports

See also

References