Unfortunately, the origins of the game are not as easy to trace as those of its name. Like many games, it is quite possible that variations of foosball developed in different countries over roughly the same time period. Since organized soccer first entered the sports scene in the 1860s, the invention of soccer's table version can be safely dated sometime afterward, probably in the late 1800s. The earliest United States patent for a foosball table was registered in 1901, but it is generally agreed that foosball, like soccer, originated in western Europe.

A Belgian magazine article¹ stated that the inventor of the first foosball table was a Frenchman named Lucien Rosengart (1880-1976). An employee of the Citroën automobile factory, he amassed a huge fortune through his inventive genius. In addition to "babyfoot", the original name for foosball, Rosengart is accredited with the invention of the minicar, front wheel drive, and the seat belt.

One of the oldest manufacturers of foosball is a Geneva-based Swiss company called Kicker. Its table is also called Kicker and has been so popular in Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium that the word has become generic: Kicker is to European players what Foosball is to North Americans.

In European countries as well as in Canada and the United States, foosball did not become widespread until after World War II. One popular belief is that foosball was invented to help rehabilitate war veterans. While not invented for that purpose, foosball has been used in rehabilitation with great success, especially in rebuilding handeye coordination.

American servicemen are responsible for another common belief, one that has haunted American players for a long time. After being stationed in Germany, servicemen have often come home with tales of German foosball players who are so incredibly good that they could beat any American. During the first years of professional competition in the early 1970s, the prevalence of this idea irked many dedicated American players. The Americans thought "We were getting so good - how could they be better?" The answer is because competition in Europe, compared to Canada and the United States, has been organized for a long time. Belgian leagues, for instance, were organized as early as 1950. It wasn't until 1976, however, that the European leagues from different countries finally united to form the European Table Soccer Union (ETU) and competed against each other in the European Cup, now an annual affair.

Unification is still a big problem for European players; there are many different table brands, and each country naturally prefers its own. The shape of the playing figures, the size of the handles, and the composition of the balls varies from brand to brand, making it difficult for players to switch from one to the other. In Western Canada and the US, most foos is played on Tornado tables and national co-ordinating bodies like the table Soccer Association of Canada (TSAC) help to set game play and training standards across the continent.

Ultimate Foos has organized a 2007 national tournament, with qualifying matches in 9 cities leading up to the finals in Toronto.

¹Le Soir Illustre, No. 2471, November 1979, p. 26