The Beautiful Game (Portuguese: o jogo bonito) is a nickname for association football popularised by the Brazilian professional footballer Pelé. Although the exact origin of the phrase is disputed, football commentator Stuart Hall used it in 1958 - wikipedia 
Here we collect examples of football being used as a theme for art:
The art world has a long history of representing football. Andy Warhol painted this likeness of three-time World Cup champion Pelé in 1978 - bbc
Cameroonian footballer Samuel Eto’o, who plays as a striker for Chelsea, was painted by artist Kehinde Wiley in 2010 - bbc
Robin Rhode’s Hondije is a digital animation installation from 2001 that mixes photography and drawing - bbc
Close-up
Video installation Zidane: A 21 Century Portrait presents an entire game but with the camera trained on Zinedine Zidane for its duration - bbc
Miguel Calderón’s 90-minute video Mexico vs Brazil depicts a hypothetical 17-0 upset by the Mexican team via strategically edited footage - bbc
Lyle Ashton Harris’ Verona #2 looks like a political demonstration with fists raised in protest but is actually a depiction of rioting football fans - bbc
# See also * The Beautiful Game