Explanation:

Verb Tense:
- The original sentence is in the present tense "I play football with my friends."
- The correct answer "had played" is in the past perfect tense.

Past Perfect Tense:
- The past perfect tense is used to show an action that happened before another action in the past.
- In this case, "had played" indicates that playing football with friends occurred before another past action.

Contextual Meaning:
- The past perfect tense is suitable for this sentence if the speaker is referring to a specific event or time in the past when they played football with their friends.
- It suggests that the action of playing football was completed before another event took place.

Application:
- By using "had played", the sentence provides a clearer timeline of events and emphasizes the sequence of actions in the past.
- It helps to convey a more precise meaning about the past activity of playing football with friends.

Conclusion:
- Therefore, "had played" is the correct verb form to use in this sentence to indicate that playing football with friends occurred before another past action.