Why is it preferable to use paths with slashes instead of query-string variables in a web page URL?

One reason for having this as a goal during initial development is that it forces you to think critically about your web site's link structure from the outset. If the hierarchy is clear in the URL, then this clarity will naturally flow into the structure of the website and ease navigation for both your users and the search engines.

Depending on how you are developing your site, thinking about URL structure from the beginning may also help you with code design; what controllers you will need, how you are going to perform routing, etc.

Other reasons, such as URL readability and hackability have been touched on in other answers.

All of the search engines are doing a pretty good job with query string parameters these days, but if you're starting a new site, it is definitely worth using clean URLs.

One of the primary reasons is for end-user readability. A slashed/re-written url is significantly easier to read and type than a long string of queries attached onto the end of a base url

You mean: example.com/Teams/Arsenal instead of example.com?team=arsenal

Will other than the fact they will be implemented differently the former is both cleaner and also hackable. So if you remove 'Arsenal' it could display a list of teams.