This article is about sports known as football. For the ball used in these sports, see Football (ball).


The game of football is any of several similar team sports, of similar origins which involve advancing a ball into a goal area in an attempt to score. Many of these involve kicking a ball with the foot to score agoal, though not all codes of football using kicking as a primary means of advancing the ball or scoring. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". Unqualified, the word football applies to whichever form of football is the most popular in the regional context in which the word appears, including American football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league, rugby union and other related games. These