page_title: Football
section_title: Types of football
hierarchical_section_title: Football / Types of football
caption_attribution_description: English: Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds lands in the end zone for a touchdown against Air Force at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Oct. 4, 2014. Air Force won the game, which honored the athletes in the 2014 Warrior Games. (DoD News photo by EJ Hersom)
context_page_description: Football is a word which could mean one of several sports. The best-known type of football is association football. This is called "soccer" in North America, South Africa, and Australia to avoid confusion with other types of football that are commonly played there.
  The name football comes from the two words 'foot' and 'ball'. It is named football because the players of the game walk and often run while playing, as opposed to polo where the players ride horses. Football is played using a ball, also called a 'football', that is usually shaped like a sphere or an ellipsoid. The ball is often kicked with the foot, but depending on the game, it can also be hit using other parts of the body and handling the ball is a part of some other sports known as 'football'.
  Some elements of football have been seen in many countries, dating back to the second and third century AD in China. The modern games of both rugby football and association football comes from 19th-century England. Kicking a ball goes back to the Middle Ages. Association football spread to many other parts of Europe, and was brought to the rest of the world with colonization.
context_section_description: Association football (soccer)
  American football
  Rugby league football
  Rugby union football
  Gridiron football
  College football
  Touch rugby - Called "touch football" in Australia.
  Canadian football
  Gaelic football
  Australian Rules Football
caption: A game of American (gridiron) football. Canadian football is very similar.
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