Football

This article deals with the history and development of the different sports around the world known as "football". For links to articles on each of these codes of football, please see the list in the Football today section of this article.

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Football is the name given to a number of different team sports. The most popular of these world wide is Association football, which is also widely known as soccer. However the term is also applied to Rugby football (Rugby union and Rugby league), American football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, and Canadian football.

Related Topics:
Sport - Association football - Rugby football - Rugby union - Rugby league - American football - Australian rules football - Gaelic football - Canadian football

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When the English language word "football" originated, it referred to a wide variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot — that is, by peasants — as opposed to the games played by horse-riding aristocrats. Therefore the name has always implied a variety of games played by people on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball.

Related Topics:
English language - Word "football" - Medieval Europe - Peasant - Horse-riding - Aristocrat

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All football games involve scoring points with a spherical or ellipsoidal ball (itself called a football), by moving the ball into, onto, or over a goal area or line defended by the opposing team. Many of the modern games have their origins in England, but — since ancient times — many peoples around the world have played games which involved kicking and/or carrying a ball.

Related Topics:
Spherical - Ellipsoidal - Football - Goal - England

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The object of all football games is to advance the ball by kicking, running with, or passing and catching, either to the opponent's end of the field where points or goals can be scored by, depending on the game, putting the ball across the goal line between posts and under a crossbar, putting the ball between upright posts (and possibly over a crossbar), or advancing the ball across the opponent's goal line while maintaining possession of the ball.

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In all football games, the winning team is the one that has the most points or goals when a specified length of time has elapsed.

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