Today

Use of the word "football" in English-speaking countries

The word "football", when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it.
The name "soccer" (or "soccer football") was originally a slang abbreviation of association football and is now the prevailing term in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant.
Of the 45 national FIFA affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, only three (Canada, Samoa and the United States) actually use "soccer" in their organizations' official names, while the rest use football (although the Samoan Federation actually uses both). However, in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, use of the word "football" by soccer bodies is a recent change and has been controversial.

Present day codes and "families"

Association football and descendants


Association football, also known as football, soccer, footy and footie
Indoor/basketball court varieties of Football:
Five-a-side football — played throughout the world under various rules including:
Futsal — the FIFA-approved five-a-side indoor game
Minivoetbal — the five-a-side indoor game played in East and West Flanders where it is hugely popular
Papi fut the five-a-side game played in outdoor basketball courts (built with goals) in Central America.
Indoor soccer — the six-a-side indoor game as played in North America. Known in Latin America, where it is often played in open air venues, as fútbol rápido ("fast soccer")
Paralympic football — modified Football for athletes with a disability. Includes:
Football 5-a-side — for visually impaired athletes
Football 7-a-side — for athletes with cerebral palsy
Electric wheelchair soccer
Beach soccer — football played on sand, also known as sand soccer
Street football — encompasses a number of informal varieties of football
Rush goalie — is a variation of football in which the role of the goalkeeper is more flexible than normal
Headers and volleys — where the aim is to score goals against a goalkeeper using only headers and volleys
Crab football — players stand on their hands and feet and move around on their backs whilst playing soccer as normal
Swamp soccer — the game is played on a swamp or bog field

Rugby school football and descendants
Rugby football
Rugby league — usually known simply as "football" or "footy" in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland, and by some followers of the game in England. Also often referred to simply as "league"
Rugby league nines (or sevens)
Touch football (rugby league) — a non-contact version of rugby league. In South Africa it is known as six down
Oz Tag — a non-contact version of rugby league, in which a velcro tag is removed to indicate a tackle
Rugby union
Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens; Fiji v Cook Islands at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne
Tag rugby — a form of rugby union using the velcro tag
Beach rugby — rugby played on sand
Touch rugby — generic name for forms of rugby football which does not feature tackles
American football — called "football" in the United States and Canada, and "gridiron" in Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes called "tackle football" to distinguish it from the touch versions
Arena football — an indoor version of American football
Nine-man football, eight-man football, six-man football — versions of tackle football, played primarily by smaller high schools that lack enough players to field full 11-man teams
Touch football (American) — non-tackle American football
Flag football — non-tackle American football, like touch football, in which a flag that is held by velcro on a belt tied around the waist is pulled by defenders to indicate a tackle
Canadian football — called simply "football" in Canada; "football" in Canada can mean either Canadian or American football depending on context
Canadian flag football — non-tackle Canadian football
Nine-man football — similar to nine-man American football, but using Canadian rules; played by smaller schools in Saskatchewan that lack enough players to field full 12-man teams
See also: Comparison of American football and rugby league, Comparison of American football and rugby union, Comparison of Canadian and American football, Comparison of rugby league and rugby union.

Irish and Australian varieties

International rules football test match from the 2005 International Rules Series between Australia and Ireland at Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Australia.
These codes have in common the absence of an offside rule, the requirement to bounce or solo (toe-kick) the ball while running, handpassing by punching or tapping the ball rather than throwing it, and other traditions.
Australian rules football — officially known as "Australian football", and informally as "Aussie rules" or "footy". In some areas (erroneously) referred to as "AFL", which is the name of the main organising body and competition
Auskick — a version of Australian rules designed by the AFL for young children
Metro footy (or Metro rules footy) — a modified version invented by the USAFL, for use on gridiron fields in North American cities (which often lack grounds large enough for conventional Australian rules matches)
Kick-to-kick
9-a-side footy — a more open, running variety of Australian rules, requiring 18 players in total and a proportionally smaller playing area (includes contact and non-contact varieties)
Rec footy — "Recreational Football", a modified non-contact touch variation of Australian rules, created by the AFL, which replaces tackles with tags
Touch Aussie Rules — a non-contact variation of Australian Rules played only in the United Kingdom
Samoa rules — localised version adapted to Samoan conditions, such as the use of rugby football fields
Masters Australian football (a.k.a. Superules) — reduced contact version introduced for competitions limited to players over 30 years of age
Women's Australian rules football — played with a smaller ball and (sometimes) reduced contact version introduced for women's competition
Gaelic football — Played predominantly in Ireland. Sometimes referred to as "football" or "gaah" (from the acronym for Gaelic Athletic Association)
Ladies Gaelic football
International rules football — a compromise code used for games between Gaelic and Australian Rules players
See also: Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football

Surviving Mediæval ball games

The ball is hit into the air at the 2006 Royal Shrovetide Football match. (Photographer: Gary Austin.)

British Shrove Tuesday games
Alnwick in Northumberland
Ashbourne in Derbyshire (known as Royal Shrovetide Football)
Atherstone in Warwickshire
Corfe Castle in Dorset — The Shrove Tuesday Football Ceremony of the Purbeck Marblers.
Haxey in Lincolnshire (the Haxey Hood, actually played on Epiphany)
Hurling the Silver Ball takes place at St Columb Major in Cornwall
Sedgefield in County Durham
In Scotland the Ba game ("Ball Game") is still popular around Christmas and Hogmanay at:
Duns, Berwickshire
Scone, Perthshire
Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands

Outside the UK
Calcio Fiorentino — a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century Florence.

Surviving public school games

Harrow football players after a game at Harrow School.
Eton field game
Eton wall game
Harrow football
Winchester College football

Recent inventions and hybrid games
Based on FA rules:
Cubbies
Three sided football
Triskelion
Keepie uppie — is the art of juggling with a football using feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head.
Footbag — is a small bean bag or sand bag used as a ball in a number of keepie uppie variations, including hacky sack (which is a trade mark).
Freestyle football — a modern take on keepie uppie where freestylers are graded for their entertainment value and expression of skill.
Based on rugby:
Scuffleball
Force ’em backs a.k.a. forcing back, forcemanback et c.
Hybrid games
Austus — a compromise between Australian rules and American football, invented in Melbourne during World War II.
Bossaball — mixes Association football and volleyball and gymnastics; played on inflatables and trampolines.
Footvolley — mixes Association football and beach volleyball; played on sand
Kickball — a hybrid of soccer and baseball, invented in the United States in about 1942.
Speedball (American) — a combination of American football, soccer, and basketball, devised in the United States in 1912.
Universal football — A hybrid of Australian rules and rugby league, trialled in Sydney in 1933.
Volata — a game resembling Association football and European handball, devised by Italian fascist leader, Augusto Turati, in the 1920s.
Wheelchair rugby — also known as Murderball, invented in Canada in 1977. Based on ice hockey and basketball rather than rugby.
Wheelchair power tag rugby
Wheelchair rugby league

Tabletop games and other recreations
Based on Football (soccer):
Subbuteo
Blow football
Table football — also known as foosball, table soccer, babyfoot, bar football or gettone)
Fantasy football (soccer)
Button football — also known as Futebol de Mesa, Jogo de Botões
Penny football
Based on rugby:
Penny rugby
Based on American football:
Paper football
Blood Bowl
Fantasy football (American)
Madden NFL
NFL
Based on Australian football:
List of Australian rules football computer games
AFL Premiership 2005