Football refers to a number of
sports that involve, to varying degrees,
kicking a
ball with the foot to score a
goal. 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 association football, as well as
American football,
Australian rules football,
Canadian football,
Gaelic football,
rugby league,
rugby union and other related games. These variations of football are known as football "codes".