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This is a list of various types of
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, including most variations of gridiron, rugby and association football.


Games descended from the FA rules

*
Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, also known as "soccer". *Varieties with reduced number of team members: ** 3v3 Soccer **
Five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four Outfield#In association football, outfield players and a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper). Other differences from association football ...
– played throughout the world under various rules, including: ***
Futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
(from and ) – the
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
-approved five-a-side indoor game. ***
Beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...
– played on sand, also known as sand football. Like futsal, it is governed by FIFA. **
Indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...
– the six-a-side indoor game as played in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. **
Seven-a-side football Seven-a-side football is one of the minifootball variations of football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, ...
– a variation of
minifootball Minifootball (sometimes spelled mini-football and called minifoot) is a small-sided variation of association football. Minifootball is played in 5-a-side format, with additional variants of 6-a-side, 7-a-side, 8-a-side, 9-a-side and indoor foo ...
played by teams of seven players. *** Sevens football – a seven-a-side game played in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. *
Paralympic football Paralympic football consists of adaptations of the sport of association football for athletes with a physical disability. These sports are typically played using International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) rules, with modifications ...
– modified association football for disabled competitors. **
Amputee football Amputee football is a disabled sport played with seven players on each team (six outfield players and one goalkeeper). Outfield players have lower extremity amputations, and goalkeepers have an upper extremity amputation. Outfield players use lo ...
** Blind football (5-a-side) ** Cerebral palsy football (7-a-side) **
Powerchair football Powerchair football (French: Foot-fauteuil), also known as power soccer, is a variant of association football for people with physical disabilities. Players use specially designed powered wheelchairs in order to maneuver and kick/hit an oversi ...
and wheelchair soccer * Crab football *
Jorkyball Jorkyball is a format of two vs two football. It is played in a by cage on artificial turf with the possibility of using the walls to pass, dribble, and score. As in football it is played only with the feet and use of hands is forbidden. The o ...
*
Keepie uppie Keepie uppie, keep-ups or kick-ups is the skill of juggling with an association football using feet, lower legs, knees, chest, shoulders, and head, without allowing the ball to hit the ground. It is similar to Kemari, a game formerly practiced in ...
– the art of juggling with a football using feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head. ** Footbag or hacky sack – a small bean bag or sand bag is used as a ball in a number of keepie uppie variations such as hacky sack. ** Freestyle football – a modern take on keepie uppie where freestylers are graded for their entertainment value and expression of skill. * Rush goalie – a variation of football in which the role of the goalkeeper is more flexible than normal. *Serbian rules football (Balkan football) * Street football – encompasses a number of informal varieties of football. *
Swamp football Swamp football (also called swamp soccer or suopotkupallo in Finnish) is a variant of association football played in bogs or swamps, characterized by its physically challenging environment. Originating in Finland in 1998, it was initially used as ...
* Three-sided football ** Omegaball (three 5-a-side teams in simultaneous competition with each other on a circular field) * Walking football With elements of another sport: * Motoball * Roller soccer Some games, such as football tennis, footvolley and teqball, although they use a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and avoid the use of hands, are not goal sports. The hockey game
bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...
has rules partly based on association football rules and is sometimes nicknamed "winter football" ().


Games descended from

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...
rules

*
Rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...
– the game which split into
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
and
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
. **
Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
*** Rugby league sevens ***
Rugby league nines Rugby league nines (or simply nines) is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played i ...
*** Touch rugby or touch football – a form of rugby without tackles. **** Federation of International Touch codified version of touch rugby. ****
Tag rugby file:Tag.Rugby.Belt.jpg, Tag-rugby belt Tag rugby, Flag rugby or Rippa rugby is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it, or shorts with velcro patches. The mode of play is based on rugby l ...
– a form of touch rugby, but a velcro tag must be taken to indicate a tackle. ***** OzTag – a form of rugby league replacing tackles with tags. ***
Wheelchair rugby league Wheelchair rugby league is a wheelchair-based version of rugby league football, one of two recognised disability versions of the sport. It was developed in France in 2000. Unlike other wheelchair sports, people without disabilities are allowed to ...
**
Rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
***
Rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...
**
Beach rugby Beach rugby is a sport that is based on rugby union. Currently there is not a centralized regulation of the sport as in beach soccer or beach volleyball, but leagues are common across Europe. The sport is particularly popular in Italy, in the B ...
– rugby played on sand. ** Wheelchair rugby or quad rugby *
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
– called "football" in the United States, and "gridiron" or "gridiron football" in Australia. **
Arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...
– an indoor version of American football. ** Touch football (American) – non-tackle American football. ***
Flag football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...
– non-tackle American football, like touch football but a token must be taken to indicate a tackle. *
Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...
– called simply "football" in Canada. ** Canadian flag football – non-tackle Canadian football.


Irish/Gaelic and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n varieties of football

Although both sports arose largely independently,
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
and Australian rules football or "Aussie rules" share a number of common characteristics that separate them from the other football codes, most notably the lack of an offside rule, rules requiring bouncing of the ball when running with it in hand, passing by kick or handstrike, and a scoring system with major and minor scores (goals and points in Gaelic football, goals and behinds in Australian rules). As such, the sports exist as a form of
convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
, which has led to the swapping of players between the codes, and some co-operation between their respective authorities. Both sports are also very popular in their country of origin, indeed the dominant code in each, but with limited global spread, a feature they share with gridiron forms of football. *
Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
– called "football" by this sporting community. *
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
– called "football" in the south and west of Australia and also in Victoria. **
Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...
– a version of Australian rules designed for young children. *
International rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...
– a compromise code used for games between Gaelic and Australian rules players. * Austus – a compromise between Australian rules and American football, invented in Melbourne during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Surviving English public school games

* Eton field game * Eton wall game *
Harrow football Harrow football is a football, code of football played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more bases (goals) than their opponent. Harrow Football is played predominantly with the feet, but players may use an ...
* Winchester College football


Surviving medieval ball games

* Traditional
Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian state, Ch ...
matches in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
– annual town- or village-wide football games with their own rules are played at: **
Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...
in
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
** Ashbourne in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
(known as Royal Shrovetide Football) **
Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...
in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
**
Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the Corfe Castle (village), village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and ...
in
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
( The Shrove Tuesday Football Ceremony of the Purbeck Marblers) ** Haxey in
North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...
(the Haxey Hood, actually played on Epiphany) **
St Columb Major St Columb Major is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay Ordnance Survey: Landran ...
in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
( Hurling the Silver Ball) ** Sedgefield in
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
** In
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, the
Ba game The Ba' Game is a version of medieval football played in Scotland, primarily in Orkney and the Scottish Borders, around Christmas and New Year. Ba' is essentially Medieval football, mob football, or village football, where two parts of a town h ...
is still popular around Christmas and
Hogmanay Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots language, Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 ...
at: *** Duns in
Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...
***
Scone A scone ( or ) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often ...
in
Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
***
Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...
in
Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...
*Outside the UK, other medieval games include: **
Calcio Fiorentino ''Calcio storico fiorentino'' (also known as ''calcio storico'', ''calcio in livrea'' or ''calcio in costume'') is an early form of football that originated during the Middle Ages in Italy. Once widely played, the sport is thought to have start ...
– a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
. ** La soule in
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
and
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...


Tabletop games and other recreations

* Based on association football: ** Blow football ** Bubble football ** Button football ** Elephant football ** Foosball – also known as table football/soccer, babyfoot, bar football or gettone. ** Ice football **
Subbuteo Subbuteo ( ) is a tabletop football game in which players simulate association football by flicking miniature players with their fingers. The name is derived from the Neo-Latin scientific name '' Falco subbuteo'' (a bird of prey commonly known a ...
* Based on rugby: ** Penny rugby * Based on American football: ** Blood Bowl **
Paper football Paper football (also called fingering football, flick football, tabletop football, thump football, or freaky football) refers to a table-top game, loosely based on American football, in which a sheet of paper folded into a small triangle is sli ...
* Others: ** Paper soccer – paper and pencil game. **
Penny football Penny football (also coin football, sporting coin, , table football, tabletop football, or shove ha'penny football) is a coin game played upon a table (furniture), table top. The aim of the game is for a player to score more goals with the pennies ...
– also known as coin football. ** Phutball – board game.


See also

* List of football video games (disambiguation) * Table football (disambiguation) *
List of association football competitions This is a list of the association football competitions past and present for international teams and for club football, in individual countries and internationally. Confirmed future competitions are also included. The competitions are groupe ...
*
Episkyros ''Episkyros'', or ''episcyrus'' (, , ; also , , ) was an Ancient Greek ball game. The game was typically played between two teams of 12 to 14 players each, being highly teamwork-oriented. The game allowed full contact and usage of the hands. W ...
and
harpastum , also known as , was a form of ball game played in the Roman Empire. The Romans also referred to it as the small ball game. The ball used was small (not as large as a , , or football-sized ball) and hard, probably about the size and solidity of ...
– precursors of
medieval football Medieval football is a modern term used for a wide variety of the localised informal football games which were invented and played in Europe, England during the Middle Ages. Alternative names include folk football, mob football and Shrovetide fo ...
. *
Cuju ''Cuju'' or ''Ts'u-chü'' ( zh, t=蹴鞠, p=cù jū) is an ancient Chinese football game, that resembles a mix of basketball, association football and volleyball. FIFA cites cuju as the earliest form of a kicking game for which there is docume ...
,
kemari is an athletic game that was popular in Japan during the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura period (1185–1333). It resembles a game of keepie uppie or hacky sack. The game was popular in Kyoto, the capital, and the surrounding Kinki (Kansai reg ...
and sepak takraw – traditional Asian sports that share a few similarities with modern association football.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Types Of Football
Types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...
Football types