Canadian football Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area (end zone). In Canada, the term "football" may refer to Canadian football and American football collectively, or to either sport specifically, depending on context. The two sports have shared origins and are closely related but have some key differences. Rugby football in Canada originated in the early 1860s, and over time, the game known as Canadian
Comparison of American and Canadian football and half Canadian/U.S. rules. Thus, many of the similarities and differences between the Canadian and American games indeed came out of this original series where each home team set the rules. For instance, Harvard, because of a lack of campus space, did not have a full-sized rugby pitch. Their pitch was only long by wide with undersized end zones (slightly less than the 53⅓-yard width of the current regulation-sized field for American football). Because of the reduced field, the Harvard team opted for 11 players per side, four fewer than the regulation 15 of Rugby Union. To generate more offense,