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 Canadian football and rugby union defender. In rugby, rucks and mauls may develop following a tackle when multiple players from each team bind together to move the ball in play (on the ground or in-hand respectively). In Canadian football, equivalents to rucks and mauls are virtually non existent, as play stops when the ball carrier is stopped. This difference can be summed up in the idea that in Canadian football the objective is to bring the player to ground or to disrupt a pass to end the play, whereas in rugby the main objective is to stop the player from breaking the try line. Canadian