Football is the name of several similar team sports, all of which involve (to varying degrees) kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score agoal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". However, the word football is applied to whichever form of football became most popular in each particular part of the world. Hence, the English language word "football" is applied to "gridiron football" (a name associated with the North American sports, especially American football and Canadian football), Australian football, Gaelic football, Rugby league, Rugby union, and related gamesץ Gambling in football is very popular especially during the period before the Superbowl