American football, known in the United States simply as football, is a competitiveteam sport known for mixing strategy with intense physical play. The object of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying it (a running play) or by throwing it to a teammate (a passing play). Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, catching a pass from beyond the goal line, tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone, or kicking the ball through the goal posts on the opposing side. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires at the end of play.Outside the United States, the sport is referred as "American football" (or a translation thereof) to differentiate it from other football codes. In Australia and New Zealand the game is known as Gridiron football, although in the United States the term gridiron refers only to the playing field itself. In much of the world, the term football usually refers to what Americans call.