Underwater football is a two-team sport that shares common elements of underwater hockey and underwater rugby. As with both of those games, it is played in a swimming pool with snorkeling equipment (mask, snorkel, and fins).

The goal of the game is to manoeuvre (by carrying and passing) a slightly negatively buoyant ball from one side of a pool to the other by players who are completely submerged underwater. Scoring is achieved by placing the ball (under control) in the gutter on the side of the pool.

Variations include using a toy rubber torpedo as the ball, and weighing down buckets to rest on the bottom and serve as goals.

Underwater football developed in the 1960s by a scuba instructor who was teaching in the University of Manitoba's Frank Kennedy Centre. The game developed from a "keep-away" training exercise that used a pool brick to develop the students snorkelling skills. It is still played there today.

A similar game may have also been developed around the same time in England by Benjamin Olsen. Olsen was a fan of American football. He started to develop it with his friends during summer, and it became an attraction to them. It caught the attention of more people and it began to become popular.