<P> In Canada, the game has a significant following--according to a 2013 poll, 21% of respondents said they followed the NFL "very closely" or "fairly closely", making it the third-most followed league behind the National Hockey League (NHL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). American football also has a long history in Mexico, which was introduced to the sport in 1896 . American football was the second-most popular sport in Mexico in the 1950s, with the game being particularly popular in colleges . The Los Angeles Times notes that the NFL claims over 16 million fans in Mexico, which places the country third behind the US and Canada . American football is played in Mexico both professionally and as part of the college sports system . The top American football competition in Mexico is the recently created Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (Professional American Football League). At the collegiate level there is the Liga Mayor of the ONEFA, a college championship founded in 1930 . There is also the CONADEIP Premier Conference, another college competition founded in 2010 . American football is the fifth most popular sport in Mexico and the country has the highest rating of the NFL outside the United States . </P> <P> Japan was introduced to the sport in 1934 by Paul Rusch, a teacher and Christian missionary who helped establish football teams at three universities in Tokyo . Play was halted during World War II, but began to grow in popularity again after the war . As of 2010, there are more than 400 high school football teams in Japan, with over 15,000 participants, and over 100 teams play in the Kantoh Collegiate Football Association (KCFA). The college champion plays the champion of the X-League (a semi-pro league where teams are financed by corporations) in the Rice Bowl to determine Japan's national champion . </P> <P> Europe is a major target for expansion of the game by football organizers . In the United Kingdom in the 1980s, the sport was fairly popular, with the 1986 Super Bowl being watched by over 4 million people (about 1 out of every 14 Britons). The sport's popularity faded over the 1990s, coinciding with the establishment of the Premier League . According to BBC America, there is a "social stigma" surrounding American football in the UK, with many Brits feeling the sport has no right to call itself' football' due to the small emphasis on kicking . Nonetheless, the sport has retained a following in the United Kingdom; the NFL operates a media network in the country, and since 2007 has hosted the NFL International Series in London . Super Bowl viewership has also rebounded, with over 4.4 million Britons watching Super Bowl XLVI . </P> <P> The sport is played in European countries such as Switzerland, which has American football clubs in every major city, and Germany, where the sport has around 45,000 registered amateur players . In Europe, almost all nations have their own leagues, highlighting its importance those of Austria (Austrian Football League), Germany (German Football League), Great Britain (BAFA National Leagues), France (Ligue Élite de Football Américain) and Italy (Italian Football League). But in these countries American football has not yet reached the same level of popularity it has, for example, in North America . There are national teams of Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain and Sweden . </P>

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