We wouldn’t be human if it weren’t for sports. Sports are a great way to become fit, establish teamwork, and unite individuals from all over the globe. There is no better medium than sports when it comes to making new friends and cementing existing ones.
Association football (soccer) is the most famous sport, even if it may not be obvious in the United States. All across Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central America, soccer reigns supreme as the sport of choice.
More than 3.5 billion people throughout the globe follow soccer, with 250 million active players in more than 200 nations. Next in popularity are cricket (2.5 billion spectators), basketball (2.2 billion spectators), and field hockey (100 million spectators) (2 billion).
American football is the most popular sport in the United States. About 390 million to 410 million people throughout the globe watch football, the bulk of them live in the United States.
Football in the United States is organized into two leagues, the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is made up of 32 clubs split evenly between the two conferences.
During a normal season, which lasts 17 weeks, each club participates in 16 games and has a week off.
Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Canada. It all began in Montreal, where ice hockey is the official winter sport of Canada.
Three main junior ice hockey leagues in Canada are represented by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). WHL, Ontario Hockey, and Quebec Major Junior hockey leagues are all member leagues of this organization.
Sixty teams from nine Canadian provinces and eight from four American states will compete. The CHL’s most prestigious trophy is the Memorial Cup. Canadian hockey clubs play in the National Hockey League (NHL), the American hockey league, to compete for the Stanley Cup.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks make up this group of teams.
Association football/soccer is Mexico’s most popular sport. Football for men has been a professional sport in Mexico since the early 1900s, and the Mexican Football Association was established in 1927.
Following its official announcement in December 2016, Canada’s first season of a professional women’s football league was held in 2017. There have been 16 World Cups since Mexico’s national football team first competed and won a medal in 1930.
In Mexico City, the Estadio Azteca is where the Mexican national football team plays its home matches. Baseball, soccer, and cricket are all popular sports throughout the Caribbean islands.
Association football is the most popular sport in all but a few European nations. This administrative organization for European association football, futsal, and beach soccer is known as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
European Union Football Association (UEFA) is one of FIFA’s six continental confederations, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA.
National and club tournaments such as the EUFA European Champions, UEGA Champions League, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Super Cup are organized by the European Association of Football Associations (UEFA).
On the other hand, skiing is the most popular sport in Austria and Estonia. Basketball is the most popular sport in Latvia and Lithuania, whereas ice hockey reigns supreme in Finland. GAA football is the most popular sport in Ireland.
The most popular sport in most Asian nations is likewise association football. Table tennis is king in China, archery in Bhutan, kickboxing in Laos and Cambodia, and basketball in the Philippines are the outliers to this rule.
Wrestling is Mongolia’s most popular sport. Athletes from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh love cricket, making it the most popular sport in the Indian subcontinent. India’s national pastime, cricket, is one of the few things that binds the country together.
Cricket is the most popular sport in the subcontinent, with India and Pakistan the two most fierce rivals. When India became a member of the “elite club” in 1932, they were joined by England, Australia, South Africa and the West Indies, and New Zealand. The maiden meeting between India and England drew 24,000 spectators.
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Interestingly enough, India’s first win against Pakistan came in 1952. Pakistan’s first win against England came two years later. Cricket has become a religion in the Indian subcontinent ever since then. In India, the Indian-Pakistan rivalry generates some of the most awaited matches and the most television broadcasts.
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan. First introduced to Japan in 1872, baseball as we know it today was played professionally in Japan until a few decades later, in the early 1920s, thanks to American Horace Wilson.
Founded in 1936, the Central League and the Pacific League were Japan’s first two professional leagues. Nippon Professional Baseball (Puro Yaky, “professional baseball”) is the name given to the professional league.
A smaller ball, strike zone, and playing field are some differences between Japanese baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States.
Baseball at the collegiate level is also quite popular in Japan. Millions worldwide tune in to witness the national High School Baseball Championship at Koshien Stadium.
Association football is the most popular sport in Central American nations. Despite this, baseball is the most widely played sport in the Central American countries of Panama and Nicaragua.
In South America, association football is the most popular sport, as it is in Europe. Baseball is the most popular sport in Venezuela, but in Guyana, it is cricket.
Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Australia. The sport of Australian football is a two-team, 18-player contact sport. The play takes place on an oval pitch with an oval ball that must be squirmed between two goalposts to be scored on.
There is only one professional football league: the Australian Football League (AFL). The AFL is also the richest athletic organisation in Australia. Of all the club championships, the AFL Grand Final draws the most spectators by a wide margin.
Associative football is the most popular sport in Indonesia, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, whereas rugby is the most popular sport in New Zealand and other Polynesian islands.
Country | 2022 Population |
---|---|
Vatican City | 0.7990 |
Tokelau | 1.3780 |
Niue | 1.6220 |
Falkland Islands | 3.5390 |
Montserrat | 4.9650 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 5.7590 |
Saint Barthelemy | 9.9450 |
Nauru | 10.9030 |
Wallis and Futuna | 10.9820 |
Tuvalu | 12.0660 |
Anguilla | 15.2300 |
Cook Islands | 17.5710 |
Palau | 18.2330 |
British Virgin Islands | 30.5960 |
Gibraltar | 33.7040 |
San Marino | 34.0850 |
Liechtenstein | 38.3870 |
Saint Martin | 39.7300 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 39.7410 |
Monaco | 39.7830 |
Sint Maarten | 43.9660 |
Faroe Islands | 49.2330 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 53.8710 |
American Samoa | 55.0300 |
Greenland | 56.9730 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 58.2690 |
Marshall Islands | 60.0570 |
Bermuda | 61.9390 |
Cayman Islands | 67.2770 |
Dominica | 72.3440 |
Andorra | 77.4630 |
Isle of Man | 85.7320 |
Seychelles | 99.4260 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 99.5090 |
United States Virgin Islands | 103.9710 |
Aruba | 107.6090 |
Tonga | 107.7490 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 111.5510 |
Grenada | 113.4750 |
Micronesia | 117.4890 |
Kiribati | 123.4190 |
Curacao | 165.5290 |
Guam | 171.5190 |
Saint Lucia | 185.1130 |
Samoa | 202.2390 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 227.6790 |
French Polynesia | 284.1640 |
Mayotte | 286.2590 |
Barbados | 288.0230 |
New Caledonia | 290.9150 |
French Guiana | 314.1690 |
Vanuatu | 321.8320 |
Iceland | 345.3930 |
Martinique | 374.0870 |
Guadeloupe | 399.7940 |
Bahamas | 400.5160 |
Belize | 412.1900 |
Malta | 444.0330 |
Brunei | 445.4310 |
Maldives | 540.9850 |
Cape Verde | 567.6780 |
Suriname | 596.8310 |
Western Sahara | 626.1610 |
Montenegro | 627.9500 |
Luxembourg | 642.3710 |
Macau | 667.4900 |
Solomon Islands | 721.1590 |
Bhutan | 787.9410 |
Guyana | 794.0450 |
Comoros | 907.4190 |
Reunion | 908.0610 |
Fiji | 909.4660 |
Djibouti | 1016.0970 |
Eswatini | 1184.8170 |
Cyprus | 1223.3870 |
Mauritius | 1274.7270 |
Estonia | 1321.9100 |
Timor-Leste | 1369.4290 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 1406.5850 |
Equatorial Guinea | 1496.6620 |
Bahrain | 1783.9830 |
Latvia | 1848.8370 |
Guinea-Bissau | 2063.3670 |
Slovenia | 2078.0340 |
North Macedonia | 2081.3040 |
Lesotho | 2175.6990 |
Gabon | 2331.5330 |
Botswana | 2441.1620 |
Gambia | 2558.4820 |
Namibia | 2633.8740 |
Lithuania | 2661.7080 |
Puerto Rico | 2829.8120 |
Albania | 2866.3740 |
Armenia | 2971.9660 |
Qatar | 2979.9150 |
Jamaica | 2985.0940 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3249.3170 |
Mongolia | 3378.0780 |
Uruguay | 3496.0160 |
Eritrea | 3662.2440 |
Georgia | 3968.7380 |
Moldova | 4013.1710 |
Croatia | 4059.2860 |
Kuwait | 4380.3260 |
Panama | 4446.9640 |
New Zealand | 4898.2030 |
Mauritania | 4901.9810 |
Central African Republic | 5016.6780 |
Ireland | 5020.1990 |
Costa Rica | 5182.3540 |
Liberia | 5305.1170 |
Oman | 5323.9930 |
Palestine | 5345.5410 |
Slovakia | 5460.1930 |
Norway | 5511.3700 |
Finland | 5554.9600 |
Republic of the Congo | 5797.8050 |
Denmark | 5834.9500 |
Singapore | 5943.5460 |
Turkmenistan | 6201.9430 |
El Salvador | 6550.3890 |
Lebanon | 6684.8490 |
Kyrgyzstan | 6728.2710 |
Nicaragua | 6779.1000 |
Bulgaria | 6844.5970 |
Libya | 7040.7450 |
Paraguay | 7305.8430 |
Laos | 7481.0230 |
Hong Kong | 7604.2990 |
Sierra Leone | 8306.4360 |
Serbia | 8653.0160 |
Togo | 8680.8370 |
Switzerland | 8773.6370 |
Israel | 8922.8920 |
Austria | 9066.7100 |
Papua New Guinea | 9292.1690 |
Belarus | 9432.8000 |
Hungary | 9606.2590 |
Tajikistan | 9957.4640 |
United Arab Emirates | 10081.7850 |
Portugal | 10140.5700 |
Sweden | 10218.9710 |
Honduras | 10221.2470 |
Azerbaijan | 10300.2050 |
Jordan | 10300.8690 |
Greece | 10316.6370 |
Czech Republic | 10736.7840 |
Dominican Republic | 11056.3700 |
Cuba | 11305.6520 |
South Sudan | 11618.5110 |
Belgium | 11668.2780 |
Haiti | 11680.2830 |
Bolivia | 11992.6560 |
Tunisia | 12046.6560 |
Burundi | 12624.8400 |
Benin | 12784.7260 |
Rwanda | 13600.4640 |
Guinea | 13865.6910 |
Zimbabwe | 15331.4280 |
Somalia | 16841.7950 |
Cambodia | 17168.6390 |
Netherlands | 17211.4470 |
Chad | 17413.5800 |
Senegal | 17653.6710 |
Ecuador | 18113.3610 |
Guatemala | 18584.0390 |
Romania | 19031.3350 |
Kazakhstan | 19205.0430 |
Chile | 19250.1950 |
Syria | 19364.8090 |
Zambia | 19470.2340 |
Malawi | 20180.8390 |
Mali | 21473.7640 |
Sri Lanka | 21575.8420 |
Burkina Faso | 22102.8380 |
Taiwan | 23888.5950 |
North Korea | 25990.6790 |
Australia | 26068.7920 |
Niger | 26083.6600 |
Ivory Coast | 27742.2980 |
Cameroon | 27911.5480 |
Madagascar | 29178.0770 |
Venezuela | 29266.9910 |
Nepal | 30225.5820 |
Yemen | 31154.8670 |
Ghana | 32395.4500 |
Mozambique | 33089.4610 |
Malaysia | 33181.0720 |
Peru | 33684.2080 |
Uzbekistan | 34382.0840 |
Angola | 35027.3430 |
Saudi Arabia | 35844.9090 |
Poland | 37739.7850 |
Morocco | 37772.7560 |
Canada | 38388.4190 |
Afghanistan | 40754.3880 |
Iraq | 42164.9650 |
Ukraine | 43192.1220 |
Algeria | 45350.1480 |
Sudan | 45992.0200 |
Argentina | 46010.2340 |
Spain | 46719.1420 |
Uganda | 48432.8630 |
South Korea | 51329.8990 |
Colombia | 51512.7620 |
Myanmar | 55227.1430 |
Kenya | 56215.2210 |
Italy | 60262.7700 |
South Africa | 60756.1350 |
Tanzania | 63298.5500 |
France | 65584.5180 |
United Kingdom | 68497.9070 |
Thailand | 70078.2030 |
Germany | 83883.5960 |
Turkey | 85561.9760 |
Iran | 86022.8370 |
DR Congo | 95240.7920 |
Vietnam | 98953.5410 |
Egypt | 106156.6920 |
Philippines | 112508.9940 |
Ethiopia | 120812.6980 |
Japan | 125584.8380 |
Mexico | 131562.7720 |
Russia | 145805.9470 |
Bangladesh | 167885.6890 |
Brazil | 215353.5930 |
Nigeria | 216746.9340 |
Pakistan | 229488.9940 |
Indonesia | 279134.5050 |
United States | 334805.2690 |
India | 1406631.7760 |
China | 1448471.4000 |