national sports of al the countries of world

List of countries' national sports

A

* Afghanistan - Buzkashi is the traditional sport but football (soccer) is the most popular, Boxing and kung fu are also popular. Cricket is rapidly gaining popularity in Afganistan, mostly beacause of their proximity with Pakistan, though they have never qualified for a World Cup their U-19 squad reached the finals of the Asia U-19 Qualifier.[2] Cricket is gaining so much popularity that it is believed that it is the most popular sport at the moment.
* Albania - Football (soccer).[3]
* Antigua and Barbuda - Cricket is the national and most popular sport.[4]
* Angola - Football (soccer).[5]
* Anguilla - Sailing, Anguilla is unique in this regard as it is the only former British Colony in the West Indies in which the National Sport is not Cricket, however, Cricket is still very popular.
* Argentina - Football (soccer) is the national passion. Rugby Union and Basketball are also popular. Pato is the national traditional sport while the nation has had historically the best Polo players and tournaments in the world.[citation needed] Cricket is also growing fast.[6]
* Armenia - Football is most popular; competitively wrestling, boxing and chess.[7]
* Andorra - Skiing is the national sport, while Rugby Union and soccer are popular too.[8]
* Australia - Well Australia really doesn't have a national sport but each state has a national sport of there own Victoria is Australian Rules Football and Soccer (Football) , New South Wales is Rugby union and Rugby League Soccer (Football) also being popular Tasmania is Cricket, Queensland is Rugby League and Soccer(Football), The Northern Territory is Rugby league and Australian Rules Football, Western Australia is Australian Rules Football And Soccer (Football) South Australia is Australian Rules Football and Soccer (Football).
* Austria - Alpine skiing, Football (soccer).[9]
* Azerbaijan - Chess, Football (soccer),[10]

B

* The Bahamas - Cricket is the national sport.[11]
* Bahrain – Football (soccer). [12]
* Bangladesh - Kabaddi is the National Game while Cricket is the most popular sport,[13]. Football also popular.[14]
* Barbados - Cricket is the most popular sport.[15]
* Belarus - Biathlon is the most popular sport. Football (soccer) and hockey are also popular.[16]
* Belgium - Cycling is the most popular sport in Belgium: during winter a variant of cycling called cyclo-cross ("veldrijden") is the pastime for most Belgians (certainly in Flanders). Motocross and football (soccer) are also quite popular.[17]
* Bhutan - Archery.[18]
* Bolivia - Football (soccer).[19]
* Bosnia and Herzegovina - handball, and all kinds of combat sports:karate,taekwondo, judo
* Brazil - Football (soccer) is considered the sporto national, Futsal, an indoor variant of Football, is the most practiced and Volleyball also has a large number of participants.[citation needed]
* Bulgaria - Football (soccer). Competitively weightlifting and chess.[citation needed]

C

* Canada - Lacrosse and ice hockey (although Canadians just refer to the sport as Hockey, dropping the word ice) are the official summer and winter sports respectively, but hockey is by far the sport most closely followed, and most closely linked to national identity. Lacrosse is a national sport for primarily historical reasons: sports like basketball, Canadian football (also American football), soccer, golf, baseball, are all much more popular. However, besides hockey, lacrosse by far has more talented Canadians players than any other sport. Canada also fields one of the major national teams in the sport of curling.[20] Canada also boasts an international cricket team, to date they have taken part in three Cricket World Cups- 1979, 2003 and 2007.
* Cambodia - Kickboxing.[citation needed]
* Cameroon - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Cayman Islands - Cricket is the national and most followed sport, closely followed by rugby union.[21]
* Chile - Football (soccer), rugby union and Tennis. Chilean rodeo is the national traditional sport.
* People's Republic of China - Table tennis is the most popular sport but football is the most widely followed.[22] Basketball and badminton are also very popular.
o Hong Kong - Football is by far the most popular sport, both in terms of number of participants and is certainly the most widely followed. Cricket is also popular as a result of heavy British influence.
* Colombia - Tejo is the traditional sport, as is bullfighting, but football (soccer) is the main attraction, followed by baseball and basketball.[citation needed]
* Costa Rica - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Côte d'Ivoire - Football (soccer) and rugby union.
* Croatia - Football (soccer). Handball, water polo and basketball are also widely popular.[citation needed]
* Cuba - Baseball. followed by Football (soccer) and boxing.[citation needed]
* Czech Republic - Ice hockey and football (soccer) are almost equally popular.[citation needed]

[edit] D

* Denmark - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Dominican Republic - Baseball.[citation needed]

F

* Fiji - Rugby union is the most popular sport, particularly Sevens; Cricket is also popular.[23]
* Finland - Pesäpallo (or Finnish baseball) is the de-facto national sport, but ice hockey is most followed. Formula 1 and ski jump are watched and floorball is played widely.[citation needed]
* France - Tour de France Cycling is the most popular sport competition in the country.Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport. Basketball, Tennis and Rugby union are also popular.

G

* Gambia - Wrestling. Football (soccer) is also very popular.[citation needed]
* Georgia - Georgian wrestling, Football, Rugby Union, Judo.[citation needed]
* Germany - Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport. Historically, "Turnen" (gymnastics) has been the German national sport, as it was closely linked with the patriotic movement for a united Germany in the 19th century. Since 1945 its popularity has faded. Like gymnastics, handball was invented in Germany and is the second most popular team sport alongside ice hockey. Field hockey is also popular in Germany and Germany is one of the strongest team in field hockey.
* Greece - Football (soccer) is most popular, closely followed by basketball and volleyball.[citation needed]
* Greenland - Handball
* Grenada - Cricket is the most popular sport.[24]
* Guyana - Cricket the national and most popular sport.[25]
* Ghana - Football (soccer)

H

* Haiti - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Honduras - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Hungary - Football (soccer) and water polo, although water polo has historically been the most successful sport.[citation needed]

I

* Iceland - Glima, but Football (soccer) andHandball are the most popular.[citation needed]
* India - Field Hockey is the national game. Cricket is the most popular sport.
* Indonesia - Indonesia has many kinds of traditional sports from many ethnics, such as Pencak Silat, Tarung Drajat, Karapan Sapi or Sepaktakraw, but Football (soccer), and badminton are more commonly played.
* Iran - freestyle Wrestling is the traditional national sport, all kinds of combat sports and martial arts are popular such as: Greco-Roman wrestling, taekwondo, karate and kung fu. but football is by far the most popular. Futsal and Volleyball also widely practised. and comptetivelly in weightlifting.[citation needed]
* Iraq – Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Ireland - The traditional national sport is hurling[26], which was recorded being played in Ireland as long ago as 1272 BC . Football (soccer), rugby union and Gaelic football are widely popular as are horse racing and golf. With the exception of football (soccer) most sports have continued to be played on an all Ireland basis since the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland were formed in 1922. Cricket remains a minority sport in Ireland, although its profile has increased since Ireland's surprise victory against top seed Pakistan in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
* Israel - Football (soccer) and basketball.[citation needed]
* Italy - Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport. Cycling (Giro d'Italia) and Formula 1 (Ferrari) are part of the national identity, too. Rugby union, basketball and volleyball are popular in various places throughout Italy.[27]

J

* Jamaica - Cricket is the most popular and national sport[28]
* Japan - Sumo, Judo, Kendo and karate are traditionally viewed as Japan's national sports;[29] while nowadays, baseball and Football (soccer) gain more popularity[30].

K

* Kazakhstan - Boxing, Ice Hockey, rugby union, Football (soccer) are popular as well.[citation needed]
* Kenya - Football (soccer) is the most popular sport. Cricket is rapidly gaining in popularity being the second popular sport especially after the 2003 Cricket World Cup in which they upset several Test teams to be the first Associate Nation to make it to a Semi-Final. Kenya also won the inaugural World Cricket League featuring the top Associate nations and therefore qualified for the T20 World Cup.
* Korea - Taekwondo is the traditional national sport, though football (soccer) is the most popular. Baseball and Table tennis are also popular.[citation needed]

L

* Latvia - Basketball and Novuss are the national sports while Ice Hockey is considered the most popular sport followed by football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Lebanon - Football (soccer) Rugby league also Being a favourite.[citation needed]
* Libya - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Liechtenstein - Skiing is the most popular and widely followed sport.
* Lithuania - Basketball is most closely linked to national identity,[31] with football also widely followed.[citation needed]

M

* Republic of Macedonia - Football (soccer), handball and basketball are the national sports.[citation needed]
* Madagascar - Rugby Union is the most popular spectator sport with vast numbers turning up to watch the national team play. However football (soccer) has a larger player base.[32]
* Malaysia - Silat, gasing, and wau are traditional sports, but football followed a close second by badminton as the most popular sports today. Cricket is growing in popularity and Malaysia will host the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
* Maldives - Cricket
* Mauritius - Rugby Union, cricket and football (soccer).
* Mexico - Charrería and bullfighting are traditional sports, but football is most popular by far. Lucha libre and American football are most watched. Baseball and American football are also widely played and followed.[citation needed]
* Moldova - Rugby union and football (soccer).
* Mongolia - Wrestling and archery.[citation needed]
* Montenegro - Football (soccer) and basketball.[citation needed]
* Morocco - Football (soccer), athletics, basketball, rugby union, Handball[citation needed]
* Mozambique - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Myanmar/Burma - Football (soccer).[33]

N

* Namibia - Rugby Union, and Cricket are the most popular sports.[34]
* Nauru - Australian rules football and weightlifting.[35]
* Nepal - Cricket is the most popular with football (soccer) being the second most popular sport.[36]
* Netherlands - Football has the largest following, but cycling and speed skating are seen as traditional sports; volleyball, baseball (known locally as honkbal), and field hockey are also played.[citation needed] The Netherlands also has a cricket team, which participates in World Cups, and they are an ICC High Performance member. Darts is also very popular, with the current world champion (2007) Raymond Van Barneveld originating from there.
* New Zealand - Rugby union is the most widely followed and most closely linked to national pride, while Cricket is the national and most popular summer sport.[37] Netball is one of the most popular sports among girls and young women, and men have organised some teams of their own.
o Cook Islands - Rugby Union.[citation needed]
* Nicaragua - Baseball.[citation needed]
* Nigeria - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Norway - Skiing, both Nordic and Alpine, but football is the most popular sport.[citation needed]

P

* Pakistan - Field hockey is the official national sport while Cricket is the most popular,[38]. Polo is the official secondary national sport on a state-level. Pakistan also has had a long history in the game of squash.[citation needed]
* Panama - Baseball is the national and most practiced sport. They're also successful at boxing and basketball. Soccer although is not so successful, it is growing in popularity.[citation needed]
* Papua New Guinea - Rugby league is the most popular sport while cricket is the second followed by rugby union.[39] Australian rules football is also very popular.[citation needed]
* Paraguay - Football (soccer)
* Peru - Football (soccer) is the national sport.[citation needed]
* Philippines - Basketball is the de facto national pastime since the 1950s, attracting large crowds.[6] Boxing, Billiards and Bowling are the other sports with the largest number of participants. Sipa and Eskrima are the main traditional sports, with the former being the official national sport.[citation needed] Baseball is increasingly becoming popular.
* Poland - Football (soccer), motorcycle racing.[citation needed]
* Portugal - Football (soccer), rink hockey, cycling are very popular and have a great tradition. Rugby union is a rapidly growing sport.[citation needed]
* Puerto Rico - Basketball, baseball and boxing.

R

* Romania - Oina (very similar but unrelated to baseball) is the traditional sport, but football (soccer) is much more popular nowadays. Handball also has a strong following. Rugby Union is widely followed but financial issues has cost the sport dearly in Romania.[citation needed]
* Russia - Chess, Football (soccer), Tennis, Ice Hockey, Rugby Union, Sambo and Handball.[citation needed]

S

* Saint Kitts and Nevis - Cricket is the national sport, with intense inter-island rivalry.[40]
* Saint Lucia - Cricket is the most popular.[41]
* Samoa - Kilikiti and Rugby union.[citation needed]
* San Marino - Motorcycle racing, Baseball, Shooting
* Saudi Arabia - Falconry and horse racing are traditional, but football draws the largest number of spectators.[citation needed]. Basketball is also popular.
* Senegal - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Serbia - Football (soccer) with basketball not far behind. Water polo and volleyball are also popular.[citation needed]
* Singapore - Cricket, swimming, Football (soccer), badminton and table tennis.[citation needed]
* Slovakia - Ice hockey and football (soccer) are almost equally popular.[citation needed].
* Slovenia - Alpine skiing, but basketball is very popular. Football (soccer) is very popular as well.[citation needed]
* South Africa - Football (soccer) has historically been most popular with black South Africans, with cricket being the second most popular and being the only sport to feature in the top three of all race groups, and then rugby union with being the third popular sport with white Aficans Afrikaans.[42]
* Spain - Football (soccer) is very popular in Spain, followed by auto racing, tennis, basketball and motorcycle racing.[43]
* Sri Lanka - Cricket is the most popular and seen as the national sport[44], while Volleyball is the national sport.[45]
* Sudan - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* Switzerland - Schwingen, stone throwing and Hornussen, all traditional games, are popular in rural Switzerland, although ice hockey is most popular overall, football (soccer) and Alpine skiing are rising in popularity.[citation needed]
* Sweden - football (soccer) is the most popular sport, alltough the National ice hockey team is more closely linked with national pride. Innebandy,Bandy and Cross Country Skiing is seen as traditional Swedish sports.
* Syria - Football (soccer).[citation needed]

T

* Taiwan (Republic of China) - Baseball. Basketball is also highly popular .[citation needed]
* Thailand - Muay Thai is the traditional sport, and football (soccer) is also very popular.[citation needed]
* Tonga - Rugby union.[citation needed]
* Trinidad and Tobago- Cricket is the most popular sport.[46]
* Tunisia - Football (soccer) and rugby union.
* Turkey - Football (soccer), followed by basketball and volleyball. But wrestling and weightlifting are historically popular.[citation needed]
* Turkmenistan - Horse racing and kurash are traditional. Football (soccer) is popular.[citation needed]
* Tuvalu - Kilikiti. [47] Darts.[citation needed]

U

* Uganda - Rugby Union is the most popular sport, thanks to the national team's recent successes. Cricket and football (soccer) are also very popular.[48]
* Ukraine - Football (soccer).[citation needed]
* United Arab Emirates - Camel racing is traditional, but Cricket is the most popular in the UAE, particularly amongst expats, and the UAE participated in the 1996 World Cup. UAE will host the 2009 World Cup Qualifiers.
* United Kingdom
o England - Football (soccer) is the most popular sport, cricket is traditionally popular and the national sport.[49] Both rugby union and rugby league are popular, with the latter drawing most of its support from the north of England.[citation needed]
o Northern Ireland - Among Catholics, Gaelic football and hurling is popular while in Protestant communities cricket, rugby union and field hockey are popular sports.[50] Golf and football (soccer) are also popular in both communities.
o Scotland - The native sport is shinty, but football (soccer) is more popular. Scotland was also the birthplace of golf and curling. Cricket is also popular. Scotland reached the finals and were runners up of the inaugural World Cricket League.
o Wales - rugby union is the main sport, but cricket is also very popular, with football (soccer) being popular in the North.[51]
o Overseas territories and crown dependencies of the United Kingdom traditionally played cricket.
+ Bermuda - Cricket is the most popular.[52]
* United States - American football is the most popular nationwide,[53] but baseball—both amateur and professional—is considered America's "national pastime" and an aspect of American culture. Basketball remains a very popular sport in the USA. Ice hockey is also popular, especially in certain regions. NASCAR racing is very popular, especialy in the south. Football (soccer) is not a very popular sport but it is increasing popularity with Major League Soccer as a major factor.
o American Samoa - American football.[citation needed]
o Puerto Rico - Baseball, basketball and boxing. Volleyball is also popular, especially women's volleyball and soccer has gained some raise in popularity recently.[citation needed]
* Uruguay - Football is by far the most popular, followed by basketball and rugby union. The traditional national sports are pato and bocce.[citation needed]
* Uzbekistan - Kurash (traditional) and football.[citation needed]

V

* Venezuela - Baseball is by far the most popular sport in Venezuela, Basketball and Football (soccer) are played as well by a great part of the population.[citation needed]
* Vietnam - Football (soccer) is the dominant sport, followed by a number of sports including tennis, badminton, volleyball, table tennis and martial arts.[citation needed]

Z

* Zimbabwe - Cricket and football (soccer) are the most popular.[54]
* Zambia - Cricket, volleyball and rugby union are the most popular sports.[5