Top 13 of the most popular sports by country, it’s not just football in life

1. Cricket, the most popular sport in India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh

Again the English who brought their weird traditions to their former colonies, and we don’t applaud them. While cricket is no longer the most popular sport in England, it is in most former colonies such as India and Bangladesh and its popularity then grew in neighboring countries.

We don’t give a damn about cricket, but it’s still one of the top 3 most popular sports in the world.

2. Gaelic football in Ireland (it’s not the same thing)

Gaelic football is a bit like football, but with weird hands and rules. So in fact it’s not really football. It’s a bit like rugby too, except that tackles are forbidden, so ultimately it’s not really like rugby… well, we didn’t understand everything.

3. American football in the United States

More football that isn’t football. American football is therefore unsurprisingly the most popular sport in the United States, closely followed by baseball and then basketball. The Superbowl is probably the most watched and publicized event in the United States, with a show that has seen stars like Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake.

4. Basketball, table tennis or badminton in China

It is quite difficult to say which sport is the most popular in China, between basketball, table tennis or badminton. Other more “traditional” sports such as martial arts or “wellness” gymnastics are also widely practiced. Volleyball is also very popular and practiced in China. In short, we don’t really know where to turn and that’s perhaps why they always end up in the top 3 of the most medal-winning countries at the Summer Olympics.

5. Ice hockey in Canada

Canada, like the United States, doesn’t give a damn about soccer (although the sport’s popularity continues to grow). Of course, ice hockey has been the most popular sport in Canada since the end of the 19th century.

6. Archery in Bhutan

Yes, it’s quite funny, but don’t get me wrong, it’s traditional archery (not the one we see in the Koh-Lanta events). Traditional archery is indeed the national sport, the aim being to shoot as a team on wooden planks at a distance of 150m. Although so-called modern sports (football, volleyball, handball, etc.) have also been exported to Bhutan and are becoming increasingly important, archery remains very much ingrained in people’s customs.

7. Anguilla Boat Race

So already I don’t know if we say “in Anguilla” or “in Anguilla” so I apologize in advance. Next, the most popular sport on this small Caribbean island is boat racing, every boat and crew have their fans, and quite often we see tall ships set sail for organized races on the island. Traditionally, boats were built by hand, carved from white cedar.

8. Alpine skiing in Austria

Football is obviously also very popular, like ice hockey, but we mainly focus on alpine skiing, which is very popular and practiced in Austria. At the same time it is practical when there are plenty of mountains and snow, so snowboarding or ski jumping are also popular. Some athletes like Annemarie Moser-Pröll or Toni Sailer are considered to be among the greatest alpine skiers in history.

9. Athletics in Jamaica, Ethiopia or Kenya

So you probably suspected, athletics is the national sport in Jamaica, even if cricket is also very popular there because of the colonial heritage. Jamaican athletes have often dominated world athletics (especially in the short and long sprint), with American athletes as the main competitor. No need to tell you about Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price or even Elaine Thompson. It’s the same for Ethiopia or Kenya which have made athletics the national sport, with a specialization in the middle distance. We find emblematic athletes like Genzebe Dibaba for Ethiopia and David Rudisha for Kenya (only by way of example).

10. Rugby Union in New Zealand and South Africa

With the domination of the All Blacks and South Africa on world rugby, one could suspect that this sport was the national sport of these two countries. It is also the national sport of many Pacific islands such as the Samoa Islands, the Fiji Islands, the Solomon Islands, the Tonga Islands or even Vanuatu.

11. Water polo or football in Hungary

Football is obviously very popular in Hungary, as it is in the rest of Europe and the world. But one of the most popular national sports is also water polo. Quite unpopular with us, water polo is a very very popular sport among Hungarians. Hungary is also the leading nation in water polo at the Olympic Games, with three gold medals in a row at the Olympic Games, then 9 gold medals in all of Olympic history.

12. Senegalese wrestling in Senegal

Football is obviously very popular in Senegal, winner of the last African Cup of Nations, with Sadio Mané as national star, we cannot say that the Senegalese are not interested in this sport. However, the other very popular sport in Senegal is none other than Senegalese wrestling, a traditional sport which is a mixture of boxing, but also hand-to-hand combat. Senegalese wrestling, which was initially amateur, has become more professional, and now wrestlers are part of stables and can receive large fees for their participation in matches (several hundred thousand euros).

13. And football in all the rest of the world because we have no originality

Here, after having made a quick trip around the world, know that for almost all the other countries in the world (including us), the most popular sport is football. Boriiiing.