World's Most Popular Sports

World's Most Popular Sports : Most Popular Sports in the World : World's Top Sports

1. FOOTBALL / SOCCER

With more than 3 billion fans around the world, Football/Soccer makes it as the world most popular sport.

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport. The game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end.

Highest governing body - FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)
Popularity region - Worldwide
Olympic Sport? - Yes

2. CRICKET

Estimated near to about 3 billion fans Worldwide, Cricket is the 2nd most popular sport in the world.

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a cricket field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a wicket (a set of three wooden stumps) sited at each end.

Highest governing body - ICC (International Cricket Council)
Popularity region - Australasia, United Kingdom, Indian subcontinent, Southern Africa, Caribbean
Olympic Sport? - No (1900 Summer Olympics only)

3. BASKET BALL

Estimated more than 2 billion fans around the world, Basket is the 3rd most popular sport in the world.

Basketball is a sport that is played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and mounted at a height of 10 feet (3.048 m) to backboards at each end of the court.

Highest governing body - FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball)
Popularity region - Worldwide
Olympic Sport? - Yes

4. FIELD HOCKEY

Estimated near to about 2 billion fans around the world, Hockey is the 4th most popular sprt in the world.

Field hockey is a team sport of the hockey family. The game can be played on a grass field or a turf field as well as an indoor board surface. Each team plays with eleven players, including the goalie.

Highest governing body - IFH (International Hockey Federation)
Popularity region - Europe, Asia, Australasia.
Olympic Sport - Yes

5. TENNIS

Estimated about a billion fans around the world, Tennis is most probably the 5th most popular sport in the world today.

Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court.

Highest governing body - ITF (International Tennis Federation)
Popularity region - Europe, Americas, and Asia.
Olympic Sport - Yes