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The Most Popular Sports in the World: A Global Ranking of the Biggest Games

Richard Janvrin by Richard Janvrin, February 17, 2026

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Around the world, people of all ages and genders play sports every day. These are the activities that bring people together and something most people can identify with.

That said, there are certainly cultural differences and interests when it comes to sports. For example, what may be the most popular in the United States isn’t going to be the same as what is popular in a country from the Middle East, but what is the most popular sport in the world?

Below, we’ll sort through everything to reveal just that: the 12 most popular sports in the world.

1. Football (Soccer)

It may not come as a surprise, but football (known as soccer in the United States) is No. 1 on the list of the most popular sports in the world.

According to FIFA, there are a staggering five billion football fans around the world, with most of the fans coming from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

A big part of football/soccer’s success is how simple it is to start playing. All that’s really required is a ball to kick with. Sure, professional teams have uniforms, cleats, a nice pitch, a great ball, and a goal, but kids all over the world can play using a brick wall as a goal if needed.

As FIFA points out, as of 2019, there were more than 13 million girls and women playing the sport worldwide, so the sport crosses both genders, making it one of the most played sports in the world.

Thanks to how easy it is to pick up and play, no sport will ever match football’s global interest, and that includes the action the sport receives on online sports betting sites.

2. Basketball

According to FIBA, the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, the world’s governing body for basketball, there are more than 3.3 billion basketball fans worldwide, making it one of the biggest sports in the world.

A study was conducted by Nielsen Fan Insights across 18 countries to find this data.

This makes basketball the second-most popular sport in the world. The interest has grown from 68% to 74% from 2019 to 2023.

Overall and globally, the interest is around 69%, which led to a number of 3.3 billion across fans ages 16 to 69.

As for people ages 16 to 29, the interest is about 80%, which is a 10% increase from 2019.

The FIBA World Cup has also played a massive role. The last event, which was in 2023 and spanned across the Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan, saw an increase of 33% in interest over the last four years.

Like football, basketball is easy to pick up and play, making it one of the most played sports in the world.

Basketball, like football/soccer, is a worldwide sport.

3. Cricket

You may be surprised to learn just how popular cricket is. It’s among the biggest sports in the world.

According to the International Cricket Council, the global audience for cricket is estimated to be about 2.5 billion.

On top of that, it’s a projected 4.85 billion cumulative broadcast audience across 18 events from 2016 to 2023.

Per the ICC, “The stories, values and emotive connections generated by cricket and delivered via broadcast, digital and social media in over 220 territories have led to 97% ‘recommendation’ and ‘preference’ for brands to sponsor and engage with cricket.”

Also, per the Sports Business Journal, the sport is most popular in South Asia, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and the Caribbean.

In the United States, there are an estimated five million hardcore cricket fans, and as many as 30 million with an interest.

4. Tennis

Tennis is another massively global sport, according to the International Tennis Federation as of 2024.

There are approximately 1.2 billion tennis fans worldwide. Of those, 106 million play the sport.

There’s some even more impressive data, such as 40% female participation in the sport and 698,000 courts worldwide.

5. Table Tennis

Finding an exact figure for table tennis fandom is difficult, but some sources place it around 850 million, just after tennis.

Table tennis is, of course, a lot like real tennis, only instead there’s a table with paddles and a ball that players hit back and forth to one another.

The Olympics reports that there are 40 million competitive table tennis players worldwide and millions more taking part in it recreationally.

The first World Championship for table tennis was held in London in 1926, and it debuted in the Olympics in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.

6. Formula 1

Ahead of the 2025 season, Formula 1, according to Nielsen Sports [h/t Forbes] reports there’s a global fanbase of 826.5 million, which is a 90% increase over the 2023 season.

In the United States alone, that figure increased by 10.5%, bringing the total to 90 million new fans.

The sport saw a similar increase in fans from 2023 to 2024.

Also, for the Chinese Grand Prix, there was a 39% increase in Chinese fans over the previous 12 months before this study was conducted.

Some other countries that saw massive increases in fandom were Canada (31.5%), Argentina (25.5%), and Saudi Arabia (25.5%).

7. Volleyball

Coming up next on the list is volleyball, one of the biggest sports in the world.

According to the FIVB, there are 800 million fans worldwide as of April 2025.

The FIVB was founded in 1947 by 14 nations, and today, there are 222 national federations.

The sport debuted at the Olympics in 1964 in Tokyo, and beach volleyball made its debut in Atlanta in 1996.

8. Badminton

Badminton comes in just under volleyball with 744 million fans worldwide, according to Infront Sports.

The global fan base had grown by 65%, and on-site attendance reached 600,000 when this figure was published in September 2025. The cumulative attendance was 122 million per event within the cycle, across 50 broadcast partners and 160 territories.

9. Rugby

According to World Rugby, there are 500 million fans, eight million players, and 134 national member federations for rugby.

World Rugby, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, is tasked with growing rugby.

World Rugby is also part of the Olympics, and in 2010, it became a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations.

10. Baseball

Estimates for baseball interest are around 500 million, but with the rise of international players like Shohei Ohtani attracting the Japanese audience, this number may continue to grow.

For example, in 2025, the World Series, which featured Ohtani’s Los Angeles Dodgers, drew 51 million fans in Game 7 across the United States, Canada, and Japan.

It was the most-watched MLB game globally in the last 34 years.

11. Golf

Golf is a deceptively difficult sport that requires numerous types of clubs to hit a ball with skill, accuracy, and precision. That said, it’s also No. 11 in the most popular sports list.

Estimates put the global fandom at around 450 million, and according to Randa.org, there are 108 million adults and juniors playing golf across all formats of the sport in The R&A’s affiliated markets.

Since 2023, the number of players has increased by about 3 million.

12. American Football

While American football is the most popular sport in the United States, worldwide, it comes in at No. 12 on a list of the most popular sports in the world with 340 million global fans, according to the NFL.

A big part of the growing interest in the sport is flag football, which will be part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

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