Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues.The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.[1]
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all countries ofEurope.European national teams have won 12 of 22 editions of theFIFA World Cup.Italy andGermany have won four titles each, followed byFrance with two titles andEngland andSpain, which each won the World Cup once.UEFA, the governing body for European football, has hosted theUEFA European Championship since 1960, and theUEFA Women's Championship since 1984.
The most popular and successful football leagues are theBig Five: the EnglishPremier League; the SpanishLa Liga; the GermanBundesliga; the ItalianSerie A; and the FrenchLigue 1.[2][3] Other main football leagues on the continent include the PortuguesePrimeira Liga, the DutchEredivisie, theRussian Premier League and the TurkishSüper Lig. The top clubs in each league play theUEFA Champions League, while lower-ranked clubs compete inUEFA Europa League and theUEFA Conference League.
As of 2024, the top 10 most popular sports clubs on social media are all football clubs from Europe:[4]
| Rank | Club | Country | Followers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid CF | Spain | 360.5 million |
| 2 | FC Barcelona | Spain | 318.8 million |
| 3 | Manchester United F.C. | United Kingdom | 207 million |
| 4 | Paris Saint-Germain FC | France | 163 million |
| 5 | Juventus FC | Italy | 147.4 million |
| 6 | Manchester City F.C. | United Kingdom | 139.7 million |
| 7 | Chelsea F.C. | United Kingdom | 136.7 million |
| 8 | Liverpool F.C. | United Kingdom | 131.6 million |
| 9 | FC Bayern Munich | Germany | 126.5 million |
| 10 | Arsenal F.C. | United Kingdom | 99.2 million |
Basketball originated in America. It was invented in 1891 by CanadianJames Naismith inMassachusetts. In Europe, basketball is the second most popular team sport in many countries, includingGreece,Serbia,Turkey andSpain. InLithuania, it is the national sport. It is also very popular inItaly,France,Germany,Belgium and all theex-Yugoslavia countries.
TheEuroBasket is the main European basketball competition for men's national teams, first held in 1935. TheSoviet Union and Yugoslavia have won the most titles, with Spain claiming three championships since the late 2000s.
TheEuroLeague is the most prestigious club basketball competition in Europe. It was founded as theFIBA European Champions Cup in 1958, but is organised by theEuroleague Basketball association since 2000. It is the second most popular basketball club competition in the world after theNBA.
Cricket is a popular summer sport in the United Kingdom and has been exported to other parts of the formerBritish Empire. Cricket has its origins in south east Britain. It is popular throughout England and Wales, and parts of the Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland. Cricket is also popular in other areas and also played inNorthwest Europe.
TheEngland cricket team andIreland cricket team are the only European teams with Test status. England's main rival is Australia, and they play each other inThe Ashes series. England won theCricket World Cup in 2019 and theICC World Twenty20 in 2010 and 2022.
Ireland has recently received Test status in 2017. Ireland traditionally rivalled Scotland, and thereafter the Netherlands before Ireland gained full test status, while more latterly have added ongoing rivalries with Afghanistan who rose to test status with them, Zimbabwe, Pakistan (who they first hosted for test cricket) and the West Indies.
Field hockey is from England and is one of the most popular sports in Western Europe, The Netherlands and Germany have been champions in both world cups, Belgium has also been champion in the men's tournament, Germany is the most recent champion inMen's Hockey World Cup and The Netherlands is the most recent champion inWomen's Hockey World Cup.
In theOlympics, Great Britain, The Netherlands and Germany have been champions in both tournaments, Spain has been the winner in the 1992 Women's tournament, Belgium is the most recent winner in the Men's tournament and The Netherlands is the most recent winner in the Women's tournament.
Handball is played professionally in many European countries. TheEuropean Handball Federation organizes continental competitions for men's and women's. European teams have dominated theIHF World Men's Handball Championship and have won all medals except one silver medal, and have also won most editions of theIHF World Women's Handball Championship. The top men's teams includeFrance,Sweden,Denmark,Spain,Croatia andGermany. The top women's teams includeNorway,Denmark andFrance.
TheEHF Champions League and theEHF Women's Champions League is the most important handball club competitions for men's and women's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. In the 21/22 season, the men's competition experienced a record viewership of 1.1 billion people across all streaming platforms around the world. While the 2024 European Championship saw more than 1 million people buying tickets to the competition.
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Ice hockey is the most popular or one of the most popular sports in many European nations, includingCzechia,Switzerland,Russia,Sweden,Finland,Slovakia,Latvia,Belarus, and northern and central Europe, where it rivalsassociation football in popularity. It is also popular at a professional level inGermany,Norway,Austria, most ofWestern Europe and isolated parts of the formerSoviet Union andYugoslavia.
TheKontinental Hockey League originated from Russia but currently features teams from eight other countries. TheAustrian Hockey League,Czech Extraliga,Deutsche Eishockey Liga,SM-Liiga,National League A andSwedish Hockey League are other professional leagues, whose top teams meet at theChampions Hockey League.
TheIce Hockey European Championships for national teams was played from 1910 to 1932. National teams currently play theIce Hockey World Championships, where Russia / Soviet Union have claimed a combined 27 titles, the Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia 12 and Sweden 11.
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Rugby union is popular inFrance (especially the south),England,Wales,Scotland,Ireland,Italy andGeorgia. The game is also relatively popular inPortugal,Spain,Netherlands,Belgium,Germany,Switzerland,Czech Republic,Russia,Poland,Moldova,Andorra andRomania, as it is at a professional level in these countries. Rugby is regarded as the national sport of Wales and Georgia, and is the strongest professional team sport in Ireland.
Europe's main competition for national teams is theSix Nations Championship, first held in 1883 as the Home Nations Championship. The other European national teams play at theRugby Europe International Championships. The England national team is the only European team to have won theRugby World Cup, whereas France was runner-up three times and Wales and Scotland reached the semifinals once.
The three main domestic rugby union competitions are the fully professionalPremiership (England),Top 14 (France) andUnited Rugby Championship (URC)(Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa). TheEuropean Rugby Champions Cup is the premier continental championship, with clubs qualifying from the three professional competitions. South African teams fully compete 'domestically' in Europe since 2022 when their teams, already part of the cross border URC, were given access to European competition, but compete in Southern Hemisphere competitionthe Rugby Championship at international level.
Rugby league is popular in northernEngland, where the sport formed in 1895.
TheGreat Britain national team first played in 1908, and entered the World Cup until 1992 and the Tri-Nations until 2006. Great Britain has won the World Cup three times, whereasFrance has been runner-up twice.
Clubs from England compete in the only fully professional league, theSuper League, as well as theChallenge Cup competition.
European teams have won most editions of theFIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, led by Italy with three wins. In theFIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship, the Soviet Union has won five editions, Russia two, and Italy and Serbia one each. The Soviet Union has won three men's gold medals and four women's gold medals at theOlympics.
TheEuropean Volleyball Confederation was founded in 1963, but theMen's European Volleyball Championship was first held in 1948 and theWomen's European Volleyball Championship was first held in 1949, with the Soviet Union and Russia leading both in titles.
TheCEV Champions League is held annually since the 1959-60 edition. Russian clubsVC CSKA Moscow andVC Zenit-Kazan won 13 and six editions respectively, while Italian clubsModena Volley andVolley Treviso won four each. TheCEV Women's Champions League is held since 1960–61.WVC Dynamo Moscow won 11 editions,Uralochka Ekaterinburg won eight, andVolley Bergamo won seven.
Water polo is played professionally in several European countries. LEN organises continental competitions for men's and women's. European teams have dominated the World Aquatics Championships and have also won several editions of the Women's Championship.
TheLEN Champions League is the most important water polo club competition for teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations.
Other team sports likefutsal,beach Soccer,roller hockey, andAmerican football are also popular in some European countries.
Some sport competitions features aEuropean team gathering athletes from different European countries. These teams uses the European flag as an emblem. The most famous of these competitions are theRyder Cup for men, andSolheim Cup for women, in golf, in both of which Europe challenge the United States. Other examples are theLaver Cup in tennis, where Europe face a World team, theMosconi Cup in pool, theWeber Cup in bowling, theIAAF Continental Cup in athletics, and theContinental Cup of Curling.
Baseball is also gaining popularity in some countries, like in the United Kingdom, where the sport isreputed to have started in the 1800s before exploding in the United States.[5][6][7] In Spain, due to Latin American immigrants bringing the sport, particularly from countries like Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.[8][9] In countries like Italy, Ireland, and Germany, growth in the sport is partly due to influence from Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and German Americans.[10] Other countries include France, Netherlands, and Greece, among others.[11]
| Sport | Mixed | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Team | Season | |
| Wheelchair rugby league | European Club Challenge |  Catalans Dragons | 2024 |
Since the early beginnings ofEsports, Europe has had a role in the sport's advancement in world recognition. In the early 1990s, France'sElectronic Sports World Cup and Germany's Gamers Gathering together both garnered more than 2,000 participants, being just a popular as other sports competitions in the United States and South Korea.[12] Just recently, Esports has recently become more recognized as a legitimate sporting event in Europe, marked by the formation of theEuropean Esports Federation in 2019.[13] Since its formation, it has grown in size to 44 member nations and is currently headed by its president, Thiago Fernandes.[14] Today, nations like Sweden, Denmark, France, and Germany are all in the top highest earning nations in the world, each earning around $50 million.[citation needed]
TheEuropean Championships is a new multi-sport event which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports, including Golf, Cycling, Athletics, Aquatics, and Gymnastics, every four years. Theinaugural edition in 2018 will be staged by the host cities of Glasgow, Scotland and Berlin, Germany between 2 and 12 August.
Road cycling is especially popular in France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. Nearly everyUCI World Tour race is held in Europe, including the three Grands Tours:Tour de France,Vuelta a España andGiro d'Italia, as well as the five Monuments:Milan–San Remo,Tour of Flanders,Paris–Roubaix,Liège–Bastogne–Liège andGiro di Lombardia.
Notable road cyclists includeJacques Anquetil,Louison Bobet,Bernard Hinault,Alberto Contador,Miguel Indurain,Eddy Merckx,Gino Bartali,Alfredo Binda,Fausto Coppi, andFelice Gimondi.
The Open Championship, also known as the British Open, is one of the four major golf tournaments. Other notable golf tournaments in Europe include theBMW PGA Championship,Scottish Open,Irish Open,French Open andItalian Open, which are part of theEuropean Tour.
Europe competes as a single team in theRyder Cup andSolheim Cup versus the United States, and theRoyal Trophy andEurAsia Cup versus Asia. Also, theSeve Trophy was played between the Great Britain and Ireland and the Continental Europe team.
Notable male golfers includeNick Faldo,Colin Montgomerie,Rory McIlroy,Pádraig Harrington,Ian Woosnam,Lee Westwood,Henrik Stenson,Bernhard Langer,Martin Kaymer,Seve Ballesteros,José María Olazábal andMiguel Ángel Jiménez. Notable female golfers includeAnnika Sörenstam,Laura Davies andSuzann Pettersen.
Motorsports are popular across nearly all of Europe. TheFormula One,FIA World Endurance Championship,World Touring Car Championship,World Rally Championship andWorld Rallycross Championship are mainly held in Europe, and are traditionally dominated by European drivers and teams. Notable automobile races include theMonaco Grand Prix,Monte Carlo Rally,24 Hours of Le Mans,24 Hours Nürburgring and24 Hours Spa.
Notable racecar drivers includeJackie Stewart,Alain Prost,Michael Schumacher,Sebastian Vettel,Lewis Hamilton,Jacky Ickx,Derek Bell,Tom Kristensen andSébastien Loeb.
Motorcycleroad racing is very popular in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. Most of theMotorcycle Grand Prix are held in Europe. Italian ridersGiacomo Agostini andValentino Rossi are the two most successful of all time, with eight and seven 500cc / MotoGP World Championships respectively.[15] On the Isle of Man, theIsle of Man TT and other road races held in closed public roads are very popular.
Motorcycle speedway is also popular inPoland,Scandinavia, theCzech Republic and the United Kingdom.
Tennis is popular in most of Europe. Two of the fourGrand Slam events are held in Europe: theRoland Garros in France and theWimbledon Championships in the United Kingdom. TheRome Masters,Madrid Open,Italian Open andParis Masters haveATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, whereas the Madrid Open and Italian Open are alsoWTA Tour Tier I events.
Notable male tennis players includeNovak Djokovic,Roger Federer,Rafael Nadal,Andy Murray,Stefan Edberg,Boris Becker,Ivan Lendl andBjörn Borg. Notable female tennis players includeSteffi Graf,Maria Sharapova,Monica Seles,Justine Henin,Martina Hingis,Simona Halep,Ana Ivanovic,Victoria Azarenka,Caroline Wozniacki,Conchita Martínez,Angelique Kerber,Garbiñe Muguruza,Petra Kvitová,Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, andIga Świątek.
The most prestigious and lucrativeathletics andaquatics meets are in Europe. The most prestigious sporting event related to athletics is theEuropean Athletics Championships, whereinMo Farah is the most successful individual athlete.[16]
For those areas with the proper climate,winter sports are also an important. In Scandinavian andAlpine countries, various forms ofskiing andsnowboarding are popular. European competitors have traditionally dominated at theWinter Olympics and theInternational Ski Federation World Championships.[17]
Horse racing is very popular in the United Kingdom and France. Major events are theRoyal Ascot,Cheltenham Festival,Epsom Derby,Grand National andPrix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Other popular individual sports includebadminton,boxing,darts andsnooker.
Some regions have games that are particular to their home, for exampleGaelic games in Ireland,Calcio storico in Italy,shinty in Scotland,pétanque in southern France,bandy in Russia and Scandinavia, Basque Pelota in Basque Country, orbullfighting in Spain.
Europe was the birthplace of the Olympic Movement that has become so central to modern individual sport, with theInternational Olympic Committee founded inSwitzerland in 1894 andGreece being the first country to hold theFirst Olympic Games. Europe has hosted a total of 30 Olympic Games (16 Summer and 14 Winter), more than any other region in the world.
During the Cold War, theSoviet Union,East Germany and other communist countries had a fierce rivalry in the Olympic Games withWestern Europe and theUnited States. Notable events include theBlood in the Water match in 1956, the1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final, theMiracle on Ice in the1980 Winter Olympics, and the1980 and1984 boycotts.
