Association football is the most popularsport in Hong Kong, followed byrugby union.^[1][2][3] TheFootball Association of Hong Kong, China (HKFA) is the governing body for football inHong Kong.

The firstfootball club of Hong Kong isHong Kong Football Club, usually known as "The Club", founded in 1886. The club is one of the oldest existing football clubs in Asia. The first football competition of Hong Kong is theChallenge Shield, which founded in 1898. Its format is similar to theFA Challenge Cup in England. Tracing back to early 20th century, the Hong Kong football league was founded in 1908. It is probably the oldest professional league in Asia. Most records before theSecond World War have been lost and not many people can remember the old glory of Hong Kong's professional football.

The Hong Kong Football Association, the governing body of Hong Kong football, was founded in 1914 and is one of the oldest football associations in Asia.^[4] In the 1970s and 1980s, football in Hong Kong was strong and popular, with competitive local teams boosted by well known overseas players and managers, playing in front crowds of tens of thousands. In 1985, in a famous match, Hong Kong upsetChina2–1 in Beijing to move towards a place in the1986 World Cup.^[5] The team ultimately fell short of qualification.

In recent years, major attempts have been made by Hong Kong government to improve both HKFA’s governance and the quality of Hong Kong football under a government scheme called ‘Project Phoenix’.^[6]

All the football leagues are organized by the HKFA.

TheHong Kong Premier League began its first season in2014–15. It is the top flight professional league in Hong Kong with 10 teams competing.

The lower divisions consist of theFirst Division (D1 League), theSecond Division (D2 League), and theThird Division (D3 League). Most lower-division clubs are amateurs, but semi-professional teams can also play there. The bottom team of the Third Division League are eliminated from the system.

All the cup competitions are also organized by the HKFA. There are several cup competitions for clubs at different levels of the football pyramid. The oldest cup competition is theSenior Shield, with the winners of theFA Cup qualifying for the group stage ofAFC Champions League Two.

• TheFA Cup, established in 1974, is Hong Kong's major cup competition. The winners of the FA Cup receive a group stage spot in theAFC Champions League Two.
• TheSenior Shield, established in 1896, is the oldest footballknockout inter-club competition in Asia.
• TheLeague Cup (2000–2009, 2010–2012, 2014–2016, 2025–) is a football competition contested by clubs in theHong Kong Premier League. The cup had been abolished several times before being relaunched in a new format for the 2025–26 season, which has no limitation on foreign players.
• TheFA Cup Junior Division, established in 2013, is a cup competition for clubs playing in levels 2–4 of the football pyramid. Between 2013 and 2016, the competition was designed as a preliminary round to allow lower division clubs to qualify for theFA Cup. In 2016, after the HKFA decided not to allow lower division clubs to compete in the tournament proper anymore, it was then renamed to FA Cup Junior Division.

There have also been several cup competitions that are no longer running:

• TheViceroy Cup (1969–1998) was the first football competition in Hong Kong which allowed business sponsorship.
• TheCommunity Shield (2009–2010) was a single match played each August between the champions and first runners-up of the previous season'sFirst Division League.
• TheJunior Shield, established in 1922, was a cup competition for clubs playing in levels 2–4 of the football pyramid. It was abandoned in 2013.
• TheCommunity Cup (2014–2018) was a single match played each September between the champions of theHong Kong Premier League and the champions of theFA Cup.
• TheHKPLC Cup (2023–2024), established in 2023, was a cup competition played during the period when theHong Kong national football team was preparing for the2023 AFC Asian Cup.
• TheSapling Cup (2015–2025), established in 2015, was a cup competition designed to provide young players in the top flight with more first-team minutes. Each club was obligated to have a minimum of three players under the age of 22, on the pitch in each match. It was being discontinued in the 2025–26 season.

• Senior Shield: Level 1
• FA Cup: Level 1
• League Cup: Level 1
• FA Cup Junior Division: Level 2–4

• Kitchee
• Eastern
• South China
• Happy Valley
• Sun Hei
• HKFC
• Instant Dict.
• Seiko(defunct)
• List of football clubs in Hong Kong

TheHong Kong national football team represents Hong Kong in men's international football events. The team competed their first international match in 1947 againstSouth Korea during the colonial period. Even after 1997 thetransfer of sovereignty to China, it continues to represent Hong Kong separately from thePeople's Republic of China as its own national team in international competitions due to the "One country, two systems" principle. The team has never qualified for theFIFA World Cup, with the closest time being the1986 World Cup cycle, which also highlighted their most successful period.

On 14 January 2024, Hong Kong midfielderPhilip Chan Siu-kwan scored the 1,000th goal in Asian Cup history in the team’s return to the competition’s finals for the first time since 1968, despite the team losing 1–3 to theUnited Arab Emirates.

TheHong Kong women's national football team qualified for 14 consecutiveAFC Women's Asian Cups between 1975 and 2003. However, the team has not qualified for a major tournament since the2003 AFC Women's Championship.

• Chan Yuen Ting - the first woman to coach a men's professional football team to the championship of a nation's top league

• HKFA official site – English version (Chinese version also available)
• Hong Kong Football – (English version)
• Chinese Soccer Team: The Story Of 1936 Berlin Olympics Games

• Football in Hong Kong
• Football leagues in Hong Kong

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Hong Kong English from December 2018
• All Wikipedia articles written in Hong Kong English
• Use dmy dates from December 2018