Currently, more and more people adhere to a healthy lifestyle, maintain their shape and figure. Sports are a great way to keep fit and have fun. Going in for sports is not just management for yourself, there is also a place of work — sports, where people earn money for playing, for example, football or hockey. And they earn quite well. Moreover, you can visit online betting site to place bets on your favourite kinds of sports.
What do the fans prefer
Football is the undisputed hegemon of sports in Europe. It is most popular almost everywhere, although in a number of countries it has serious competition from cycling (France), alpine skiing (Switzerland, Austria), handball (Denmark), hockey (Belarus, Sweden). Although playing with the puck on ice still holds the lead in two countries — Finland and Latvia. But in many respects, precisely because local football has always been of a low level there, in contrast to hockey. And the people everywhere love the winners.
The enchanting performance of the Icelandic national football team at Euro 2016 (reached the quarterfinals) made this sport the main sport on the island. Before that, for many years, handball players were considered local icons in sports. The main triumph is the silver medal of the men’s team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The opposite example: football has been the number one sport in Slovenia for many years. Until the local men’s basketball team became the European champion in 2017. Despite the fact that the population of Slovenia is 2 million inhabitants.
In Lithuania, basketball has historically always been the No. 1 sport, since the 1930s, when the national team of this small country won the European Championship twice. Well, the most strange variant is the choice of the people in Ireland, where the stars of Gaelic football have no equal. This sport is a hybrid of football, volleyball, basketball and rugby, in which they play 15v15 and score goals with hands and feet.
The most popular kinds of sports
As for the entire planet, the picture is similar: football is almost everywhere number one. But there are exceptions. Which sports are considered the main ones in which countries — you can find out in the list:
- American football — USA
- Australian football — Australia
- Basketball — Philippines
- Baseball — Cuba, Venezuela and a number of Central American countries, as well as Japan
- Wrestling — Mongolia
- Cricket — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar
- Rugby — New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
- Hockey — Canada
If not talking about African countries separately, but speaking about the continent as a whole, then football is the most popular sport in this hot and diverse land. South Africa is the only African country to host the FIFA World Cup delegation. It happened in 2010. At the moment, new clubs and sports schools with an emphasis on football are emerging in Africa with great speed. In Egypt, they especially like to play handball, squash, and tennis. Rowing and swimming are also popular.
Australia also has a strong interest in sports. She has participated many times in the Olympic, Paralympic, and Commonwealth Games. The most popular sports are Australian football, ice hockey, basketball, rugby, softball, water polo and netball. The latter gained fame in Australia at the beginning of the 20th century and today is especially popular among women. Athletics is developing at a professional level in Belarus. Estonians prefer gymnastics and swimming, while Georgians are traditionally fond of chidaoba martial arts.
