58 Important Countries and their National Games in the World

Table of Contents

In this article, we will look into 58 Important Countries and their National Games in the World. In reality, there are many different types of game popular around the world in which few of the them are adopted as National Games and Sports of many important countries. We will see more about that in below section.

Important Countries and their National Games in the World

Also Read: 31 Most Popular Dances of Different States in India | Art and Culture

1. Afghanistan- Buzkashi

The national game of Afghanistan is Buzkashi.
Buzkashi is a passion in Afghanistan where it is often played on Fridays.
In this game horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat or calf carcass in a goal.

2. Argentina- Pato

The national game of Argentina is Pato.
Pato is also called juego del pato.
It is a game played on horseback that combines elements from polo and basketball.
In this game there are four members in each team.
Pato is a national game of Argentina since 1953, while this game was first played in 1610.

3. Australia- Cricket

The national sport of Australia is Cricket.
Cricket is played by two teams that try to score the maximum runs within a specific number of overs.

4. Bahamas - Cricket

The national game of Bahamas is Cricket.
This game was played in Bahamas since 1846.
Cricket is the oldest sport being played in the country today.

5. Bangladesh- Kabaddi

The national game of Bangladesh is Kabaddi.
This game is played between two teams of seven players.
Kabaddi is also known as Ha-Du-Du.
It is an outdoor activity played on a rectangular court of 12.5 by 10 meters in size, which is divided in two by a white line.

6. Barbados- Cricket

The national game of Barbados is Cricket.
In Barbados, Cricket was started in 1894.
The Barbados Cricket Association was started in 1933.
Barbados has a national team which takes part in the Regional Four Day Competition.

7. Bermuda- Cricket

The national game of Bermuda is Cricket.
It is a game that is played by two teams of eleven players.
The teams need to alternately bat and bowl.

8. Bhutan- Archery

The national sport of Bhutan is Archery.
In 1971, Archery was declared as the national sport in Bhutan.
Archery is played only by men in Bhutan.
Each player in different teams get to shoot a pair of arrows in one direction and targets stand on both the sides of the archery range. More on Bhutan Archery.

9. Brazil- Capoeira

The national game of Brazil is Capoeira.
It is a Brazilian martial art which is a mixture of dance, acrobatics, and music.
Capoeira was developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil at the beginning of 16th century. More on Capoeira.

10. Bulgaria- Weightlifting

The national sport of Bulgaria is Weightlifting.
Bulgaria is famous for its Bulgarian method in Weightlifting.
In Olympic Games the first medal for Bulgaria in Weightlifting came in 1872.

11. Canada- Lacrosse (summer) and Ice Hockey (winter)

The national winter sport of Canada is known as Ice Hockey and Lacrosse is declared to be the national summer sport of Canada.
Lacrosse is a match between two teams of 10 or 6 people. The aim of the game is to score a goal into the posts of an opponent team with a small ball.
In Ice Hockey two teams played on ice, in which skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score goals.

12. Chile - Chilean Rodeo

The national sport of Chile is Chilean Rodeo.
Chilean Rodea was declared as the national sport in 1962.
In this game a team which is called collera consisting of two riders called Huasos and two horses ride laps around an arena trying to stop a calf, pinning it against large cushions.
Rodeos are conducted in a crescent-shaped corral which is called a medialuna.

13. China- Table Tennis

The national sport of China is Table Tennis which is also known as Pingpong in China.
Chairman Mao declared Table Tennis the national sport in 1950.
In Table Tennis, two players are required to hit a ball across the table among themselves.
Points are scored when one of the players fails to hit the ball back.

14. Colombia- Tejo

The national sport of Colombia is Tejo.
It is also known as turmeque in native language.
It requires a play to throw a metal puck across an alley to a board that is covered with clay.
It is a traditional throwing sport in Colombia. It is characteristic for its use of small targets containing gunpowder, which explodes on impact.

15. Cuba- Baseball

The national sport of Cuba is Baseball.
In Cuba, Baseball was introduced in 1864.
A baseball league was established there in 1878, and it gradually evolved into the Cuban winter league that played until Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and abolished all professional sports.

16. Denmark- Association Football and Handball

The national sport of Denmark is Football (Soccer).
Football became an organized sport when the Copenhagen Ball Club was established in 1876, and it remains an extremely popular national sport.
Parken Stadium is the National stadium for football.

17. Dominican Republic- Baseball

The national sport of Dominican Republic is Baseball.
After the US, this state has the second highest number of baseball players in Major League Baseball.

18. England- Cricket

The national sport of England is Cricket.
Cricket became the England's national sport in the 18th century.

19. Estonia- Basketball

The national sport of Estonia is Basketball.
The Estonia national basketball team is controlled by the Estonian Basketball Association.
Estonia first competed internationally at the 1936 summer Olympics.

20. Finland- Pesapallo

The national game of Finland is Pesapallo.
This game was first developed by Lauri Tahko Pihkala in 1920.
Pesapallo is the combination of traditional ball-batting team games and American baseball.

21. France- Football

The national sport of France is Football.
The France national team was officially founded in 1904.
The first football club was introduced to this country is in 1863.

22. Georgia- Rugby Union

The national sport of Georgia is Rugby Union.
This game is played with an oval ball by two teams.
There are 15 players (in rugby union) or 13 players (in rugby league play) in each team.

23. Grenada- Cricket

The national sport of Grenada is Cricket.
This game involves two teams with eleven players to score as many runs as they can and then prevent the opposition from doing so.

24. Guyana- Cricket

The national sport of Guyana is Cricket.
The Guyana Cricket Board was founded in 1943.

25. Haiti- Football

The national sport of Haiti is Football.
It is first developed in the state capital of Port-au-Prince, where a regional championship round was already held for the first time in 1912.

26. Hungary- Water polo

The national sport of Hungary is Water polo.
The Hungarian Football Federation is the highest body of professional football in this country and it was founded in 1901.

27. Iceland- Handball

The national sport of Iceland is Handball.
Handball is played on a rectangular field. The object is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal.
The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms

28. India- Field Hockey

The national sport of India is Field Hockey.
Indian Hockey Team was the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation.
The team won its first Olympic gold medal in the year 1928.

29. Indonesia- Badminton

The national sport of Indonesia is Badminton.
Badminton is played with an utterly light weight racquet and a shuttlecock.
This country has won gold medals in Badminton in every Olympic Games since the sport was first introduced to the Olympics in 1992, except in the year 2012 summer Olympics.

30. Iran- Wrestling

The national sport of Iran is Wrestling.
Iranian wrestling is a form of submission grappling that has been practiced since ancient times in Iran.
Freestyle Wrestling is described as the first sport of Iran.

31. Ireland- Gaelic Games

The national sport of Ireland is Gaelic Games.
Gaelic games include Gaelic football, Gaelic hurling, Gaelic handball and Gaelic rounders. These all form the official sports of Ireland.

32. Israel- Association Football

The national sport of Israel is Association Football.

33. Jamaica- Cricket

The national sport of Jamaica is Cricket.

34. Japan- Sumo

The national sport of Japan is Sumo.
Sumo wrestling is a competitive full contest wrestling sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or into touching the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet.

35. Latvia- Basketball (summer) and Ice Hockey (winter)

The national sport of Latvia is Basketball in summer and Ice Hockey in winter.
In Basketball game, two teams of five players each are needed to score a maximum number of baskets within a specific period.
Ice Hockey is played on a sheet of ice.

36. Lithuania- Basketball

The national sport of Lithuania is Basketball.
This game is played by two opposing teams that are required to score as many baskets as possible with the ball before the end of the game.

37. Malaysia- Sepak Takraw

The national sport of Malaysia is Sepak Takraw.
Sepak Takraw is also known as kick volleyball.
In this game players don't use their hands. They are only allowing to use their feet, knee and head to touch the ball.

38. Mexico- Charreria

The national sport of Mexico is Charreria.
Charreria is similar to the game of rodeo.
This game is played with cattle and is participated by both men and women.

39. Mauritius- Football

The national sport of Mauritius is Football.
The national football team is called the Club M and represents the country in international matches.
In 1962, they became a member of FIFA.

40. Nepal- Volleyball

The national sport of Nepal is Volleyball.
On 23 May 2017, this game was declared the national sport of Nepal.
Until 23 May 2017, Dandi Biyo was considered the national game of this country.

41. New Zealand- Rugby Union

The national sport of New Zealand is Rugby Union.
It is popular across all sections of New Zealand society.
The national Rugby team called the Black shave won the Rugby World Cup three time (1987, 2011, 2015) .

42. Norway- Cross Country Skiing

The national sport of Norway is Cross Country Skiing.
It is a form of skiing where the skiers are required to depend on their locomotion gears to move across extended terrains of snow-covered mountains.

43. Pakistan- Hockey

The national sport of Pakistan is Hockey.
Hockey game was introduced to them by the Britishers.
Pakistan has won both World Cup and Olympic awards in Hockey.

44. Peru- Paleta Fronton

The national sport of Peru is Paleta Fronton.
It is a wall based racquet game that originated in Peru in the mid 20th century.
This game is played with a wooden or fiberglass paddle and a small black rubber ball.

45. Philippines- Arnis

The national sport of Philippines is Arnis.
It is declared as National sport on December 11, 2009.
Arnis is the system of Filipino fighting arts founded by Remy Presas as a self-defence system.

46. Poland- Football

The national sport of Poland is Football.
In 1972 Olympic Football Tournament, the Polish National Football Team was the winner.

47. Romania- Oina

The national sport of Romania is Oina.
Oina is played with a bat and a leather ball and resembles baseball.

48. Russia- Bandy

The national sport of Russia is Bandy.
It is played on ice, using a single round ball.
In this game the players have skates with curved sticks to hit the ball.

49. Scotland- Golf

The national game of Scotland is Golf.
It is considered to be a club and ball sport where every individual uses clubs to hit the balls into various holes on the field.
Any player who scores the lowest number of strokes is known as stroke play.

50. Slovenia- Alpine Skiing

The national game of Slovenia is Alpine Skiing.
It is a pastime of sliding down snow covered slopes on skis with fixed heel bindings.

51. Sri Lanka- Volleyball

The national sport of Sri Lanka is Volleyball.
It is a game in which two teams comprising of six players compete against each other.
The teams are required to ground a ball in the opponent's court.

52. South Korea- Taekwondo

The national sport of South Korea is Taekwondo.
It is a game that consists of techniques like jumping spinning kicks, fast kicking and head-height kicks.

53. Tajikistan- Gushtigiri

The national sport of Tajiskistan is Gushtigiri.
It is a form of traditional wrestling.

54. Turks and Caicos Islands- Cricket

The national game of Turks and Caicos Islands is Cricket.

55. Turkey- Oil Wrestling

The national sport of Turkey is Oil Wrestling.
In this game wrestlers wear a pair of heavy leather pants called a kipset.
Each player is covered in olive oil to make them slippery.
The object of each wrestler is to get their opponent in a position so that their belly button faces the sky.

56. United States- Baseball

The national sport of United States is Baseball.
It is known as the Nation's most popular pastime because it is always on.
Baseball in US has been the national sport for the last 77 years.

57. Venezuela- Baseball

The national game of Venezuela is Baseball.
It is known to produce some of the most skilled baseball players in the world e.g. Luis Aparicio.

58. Wales- Rugby Union

The national sport of Wales is Rugby Union.
Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union.

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