# In which countries is football (ok, soccer) not the biggest sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829 "2009-06-15T14:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/21 "2009-06-15T20:03:30Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > You sure? I’ve just come back from three weeks in Nepal, and nobody even mentioned cricket the whole time I was over there. No cricket on the TV, no cricket pitches in evidence, no kids playing cricket in the street. They all knew the English Premier League teams though, and guys were walking around with Manchester United tops on. Whereas in India and the islands I’ve been to in the West Indies, you can’t get away from it! Hmmm…that must have changed from a Wisden report I remember from 10 years ago or so. Of course, the EPL has gone crazy with marketing in Asia since then. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/22 "2009-06-15T20:18:24Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Baseball is more popular in Venezuela. Interesting thread. Really opens your eyes to the meme that soccer/football is an all-consuming, world-dominating juggernaut outside the US and we’re assholes for not liking it. Don’t know where you get that “meme” from. On a personal note, I am rather happy watching the rise of the sport in the US. As for “opening your eyes,” what the hell do you mean? It’s patently clear fact that football is, by far, the number ONE sport, both in active and passive participation. A few cites from a quick Google search – many more available upon request: [Most Popular Sports Around The World](http://ezinearticles.com/?Most-Popular-Sports-Around-The-World&id=551180) [What is the most popular sport in the world?](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_most_popular_sport_in_the_world) [Six most popular sports in the world](http://sports.indiainfo.com/article/0905111504_six_most_popular_sports_in_the_world/353116.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/23 "2009-06-15T23:08:41Z")
Well. Soccer is not the all-consuming sport for most of Asia, which means that over 1/3 of the world’s population doesn’t rate it as the #1, be-all, end-all of sport. Having said that, for most of the other 2/3 of the world, soccer is it. And it’s not the fact that soccer is not #1 in the US that is so surprising, but rather the fact that it remains mired down in about #7 in popularity (behind football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR and golf). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/24 "2009-06-15T23:27:56Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > How does football compare to Formula 1 in a country like Monaco? > > What about gymnastics in eastern Europe? F1 isn’t that big a deal in Monaco; all the drivers live there, of course, and Grand Prix is the biggest event of the year, but none of the drivers are _from_ there and the Grand Prix is arguably only the biggest event of the year because it’s a PITA for the locals. Plus, obviously, motorsport is not exactly a huge participant sport, although I think locals do enter the Monte Carlo Rally. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Well. Soccer is not the all-consuming sport for most of Asia, which means that over 1/3 of the world’s population doesn’t rate it as the #1, be-all, end-all of sport. Not all-consuming, perhaps, but it’s among the top three participant sports in China and it will probably overtake (field) hockey in India soon, though not cricket. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/25 "2009-06-16T01:35:27Z")
Note to everyone: Soccer is the number one participant sport among youth in America. Participation can be a meaningless statistic. 😃 Still, yes, soccer is on the rise in China. In India, it’s interest exists primarily in the northeastern parts of the country, if I am not mistaken. Currently, India are something like 142nd in the world rankings, which gives you an idea of the relative importance of soccer in the country. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/26 "2009-06-16T01:43:01Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Having said that, for most of the other 2/3 of the world, soccer is it. And it’s not the fact that soccer is not #1 in the US that is so surprising, but rather the fact that it remains mired down in about #7 in popularity (behind football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR and golf). Is it more popular here than boxing? And is NASCAR really a sport? If so, we’ve got to count F1, which must be at or near the top in a lot of countries. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/27 "2009-06-16T01:45:32Z")
Soccer is on the rise in China, but it’s being matched by basketball. I’m just as likely to watch people playing basketball as soccer. I’m living on a college campus in Beijing and see equal participation between them along with equal distribution of apparel. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/28 "2009-06-16T05:25:04Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In Australia, I believe Rugby League, Rugby Union, Australian Rules Football (nothing like soccer) and Cricket are all bigger than soccer. The weird thing is how regional it is in Australia. Like I would be hard-pressed to say any of those are the biggest sport. You could say AFL is biggest in Melbourne (either that or cricket) but then it’s nothing in Sydney. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/29 "2009-06-16T10:49:25Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > And is NASCAR really a sport? If so, we’ve got to count F1, which must be at or near the top in a lot of countries. Why would Formula 1 be anywhere near the top? 😕 Take England (not even the UK) - we’ve got the teams of Williams, McLaren, Brawn and Red Bull (plus the Force India HQ is in the UK). We’ve got the current World Champion (Hamilton) and the runaway leader this year (Button). But there’s just \*\*one race a year \*\*in this country, [attended by 207,000 over the 3 days](http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/ne_archive4d55.html?item_id=48) (including practice and qualification). **Every week** in the soccer season, [around 708,000 people](http://www.4thegame.com/statistics/premiership/attendances/) go to watch just the top Division (and there are 3 other Divisions). As for participants, I guess maybe 100 Englishmen have ever driven a Formula 1 car. [(In 2008) football is played in England by approximately 7 million adults and children, with 125,000 teams competing in 1,700 affiliated leagues. There are currently 26,000 referees, 150,000 qualified coaches and over 400,000 volunteers helping to run the game.](http://www.allpartyfootball.com/ADD_EV_FA%20Written%20Evidence.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/30 "2009-06-16T11:33:58Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > How does football compare to Formula 1 in a country like Monaco? > > What about gymnastics in eastern Europe? Gymnastics in Eastern Europe can be fairly big in terms of people doing it but not in terms of people watching it. Broad popular participation dates back to the turn of the century (around 1900, that is) when Czechs and other Slavs gathered in nationalistic gymnastic associations called _Sokol_ (Eagle). These _sokols_ gathered in Prague every once in a while to participate in massive demonstrations of their skills. In communist times, this became the Spartakiáda, with hundreds of thousands of participants (see [here](http://images.google.nl/images?hl=nl&q=spartakiada&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUtrL3NoGLc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUtrL3NoGLc)). Nowadays, though, while sokols still exist, I don’t think participation is really very widespread, and in popular culture it certainly does not come even remotely close to football. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/31 "2009-06-16T11:44:38Z")
Football and Cricket, numbers 1 & 2 in the world rankings. And we invented 'em 😃 cue “Land of Hope and Glory”… ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/32 "2009-06-16T12:30:42Z")
Way to go **Chowder**. It’s a shame the English are doing so poorly at both of them 😃 Cue ‘Such a Shame’ - Talk Talk ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/33 "2009-06-16T13:03:49Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > The weird thing is how regional it is in Australia. Like I would be hard-pressed to say any of those are the biggest sport. You could say AFL is biggest in Melbourne (either that or cricket) but then it’s nothing in Sydney. No, AFL isn’t “nothing” in Sydney. It is, however, the 4th most important version of football (after Rugby League, Rugby, and Soccer, in that order). There’s one AFL team based in Sydney, the Swans, which won the AFL championship in 2005 (against West Coast, so there was no Victorian team in that Grand Final). ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/34 "2009-06-16T13:29:06Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Way to go **Chowder**. It’s a shame the English are doing so poorly at both of them 😃 > > Cue ‘Such a Shame’ - Talk Talk I beg your pardon sir. World Cup Qualifiers: England, played 7 won 7 20/20s Cricket: OK we lost to Holland that well known powerhouse of cricket, a mere blip that my good man, a mere blip. We beat Pakistan just to show who is numero uno U21s Football. Thrashed Finland 2-1. cue " And did those feet in ancient times…" ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/35 "2009-06-16T13:34:13Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > cue " And did those feet in ancient times…" So, you are alleging that Jesus Christ invented football and cricket when he visited Britain “in ancient times”. It all makes sense now. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/36 "2009-06-16T13:36:50Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > So, you are alleging that Jesus Christ invented football and cricket when he visited Britain “in ancient times”. It all makes sense now. Yes I am, he played RFB for Accrington Stanley in the Cup Final of 54ad when they beat Scunthorpe 3-1. Not a lot of people know that ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/37 "2009-06-16T14:04:32Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Both. > > Hockey is the biggest sport in northern Sweden, but most people live in the south. I visited Sweden many years ago (my soccer club did a two week tour) and all of the young women I met seemed to be a lot more interested in golf than soccer. This was in Malmo. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/38 "2009-06-16T14:05:24Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Yes I am, he played RFB for Accrington Stanley in the Cup Final of 54ad when they beat Scunthorpe 3-1. [Most Obscure Reference Ever] Accrington Stanley? Who’re _they_? [/MORE] ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/39 "2009-06-16T14:35:23Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I visited Sweden many years ago (my soccer club did a two week tour) and all of the young women I met seemed to be a lot more interested in golf than soccer. This was in Malmo. Hmm… weird. When would many years ago have been? Cause I really don’t think there’s any competition when it comes to fanbase, talk-on-town, general knowledge and somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/40 "2009-06-16T15:27:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [Most Obscure Reference Ever] Accrington Stanley? Who’re _they_? [/MORE] No cultural reference is too obscure for the Wikipedia: [Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accrington_Stanley_F.C._(1891)) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829.md?page=3)