Sports

Discover the most popular sports worldwide, from football to cricket. Explore the global reach of the sports that dominate the world.

American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. It involves physical exertion and skill by passing, running, or kicking the ball.

Origin

United States

Focus

tactics, endurance, physical strength, strategizing

First Played

November 6, 1869

Type

Outdoor
Team sport
Ball game

Archery

Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to propel arrows. It involves shooting arrows at a target for accuracy from a set distance.

Origin

Late Stone Age

Focus

Accuracy, Precision, Concentration, Control

First Played

Around 10,000 BC

Type

Target Archery
Field Archery
3D Archery
Clout Archery
Crossbow Archery
Flight Archery

Athletics

Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking.

Origin

Ancient Greece

Focus

Endurance, Speed, Strength

First Played

776 BC

Type

Track and Field
Road Running
Race Walking
Cross Country Running

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Points are scored by striking the shuttlecock with the racquet and landing it within the opposing side's half of the court.

Origin

Mid-18th century; British India

Focus

Agility, Speed, Endurance, Tactics

Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams who take turns batting and fielding. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat.

Origin

United States

Focus

Tactics, Hand-eye coordination, Speed, Flexibility

First Played

19th Century

Type

Team Sport
Bat-and-ball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport where two teams, most often consisting of five players each, score points by throwing a spherical ball through the opposing team's hoop.

Origin

United States

Focus

Tactics, Endurance, Precision, Speed, Teamwork

First Played

December 1891

Type

Team Sport
Ball Sport

Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport invented by the Swiss in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled.

Origin

Switzerland

Focus

Precision, Speed, Teamwork

First Played

Late 19th Century

Type

Winter Sport
Team Sport

Bowling

Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls or throws a bowling ball toward pins or another target.

Origin

Ancient Egypt

Focus

Precision and Control

Boxing is a combat sport in which two people, wearing protective gloves, throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring.

Origin

Ancient Greece

Focus

Tactics, Endurance, Strength, Speed, Agility

First Played

3rd Millennium BC

Type

Combat Sport
Olympic Sport

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players. It is set on a cricket field centred on a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch with two wickets.

Origin

England, late 16th century

Focus

Tactics, Teamwork, Endurance, Skill

First Played

Late 16th century, England

Type

Test
One Day International
Twenty20

Cycling

Cycling is a sport involving the use of bicycles. It is a widely practiced physical activity that can be done for recreation, transportation, or competitive sport.

Road Cycling
Track Cycling
Mountain Bike Racing
Cyclo-cross
BMX
Time Trial

Darts

Darts is a sport in which small missiles are thrown at a circular target (dartboard) fixed to a wall. It's usually a competitive game in which two or more players bare off against each other.

Origin

United Kingdom

Focus

Precision, Accuracy, Tactics

First Played

19th Century

Type

Precision sports
Target sports
Pub games

Equestrian

Equestrianism, more often known as horse riding or horseback riding, refers to the skill and sport of riding, driving, steeplechasing or vaulting with horses.

Origin

Ancient Greece

Focus

Control, precision, endurance

First Played

As early as 680 BC in the Olympic Games

Type

Dressage
Show Jumping
Eventing

Fencing

Fencing is a sport in which two competitors fight using 'rapier-style' swords, winning points by making contact with their opponent.

Origin

Spain

Focus

Strategy, Agility, Quick Reflexes

First Played

Modern fencing first played in the 18th century

Team Sport
Ball Game
Outdoor

Sports

Discover the most popular sports worldwide, from football to cricket. Explore the global reach of the sports that dominate the world.

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