Sports are well liked all over the world, but in order to identify the MOST popular sport it is very tough. Different criteria have been employed to quantify popularity of sports like TV viewer, attendance, numbers, and revenue generator. However, the popularity of sports worldwide has been increasing at a faster speed. These world’s most popular sports have changed the lives of sportsman, athletes and the like.

Here we have enumerated top 10 sports of the world.

• Soccer / Association football
• Cricket
• Field Hockey
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Table Tennis
• Baseball
• Golf
• Basketball
• NFL

Soccer / Association football
Soccer is among the largest world top 10 sports. It is so because it has the greatest number of fans who play and watch it. Soccer boasts the biggest fan base in the world and certainly, everybody adores the beautiful game.

Soccer, as per the Bleacher Report on Most Popular Sports, is played in 208 nations and its fan base is first in 93 nations with a combined population of 2 billion. It ranks in the top 3 sports in 100 nations with 3 billion inhabitants. The World Cup of soccer is the biggest and most profitable sporting event; Soccer is a team sport so that up to 22 individuals can play in a single game which enhances team spirit.

Cricket
Cricket is among the most famous and top 10 sports globally. It is the 2nd most viewed sports in the world with 2-3 billion followers (in India, UK, Pakistan, Australia, Asia, etc.). Cricket is the most favorite sport and both professionals and amateurs play it. The popularity of cricket differs from country to country and the largest tournament of cricket is the ICC Cricket World Cup that takes place every 4 years. ICC T20 World Cup is also picking up pace and this World Cup of the shorter version of the game is conducted every 2 years.

Field Hockey
Field Hockey is one of the world’s top 10 sports. It is as old as the 3rd century BC. It has a fan base of 2 billion spectators and enjoys viewership from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. It stands at number 3 in the world’s top 10 sports list. The national sport of Pakistan, China, and Malaysia is Hockey.

Field Hockey has existed since the Middle Ages and it has changed its style and resources over time. This expanding sport is a favorite hobby for many youth. Field hockey is played on a number of various surface types such as turf, grass, and tile, which creates a variety of speeds to the game. Field hockey has varying time commitments depending on the level of play, but the equipment utilized is all the same.

Tennis
Tennis is one of the oldest and most esteemed, world’s top 10 sports. It boasts more than 1 billion fans and it has been in existence for the early years of the 14th century. Tennis enhances the cognitive as well as the psychomotor skill to strike a long-handled tool.

Tennis is the 4th most popular sport globally with 1 billion followers from all over the world. Tennis is one of the oldest and most respected sports.

Volleyball
Volleyball is an easy sport and is world’s most popular sport. Volleyball is one of the world’s top 10 sports. Volleyball has 900 million worldwide following and more than 200 national federations registered. It is the 5th most widely followed sport and has the highest number of registered federations compared to any other sport. Volleyball is a very basic game with minimal equipment and few rules. You just need a ball and a net. It was brought into the Olympic Games way back in 1964 and its beach version was a real kick starter for its explosive growth in popularity globally.

Table Tennis
Table Tennis falls among the world’s top 10 sports. It is played in almost every nation on earth by children and adults, unhealthy and healthy figures alike. It is a sport with little professional platforms for talent exhibition. However, when it comes to playing the game professionally, it is limited to nations such as China, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It has a fan base of approximately 850 million.

Baseball
Baseball is another sport that is American-dominated and it has 500 million fans. The first ever league for the sport was established way back in 1876 and the sport has been on the rise ever since. USA and Japan are among the countries that enjoy baseball even at the street level. The individuals of such regions are ardent about this sport and most of them choose to make a career in baseball right from childhood. Japan and the USA have the largest leagues of the world that go by the names Nippon league and MLB respectively.

Golf
Golf holds the biggest professional potential in developed nations such as USA, United Kingdom, Japan, South Africa and Korea. It is world’s 8th most followed sport and Gold has a huge fan base of 450 million followers worldwide.

Basketball
Basketball is among the most followed games in the present world. The United States is known as the home of basketball and with a fan following of 400 million, basketball is the 9th most followed sport in the world. Basketball is a game which needs both skill and athleticism. Skill is something you develop through regular practice, and practice is what you do in your backyard, driveway or any open area. While indoor basketballs are played on smooth and flat surfaces, outdoor basketballs are designed with a tough outer cover to handle tougher courts. You can use outdoor basketballs to shoot hoops on uneven surfaces such as asphalt, concrete, or even the dirt!

NFL
NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the most professional level of American football globally. The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American Football league with 32 teams split equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). It enjoys a fan base of 400 million and the sport itself brings in revenue of $10 billion per year.