5 Most Famous Sports in the World By: ines martinez
In the whole world there are many sports that exist. The sports can be typical from the country or they can just be for fun. Many people play sports in their daily routine or actually practice sports professionally. That is why I am going to talk about the 5 most famous sports in the world. The 5 most famous sports are: soccer, cricket, basketball, tennis, and hockey. Even that they are the most famous sport in the world it doesn’t mean that only professionals can play. This is an article to prove that anyone can play any sport which they like and enjoy!
SOCCER
The most famous sport out of all of them is soccer. It has been played for more than 3 thousand years. The point of soccer is to kick a ball around a field and score it in your other team’s goal. The first evidence of people playing soccer was in China during the 2nd and 3rd century. It wasn’t the same soccer we play now but it was similar. They kicked leather balls around the field and tried to score the into a net. This was during the Han dynasty. The Romans and the Greeks also used to play soccer. Even though all these people played some kind of soccer where it really started to develop from was England. The way they used to play allowed many more than just kicking the ball you could could also punch and bite people. Those soccer games used to get very intense and people would get hurt. There were many soldiers that also thought this sport was interesting and would miss archery practices just to watch people play. After a while of incidents during this sport King Edward III banned this sport in 1365 due to all the people that had gotten hurt and the soldiers that got distracted. A few years later there were some rules changes and soccer split into two groups a sport in which tripping, kicking, and carrying the ball was allowed which is the sport we know today as rugby. Or another side which was a sport in which your could not usually use your hand and no rough movements like pushing and tripping are allowed, and that is the soccer which we know today. The best soccer teams in the world are FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United FC. The best player is Lionel Messi. The largest event in this sport is the FIFA World Cup. This tournament is done every four years and it is done each time in a different part of the world. Last year the World Cup took place in Brazil. The first World Cup ever took place in Uruguay. This is a very easy game. To play you need to know a couple rules and you don’t even have to be skilled at it, just with kicking the ball around the field you are fine. As long as you don’t touch the ball with your hands (except if you are the goalie).
CRICKET
Cricket is the second most famous sport in the world. It was originated in England. It is the country’s national sport today. This game of Cricket has been being played since the 15th century until today. There have been international matches since the year 1844. Cricket is famous all over the world. But there are some countries where they are specially famous like Australia, the UK, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the Caribbean countries. There is also a World cup, last one was in 2015. There are two teams of 11 players each. One side pitches and the other bats. The point of the game is to bat the ball as far as you can and then with your partner you run from one cone the the other one as many times as you can. The most famous teams are the Indian National cricket team, the West Indies cricket team, and the South African National cricket team. The best cricket player in the world is Sachin Tendulkar. The easiest sport out of all of them so anyone can play this one.
BASKETBALL
Basketball is the third most famous sport in the world. It has billions of spectators worldwide. It’s very famous in countries like the US, China, Europe, and the Philippines. Their biggest league is the National Basketball Association (NBA). For this game one ball is needed and also two basket. The point of the game is to shoot the ball into the opponent's basket. THe basket is 46 cm in diameter. There are two teams with 6 people in each team. Whenever a team has the ball they are attacking and the other team is defending. The attackers have to shoot the ball into the basket that the defenders are defending. There are six different positions in basketball and each one had a different job. The best teams are the Golden State warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Chicago Bulls. The best basketball player is LeBron James. Many people around all the world play this game.
TENNIS
Tennis is the fourth most famous sport in the world. It comes from the Egyptians, the countries. But people from all over the world play tennis. By the 13th century there were 1800 indoor tennis courts. It depends in the people in each team the size of the court. If it’s one person it’s narrower and longer. If it’s in pairs, it’s wider and shorter. The three best tennis players are Roger Federer, Rod Laver, and Steffi Graf. This is the hardest sport out of all of them. This is because you have to be very strong to hit the ball hard. Because the racquets are so heavy it’s take time to gain control over then. Even it is a hard sport it doesn’t mean it is impossible.
HOCKEY
Hockey is the fifth most famous sport in the world. This sport was created in Montreal, Canada, or at least that is the first place where there was writen evidence of the first hockey game. It was March 3, 1875. Like soccer there is also a world championship for hockey. The next one is going to be in 2016 in Toronto, Canada. The NHL (National Hockey League) was first established in 1917. The famous player Joe Malone scored seven goals in one game, this was in 1920. He still holds the record for person with most scored goals in one game. Many people all over the world play hockey and are in teams. The 3 best hockey teams are the Washington team, the Florida team, and the Chicago team. Each one of these teams have very good hockey players but the best hockey player in the world is Sidney Crosby. The rules for this game are also very easy. What you mostly have to do is with your hockey stick hit the puck and shoot it into the goal.
I hope this inspired you to start learning more fun sports that you weren’t trying before because you were scared or for any reason. Now you can try any sport you want and you will away be able to do it because nothing is impossible!