The sport of football remains hugely popular around the globe. In most countries it’s the most popular sport to play and watch. Over 3.5 billion people around the world follow football.

In some countries, football is almost a religion but there are still some in which there are other more popular sports.

It’s long been an aim for FIFA to see the popularity of football increase in North America. It’s not always been an easy target with Americans and Canadians still in love with sports such as ice-hockey, basketball and of course American Football.America has embraced football, even if they do insist on calling it ‘soccer.’ The Major Soccer League (MLS) has grown in popularity over the years. 1994 saw them host the FIFA World Cup and they will do so again in 2026. The USA will co-host the tournament with Canada and Mexico.

Having a successful national team is important and while not world-beaters, the USA have made several appearances in World Cup finals and reached the knockout stages in the past. Just over half of Americans asked if they’d be watching the 2022 World Cup said that they would.

Football is becoming far more popular in Canada. They haven’t had as much success on the world stage but are improving. 2022 saw them make it to the World Cup finals for only the second time in their history. In 2026, they will be the co-hosts of the World Cup. Research by Nielsen Fan Insights has found that interest in football has increased 32.8% since it was announced they will stage ten matches during the 2026 tournament.

This year saw them being invited to take part in the Copa America tournament. They lost to the eventual champions Argentina but beat Peru and drew with Chile to qualify for the knockout stages.

The quarter-finals saw them beat Venezuela on penalties but they then lost again to Argentina, this time in the semi-finals. The Canadians lost the third/fourth play-off to Uruguay on penalties but that kind of performance is bound to even further increase interest in the sport in Canada.

In terms of the numbers playing the sport, football is top of the list in Canada. The Canadian Premier League is popular and they also have three teams that play in the MLS. Betting on the sport at sites such as Powerplay is also increasing and co-hosting the World Cup will bring in huge amounts of revenue.

The popularity of football in Europe continues to be extremely high. From Spain to France and Germany to Italy, football is the top sport in their nation.

England may not win trophies but they do have what is regarded as the best domestic competition in the world. The English Premier League attracts interest from all around the globe.

Football originated in England in the 19th century so it’s no surprise that it remains the national sport.

Croatia have enjoyed a lot of success in the footballing world. Three times they have finished in the top four of the FIFA World Cup and were runners-up in 2018. Last year saw them beaten by Spain in the UEFA Nations League. With such success by the national team, it isn’t surprising the Croatian population can’t get enough of the game. Like many other countries such as Finland, Croatia has England to thank for their citizens becoming interested in football. English engineers introduced the game to their Croatian colleagues in 1873 and the rest is history.

In South America, Brazilians adore football even if their national team hasn’t won the World Cup since 2002. When the 2022 World Cup was held, 85.9% of Brazilians said they had interest in watching matches. That was the second-highest percentage in the world. Only the hosts Qatar had a higher percentage with 89.5%.

There are still some countries where football is not the most popular sport. In India, it’s cricket that tops the list and they recently won the T20 World Cup. India has never had a successful national football team. If that changed, it’d be interesting to see just how popular that would make the sport.

That part of the world is definitely in love with cricket. That sport is also the most popular in both Pakistan and Bangladesh.

China’s most popular sport is basketball. They have tried to make football more popular and their domestic league at one time spent huge amounts on attracting overseas players. The Philippines also loves basketball and regularly holds big tournaments. Those are two countries with massive populations. If football could take over as the most popular sport then the overall global figures would greatly increase. Japan co-hosted the World Cup in 2002 but it’s baseball that is the most popular sport in that country. Again, it’s a country with a huge population and if football could win over more fans, an already incredibly popular sport would reach more heights.

In 2025, an expanded FIFA Club World Cup takes place. With 48 countries taking part in the 2026 World Cup finals, even more interest in the sport is expected.