Sport in Europe


Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues.
The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.

Main events

Association football

is the most popular sport in almost all countries of Europe.
European national teams have won 12 of 22 editions of the FIFA World Cup. Italy and Germany have won four titles each, followed by France with two titles and England and Spain, which each won the World Cup once.
UEFA, the governing body for European football, has hosted the UEFA European Championship since 1960, and the UEFA Women's Championship since 1984.
The most popular and successful football leagues are the Big Five: the English Premier League; the Spanish La Liga; the German Bundesliga; the Italian Serie A; and the French Ligue 1. Other main football leagues on the continent include the Portuguese Primeira Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, the Russian Premier League and the Turkish Süper Lig. The top clubs in each league play the UEFA Champions League, while lower-ranked clubs compete in UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League.

Followers

As of 2024, the top 10 most popular sports clubs on social media are all football clubs from Europe:

Attendances

The UEFA clubs with an average home league attendance of at least 20,000 in the 2024-25 and 2025 seasons:
#ClubCountryAverage
1Borussia DortmundGermany81,365
2Bayern MünchenGermany75,000
3Manchester UnitedEngland73,747
4Real MadridSpain72,701
5AC MilanItaly71,544
6InternazionaleItaly70,129
7Olympique de MarseilleFrance63,553
8West Ham UnitedEngland62,464
9AS RomaItaly62,435
10SchalkeGermany61,639
11Tottenham HotspurEngland61,127
12Atlético de MadridSpain60,883
13Liverpool FCEngland60,330
14ArsenalEngland60,251
15VfB StuttgartGermany59,265
16CelticScotland58,903
17BenficaPortugal58,746
18Eintracht FrankfurtGermany57,600
19HSVGermany56,324
20AjaxNetherlands54,263
21HerthaGermany53,191
22Borussia MönchengladbachGermany53,078
23Manchester CityEngland52,591
24Newcastle UnitedEngland52,187
25Real BetisSpain51,542
26Olympique lyonnaisFrance50,994
27SSC NapoliItaly50,989
281. FC KölnGermany49,929
29Athletic ClubSpain48,401
30RangersScotland48,255
31Paris Saint-GermainFrance47,603
32FeyenoordNetherlands47,235
331. FC KaiserslauternGermany46,348
34FC BarcelonaSpain46,005
35RB LeipzigGermany45,045
36LazioItaly44,786
37Valencia CFSpain43,042
38GalatasarayTurkey43,039
39SportingPortugal42,529
40LOSCFrance42,417
41Aston VillaEngland42,079
42Fortuna 95Germany41,488
43Werder BremenGermany41,403
44FC PortoPortugal40,609
45Sunderland AFCEngland40,425
46JuventusItaly40,237
47ChelseaEngland39,611
48EvertonEngland39,173
49Hannover 96Germany38,300
50RC LensFrance37,936
511. FC NürnbergGermany37,408
52Leeds UnitedEngland36,134
53ZenitRussia35,691
54Sevilla FCSpain35,574
55PSVNetherlands34,338
56SC FreiburgGermany34,188
57FenerbahçeTurkey33,571
58Mainz 05Germany32,390
59Brighton & Hove AlbionEngland31,482
60Leicester CityEngland31,448
61Southampton FCEngland30,865
62Wolverhampton WanderersEngland30,660
63AS Saint-ÉtienneFrance30,288
64FC NantesFrance30,269
65Nottingham ForestEngland30,059
66Bayer LeverkusenGermany29,961
67Genoa CFCItaly29,898
68Real SociedadSpain29,877
69FC AugsburgGermany29,820
70Ipswich TownEngland29,742
71TwenteNetherlands29,662
72St. PauliGermany29,506
73Karlsruher SCGermany29,492
74Derby CountyEngland29,018
75Dynamo DresdenGermany28,991
76Lech PoznańPoland28,947
77AIKSweden28,589
78Young BoysSwitzerland28,482
79BeşiktaşTurkey28,393
80FC KøbenhavnDenmark28,205
81Sheffield UnitedEngland28,087
82Bologna FCItaly28,007
83Coventry CityEngland27,816
84FC KrasnodarRussia27,561
85Stade rennaisFrance27,375
86OlympiacosGreece26,969
87FulhamEngland26,826
88Sheffield WednesdayEngland26,636
89Norwich CityEngland26,316
90Birmingham CityEngland26,283
91FC BaselSwitzerland26,150
92US LecceItaly26,007
93AlemanniaGermany25,861
94EspanyolSpain25,640
95Toulouse FCFrance25,566
96VfL BochumGermany25,546
97Middlesbrough FCEngland25,416
981899 HoffenheimGermany25,309
991. FC MagdeburgGermany25,300
100Crystal PalaceEngland25,064
101West Bromwich AlbionEngland25,057
102Hellas VeronaItaly24,882
103Legia WarszawaPoland24,867
104Málaga CFSpain24,857
105VfL WolfsburgGermany24,596
106OGC NiceFrance24,299
107Hansa RostockGermany24,269
108HammarbySweden23,579
109sc HeerenveenNetherlands23,389
110UD Las PalmasSpain23,010
111Maccabi HaifaIsrael22,953
112Torino FCItaly22,947
113Stoke CityEngland22,804
114AtalantaItaly22,700
115Club BruggeBelgium22,496
116Bristol CityEngland22,423
117FC GroningenNetherlands22,231
118SampdoriaItaly22,077
119Hajduk SplitCroatia22,028
1201. FC UnionGermany21,953
121UdineseItaly21,834
122Brøndby IFDenmark21,659
123Deportivo de La CoruñaSpain21,571
124Celta de VigoSpain21,504
125Bolton WanderersEngland21,325
126Hull CityEngland21,323
127Arminia BielefeldGermany21,245
128Real SportingSpain21,131
129BTSV EintrachtGermany21,080
130Palermo FCItaly20,730
131Real OviedoSpain20,673
132FC UtrechtNetherlands20,658
133OsasunaSpain20,476
134Maccabi Tel AvivIsrael20,442
135FiorentinaItaly20,390
136Malmö FFSweden20,273
137Portsmouth FCEngland20,263
138Le Havre ACFrance20,218
139Real Racing ClubSpain20,212

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