Cuba Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Cuba
Wondering what sports the Cubans like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Cuba in this post. ⚾️
The Most Popular Cuban Sports
Find below Cuba national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Baseball |
| 2 | Football |
| 3 | Basketball |
| 4 | Athletics |
| 5 | Boxing |
| 6 | Volleyball |
So there you have them, the most popular Cuban sports! Keep reading below for more information about each Cuba favorite sport.
What is Cuba National Sport?
Cuba national sport is baseball. Even though it is officially an amateur sport, it is a very important part of the Cuban national identity. Generally speaking, Cubans are involved in the sport, quite knowledgeable, and absolutely enjoy watching long home runs.
Learn More About Cuba Popular Sports
Cuba is an archipelago located in Central America. It has a very rich cultural heritage, and its capital city is Havana, which has 2,130,000 inhabitants.
An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all of Cuba’s popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Baseball
The most popular sport and the national sport in Cuba is by far and away baseball. Historically, baseball comes from the United States, and it is still very much appreciated there. Despite how surprising that sounds, Cuba, one of the country’s nemesis, is also an absolute fan of baseball.
Nowadays, 62% of Cubans state they play baseball, and it is the official sport of the country. Many people around Cuba know everything about baseball, and children start training and competing at a very young age.
Number of Baseball licensed players in Cuba: 62% of Cubans (~7 million)
Famous Cuban Baseball players: Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Céspedes, Aroldis Chapman, José Abreu, José Canseco, Liván Hernández, Jorge Soler, Yuli Gurriel, Adeiny Hechavarria, José Iglesias
Football
The second most popular sport in Cuba is football. It is overseen by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba, which rules over the national team as well as the national league, the Campeonato Nacional. There are 16 clubs in the Campeonato.
Football is very popular in the country, especially amongst young generations. This might mean that the future of the country will be, like many others, filled with black and white balls. Most of these young fans support clubs from La Liga in Spain, especially Barcelona or Real Madrid.
The first Cuban to sign a professional contract after the 1961 ban on sports was Maikel Reyes, who joined a Mexican team in 2016.
Famous Cuban Football players: Juan Tuñas, Osvaldo Alonso, Jorge Luis Corrales, Ariel Martínez, Keiler García, Maykel Galindo, Yordany Álvarez, Léster Moré, Rey Ángel Martínez
Basketball
The third most popular sport in Cuba is basketball. Despite how popular baseball and football are in Cuba, basketball is still one of the top sports in the country.
Historically, the Cuban national team was very successful, especially at the 1972 Summer Olympics when it won the bronze medal after having beaten Italy in the last match.
This is yet another American sport that is very popular in the country, even though on the decline. Because of this, players, like Lázaro Borrell and Andrés Guibert, often choose to expatriate to the United States.
Famous Cuban Basketball players: Lázaro Borrell, Andrés Guibert, Ruperto Herrera Tabio, Pedro Chappé, Juan Carlos Domecq, Franklin Standard, Jasiel Rivero Fernández, Karel Guzmán Abreu
Athletics
The fourth most popular sport in Cuba is athletics. These sports are governed by the Federación Cubana de Atletismo or Cuban Athletics Federation. It was founded in 1922, under the name Unión Atlética Amateur de Cuba, which was, therefore, an amateur league. In 1961, it dissolved, replaced by the FCA.
Nowadays, Cuba is very successful when it comes to athletics on an international scale. Over all the Olympic Games, the country has won 45 medals, including 11 Gold, 14 Silver, and 20 Bronze.
Famous Cuban Athletics players: Javier Sotomayor, Alberto Juantorena, Iván Pedroso, Ana Fidelia Quirot, María Caridad Colón, Silvio Leonard, Dayron Robles, Maritza Martén, Anier García, Osleidys Menéndez
Boxing
The fifth most popular sport in Cuba is boxing. Boxing used to be extremely popular in Cuba, especially during the pre-revolution era. Boxers like Kid Gavilan were the pride of the country in the 1950s. As a matter of fact, he has been part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, ever since its creation in 1990. At that time, traditional cockfighting and gambling sports were also spread in the country.
Nowadays, it is still appreciated, and there are around 80 boxers of Olympic competence, even though only 12 actually make it to the Olympics.
Number of Boxing licensed players in Cuba: 19,000
Famous Cuban Boxing players: Kid Chocolate, Teófilo Stevenson, Kid Gavilan, Félix Savón, Guillermo Rigondeaux, José Nápoles, Benny Paret, Luis Manuel Rodríguez, José Legrá
Volleyball
The sixth most popular sport in Cuba is volleyball. It is one of the most played sports on the island. Believe it or not, it is on an international level that Cuba shines most.
The national women’s volleyball team, “The Spectacular Caribbean Girls”, is currently the best team in the world! They won 3 Olympic gold medals in a row, and are widely regarded as the best team in the history of the sport.
With all this success, they quickly became the pride of the country, as well as a symbol of Cuban women.
Famous Cuban Volleyball players: Wilfredo León Venero, Osmany Juantorena, Yoandry Leal, Regla Torres Herrera, Robertlandy Simón Aties, Leonel Marshall, Mireya Luis, Regla Bell
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Cuba. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today. Keep reading below to get a few more facts.
Why is baseball the most popular sport in Cuba?
Baseball is an American sport. It was created as a development of old bat-and-ball games from Great Britain and Ireland. However, considering the complicated (to say the least) history between Cuba and the United States, it might come to you as a surprise that the sport is so popular there.
Well, it was brought to the country by Cuban students who studied in the United States. It replaced old colonial Spanish sports and is now strongly associated with Cuban nationalism. Fidel Castro made sure the sport became even more popular.
Is boxing still banned in Cuba?
In case you didn’t know, in 1961, the Cuban revolutionary government banned professional boxing in the country, even though Cuba was a boxing powerhouse. This was due to boxing being a capitalist industry based on profit, which conflicted with the government’s communist values.
Since 2013 though, the 50+ years ban was finally lifted, and Cuban boxers can now join an international semi-pro league, within sponsored teams.
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Cuba sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?
Then check out these posts:
Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.
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