Iceland Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Iceland
Wondering what sports the Icelanders like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Iceland in this post. ⚽️
The Most Popular Icelandic Sports
Find below Iceland national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Football |
| 2 | Golf |
| 3 | Equestrian |
| 4 | Handball |
| 5 | Basketball |
| 6 | Badminton |
| 7 | Athletics |
So there you have them, the most popular sports in Iceland! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Iceland.
What is the National Sport of Iceland?
The national sport of Iceland is handball. Quite surprisingly, handball is what can be considered the national sport of Iceland. In fact, Iceland’s team is one of the best ones in the world, and the sport is much appreciated as a whole, even though it is only 4th on this list.
Learn More About Iceland Popular Sports
Iceland is a Nordic island located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is the most sparsely populated country in Europe, and its capital city is Reykjavík, which counts more than 131,000 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 Iceland’s popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Football
The most popular sport in Iceland is, like in many countries around the world, football. While the national football team was not very successful, recent times have changed it all. It qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and reached the quarterfinals at the 2016 Euro, losing to France.
There are now many successful Icelandic Football players and coaches, like Gylfi Sigurðsson (player) and Eiður Guðjohnsen (coach). The latter won 2 Premier League titles with Chelsea FC, as well as La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League title with FC Barcelona.
Number of Football licensed players in Iceland: 23,000
Famous Icelandic Football players: Gylfi Sigurðsson, Eiður Guðjohnsen, Hermann Hreiðarsson, Heiðar Helguson, Rúnar Kristinsson, Eyjólfur Sverrisson, Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson, Kolbeinn Sigþórsson
Golf
The second most popular sport in Iceland is golf. This might come as a surprise, but golf is indeed very popular in Iceland. While most countries relegate the sport to the bottom of the table because of how expensive it is reputed to be, and how it is reserved for the upper class, Iceland loves golf.
The most successful golfer from Iceland is definitely Ólafía Þórunn Kristinsdóttir, who has played full-time on the LPGA Tour. For the rest of the country, most golfers are amateurs, but there are tons of them: almost 20,000 registered players!
Number of Golf licensed players in Iceland: 19,800
Famous Icelandic Golf players: Ólafía Þórunn Kristinsdóttir, Hörður Barðdal
Equestrian
The third most popular sport in Iceland is equestrian.
Horse riding is very popular in Iceland, but not really on a competitive level. Instead, the country is reputed worldwide for its breeds. The Icelandic horses originate from the island, and they are a small breed. It is actually forbidden by law to import other horses into the country, and this breed is extremely popular internationally. There are other populations of Icelandic horses in Europe and in North America. The breed is used for racing, showing, leisure, and sheepherding work.
Handball
The fourth most popular sport is handball, Iceland national sport. The national team is one of the top-ranked teams in the world, as it won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and a bronze medal at the 2010 European Championship.
The governing body of handball in the country is the Icelandic Handball Association, which was founded in 1957. It organizes the national leagues for both men and women, as well as the Icelandic Cup.
Famous Icelandic Handball players: Ólafur Stefánsson, Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson, Aron Pálmarsson, Róbert Gunnarsson, Snorri Guðjónsson, Björgvin Páll Gústavsson, Ýmir Örn Gíslason
Basketball
The fifth most popular sport in Iceland is basketball.
While Iceland is not as successful in basketball as it is in other sports, the Iceland men’s national basketball team is still an international-level team. They qualified for the EuroBasket tournament twice and made their first-ever appearance in 2015. They are also part of smaller European tournaments like the Games of the Small States of Europe. They still did not make their debut at the FIBA World Cup though.
Famous Icelandic Basketball players: Petur Gudmundsson, Ægir Steinarsson, Kári Jónsson, Hilmar Smári Henningsson, Davíð Arnar Ágústsson, Tryggvi Hlinason, Sigtryggur Arnar Björnsson
Badminton
The sixth most popular sport in Iceland is badminton. Quite rare in many countries, badminton is widely appreciated on the island. There is a national badminton team in Iceland, and it ranked at best 24th in the 1993 and 1999 Sudirman Cup, and while it has participated in the European Team Badminton Championships, it has yet to reach the knockout stage: from 2006 to 2020, the team lost in the group stage.
Nevertheless, the sport is still vastly popular amongst amateurs, especially among younger generations.
Famous Icelandic Badminton players: Broddi Kristjánsson, Árni Þór Hallgrímsson, Elsa Nielsen, Ragna Ingólfsdóttir
Athletics
The seventh most popular sport in Iceland is athletics. Last but not least, athletics are a huge part of Iceland’s sports history. There are many very successful Icelandic athletes, like shot putter Gunnar Huseby, who became one of the country’s first international champions after winning 2 gold medals at the European Athletics Championships in 1946 and 1950.
There is an annual marathon in the country, the Reykjavík Marathon. It counts around 10,000 people participating in various races, and it is held in mid-August.
Famous Icelandic Athletics players: Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Vala Flosadóttir, Aníta Hinriksdóttir, Gunnar Huseby, Torfi Bryngeirsson, Örn Clausen, Jón Arnar Magnússon, Hreinn Halldórsson
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Iceland. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.
In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Iceland 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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