Peru Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Peru
Wondering what sports the Peruvians like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Peru in this post. ⚽️
The Most Popular Peruvian Sports
Find below Peru national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Football |
| 2 | Basketball |
| 3 | Volleyball |
| 4 | Tennis |
| 5 | Surfing |
| 6 | Rugby union |
| 7 | Taekwondo |
So there you have them, the favorite sports in Peru! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Peru.
What is the National Sport of Peru?
While this is not official, paleta frontón is the national sport of Peru. The sport was created in the capital city of Lima in 1945 and is similar to Spain’s basque pelota, which was brought by the Spanish settlers.
The frontón court is a playing field with a concrete wall. It is split into two parts, and players use a paddle made from Peruvian oak to smash a black rubber ball against the wall.
Learn More About Peru Popular Sports
Peru is a Spanish-speaking country that lies in western South America. It is bordered by Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile, and its capital city is Lima, which counts more than 9,751,000 inhabitants (but more than 10,882,000 if you include the metropolitan area!).
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 Peru’s popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Football
The most popular sport in Peru is, by far, football. Like many other South American countries, Peru is crazy about football. The sport is almost considered a religion, and everyone in the country loves both playing and watching the game.
The sport was introduced to the country by British immigrants in the second half of the 19th century, and it has never left since then.
The Peruvian national football team has competed in the FIFA World Cup 5 times, in 1930, 1970, 1978, 1982, and 2018, and their best achievement is the quarterfinals (twice).
Famous Peruvian Football players: Paolo Guerrero, Teófilo Cubillas, Jefferson Farfán, Claudio Pizarro, Yoshimar Yotún, Nolberto Solano, Héctor Chumpitaz, Hugo Sotil, Teodoro Fernández
Basketball
The second most popular sport in Peru is basketball.
While basketball is very popular in Peru, it does not come close to football. This was not always the case, however, as the sport used to be much more popular than it is now. In fact, Peru had its golden age of basketball until the middle of the 1970s, when it had one of the best South American basketball teams.
Nowadays, international victories are less and less frequent. The last major success of the Peruvian basketball team was at the 1973 South American Basketball Championship when they earned a bronze medal.
Famous Peruvian Basketball players: Guillermo Ahrens, Oscar Benalcázar, Antonio Oré, Armando Rossi, Rolando Bacigalupo, Manuel Arce, Rodolfo Soracco, Manuel Valerio
Volleyball
The third most popular sport in Peru is volleyball.
Similar to basketball, the national volleyball team used to be one of the best in the continent. This time, it is the women’s team that was one of the powerhouses during the 1980s. Their last big achievement was a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Now, the sport remains popular among the youth, but international success remains to be seen. Volleyball is still most popular among women in Peru.
Famous Peruvian Volleyball players: Cecilia Tait, Raffaella Camet, Natalia Málaga, Cenaida Uribe, Paola García, Ana Cecilia Carrillo, Katherine Horny, Leyla Chihuán, Gabriela Pérez del Solar
Tennis
The fourth most popular sport in Peru is tennis.
Peru has produced notorious tennis players, like Luis Horna, Jaime Yzaga, and Pablo Arraya. Their best respective ranking is #33 (singles) and #15 (doubles), #18 (singles) and #54 (doubles) and #29 (singles) and #85 (doubles).
The national court for the best players is located in Lima, in the district of Jesús María. It is called Club Lawn Tennis de la Exposición, and it was founded in 1884. It then became the home court of the golden 1980s tennis generation of Peru.
Famous Peruvian Tennis players: Luis Horna, Jaime Yzaga, Laura Arraya, Pablo Arraya, Alex Olmedo, Carlos Di Laura, Patricia Kú Flores, Bianca Botto, Matías Silva, Alejandro Aramburú
Surfing
The fifth most popular sport in Peru is surfing.
Peru boasts itself with an incredible 2,414 km / 1,500 mi of splendid Pacific Ocean coastline. There are amazing cliffs, beaches, and landscapes, and because of this tons of locals and tourists enjoy water sports, especially surfing.
When it comes to competition, the national surfing team has won 2 Copa América trophies, in 1939 and 1975. Sofía Mulánovich was also crowned Women’s World Surf Champion in 2004.
Famous Peruvian Surfing players: Sergio Barreda, Lucca Mesinas, Daniella Rosas, Sofía Mulánovich, Miguel Tudela
Rugby union
The sixth most popular sport in Peru is rugby union. While rugby union remains minor in Peru, it is definitely growing over the years. There is also a national rugby league team.
The governing body of rugby union in Peru is the Unión Peruana de Rugby, and the sport dates back to 1885 when the first casual game was played. There are 6 clubs in the country and 660 registered players.
As for women, they have been playing international sevens rugby but no test match rugby has been played yet.
Number of Rugby union licensed players in Peru: 660
Famous Peruvian Rugby union players: Luis Aita Falconi, Thanasis Fotinias, Luis Monier, Juan Pablo Del Pino, Joshua Carnero, Lucas Barrio de Mendoza, Carlos Armas, Christian Santome
Taekwondo
The seventh and last most popular sport in Peru is taekwondo. Taekwondo arrived in Peru thanks to Byon Oh Park, who introduced it in Lima at the end of the 1970s. He was later joined by Jon Hye to help him spread the sport in the country.
The golden age of taekwondo in Peru was during the middle of the 1990s, but nowadays it has lost its prestige. Despite this, continuous efforts are being made to rebuild the sport, and Peter López Santos was ranked 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Famous Peruvian Taekwondo players: Peter López Santos, Julissa Diez Canseco
So there you have them, these were all the most popular Peruvian sports. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today. Keep reading to get a few more facts.
Is Peru known for soccer?
Yes. There are many reasons why Peru is known for soccer.
First, the sport has a long history in the country, compared to the United States for instance. It very rapidly spread and stuck for centuries. Besides, Peru has produced some amazing soccer players, especially during its golden generation of the 1970s. Finally, there is soccer all around the year, unlike the NFL or the MLB in the US.
Why do they play soccer in Peru?
Like in many other countries, the major reason for Peruvians to play so much soccer is that the sport is very accessible, even to the most unprivileged. The rules are also very simple, and the sport is ancient, so it has gathered an enormous fan base and player base over the decades.
Now, everyone in Peru, especially kids, loves playing soccer.
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Peru 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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