Netherlands Sports – The Most Popular Sports in the Netherlands
Wondering what sports the Dutch like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in the Netherlands in this post. ⚽️
The Most Popular Dutch Sports
Find below the Netherlands national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Football |
| 2 | Tennis |
| 3 | Golf |
| 4 | Gymnastics |
| 5 | Field hockey |
| 6 | Equestrian |
| 7 | Ice skating |
So there you have them, the most popular sports in the Netherlands! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in the Netherlands.
What is the National Sport of the Netherlands ?
The national sport of the Netherlands is football. Football is a true religion in the Netherlands. In addition to playing soccer in large numbers, the Dutch love to watch football games, the most widely broadcast sport on television in the country.
Learn More About the Netherlands Popular Sports
The Netherlands, also called Holland in many languages, is a small country made of 12 provinces. It is located in the western part of Europe but it also has territories in the Caribbean, and it is bordered by Germany and Belgium. Its capital city is Amsterdam, which counts more than 872,000 inhabitants (but more than 2,480,000 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 the Netherlands popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Football
The most popular sport in the Netherlands is, by far and away, football. You must have heard of many famous Dutch football players, including Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Arjen Robben, and Robin Van Persie. However, while the country has always been very good at the sport, reaching the FIFA World Cup Finals 3 times, they still have to win it all.
The governing body of football in the Netherlands is the Royal Dutch Football Association, which is the biggest sports federation in the country.
Number of Football licensed players in the Netherlands: 1,200,000
Famous Dutch Football players: Johan Cruyff, Dennis Bergkamp, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Edwin van der Sar, Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Ronald Koeman, Frank Rijkaard, Patrick Kluivert, Wesley Sneijder, Johan Neeskens, Frank de Boer, Ruud van Nistelrooy
Tennis
The second most popular sport in the Netherlands is tennis. You might be surprised to see tennis this high in the list, because it is usually said to be a sport for the wealthiest, but Dutch people absolutely love tennis. While the number of players is not even close to the number of registered football players, it is still over 600,000. And for a country with more than 17 million inhabitants, that is a lot.
Tom Okker was one of the most successful Dutch tennis players, and he was nicknamed “The Flying Dutchman”.
Number of Tennis licensed players in the Netherlands: 605,000
Famous Dutch Tennis players: Robin Haase, Richard Krajicek, Tom Okker, Jacco Eltingh, Paul Haarhuis, Martin Verkerk, Sjeng Schalken, Cornelia Bouman, Hendrik Timmer, Betty Stöve
Golf
The third most popular sport in the Netherlands is golf. Similarly to tennis, it sounds surprising to see golf this high up on the list, but Dutch people also love golf!
The most successful Dutch male golfer is definitely Joost Luiten, who won 4 tournaments on the European Tour and represented Europe at the 2013 Seve Trophy and at the 2014 EurAsia Cup. When it comes to women, the best of them is Christel Boeljon who won the Ladies European Tour 4 times.
Number of Golf licensed players in the Netherlands: 380,000
Famous Dutch Golf players: Joost Luiten, Wil Besseling, Robert-Jan Derksen, Reinier Saxton, Daan Huizing, Rolf Muntz, Hendrik Timmer, Dewi Claire Schreefel, Maarten Lafeber, Taco Remkes
Gymnastics
The fourth most popular sport in the Netherlands is gymnastics. The main reason for gymnastics to be so popular in the country is probably the international success of the women’s national team. They have participated in the Olympic Games 7 times and won one gold medal in 1928. They are also consistently placing themselves in the top 10, and have won bronze medals at the European Games and at the European Championships
Their current roster is made of Reina Beltman, Kirsten Polderman, Eythora Thorsdottir, and Mara Titarsolej, among many others.
Number of Gymnastics licensed players in the Netherlands: 241,000
Famous Dutch Gymnastics players: Estella Agsteribbe, Helena Nordheim, Epke Zonderland, Yuri van Gelder, Sanne Wevers, Verona van de Leur, Lieke Wevers, Eythora Thorsdottir, Jeffrey Wammes
Field hockey
The fifth most popular sport in the Netherlands is field hockey. Dutch players are notorious in field hockey. Their governing body, the Royal Dutch Hockey Federation, was founded as early as 1898. There is a national competition, called “Hoofdklasse hockey”, and it is made of 12 teams. It has been held since 1970.
Most importantly, the Dutch women’s national field hockey team is the most successful team in World Cup history, as they won the title 6 times. The men’s team has also won the World Cup 3 times, as well as 2 Olympic gold medals.
Number of Field hockey licensed players in the Netherlands: 240,000
Famous Dutch Field hockey players: Ellen Hoog, Eva de Goede, Maartje Paumen, Naomi van As, Sander de Wijn, Kim Lammers, Robert van der Horst, Marcel Balkestein, Margot van Geffen
Equestrianism
The sixth most popular Dutch sport is equestrian. 200,000 Dutch practice equestrianism. This is yet another sport that is not very popular worldwide but is well ranked in Dutch popular sports.
The Royal Dutch Equestrian Federation oversees equestrianism in the country, and it was founded (after a fusion) in 2002. The country has produced lots of successful horse riders, including Charles Pahud de Mortanges, Jos Lansink, and Gerco Schröder. Most of them became world and Olympic champions in their respective fields.
Number of Equestrianism licensed players in the Netherlands: 200,000
Famous Dutch Equestrianism players: Adelinde Cornelissen, Anky van Grunsven, Ben Schröder, Edward Gal, Elaine Pen, Gerco Schröder, Jos Lansink, Maikel van der Vleuten, Marc Houtzager, Patrick van der Meer, Wim Schröder, Yassine Rahmouni
Ice skating
The seventh and last most popular sport in the Netherlands is ice skating. There are two main disciplines that make ice skating popular: speed skating and figure skating. Both of these are very successful in the Netherlands.
Speed skating was extremely popular around 1900, and Dutch speed skaters are very proficient at the sport: they won 77 world single distance championships since 1996.
For figure skating, the most successful athlete is Sjoukje Dijkstra, who won the World Championships 3 times.
Number of Ice skating licensed players in the Netherlands: 155,000
Famous Dutch Ice skating players: Jan Bazen, Annie Borckink, Kjeld Nuis, Haitske Pijlman, Jan Charisius, Cockie van der Elst, Renate Groenewold, Sanne van der Star, Ingrid Haringa, Jochem Uytdehaage
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in the Netherlands. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today. Keep reading to get a few more facts about Dutch sport.
What sport did the Netherlands invent?
The one sport that the Netherlands invented is korfball. It is a ball sport that resembles netball or basketball, and it is played by 2 teams of 8 players, with 4 female players and 4 male players on each team, which is quite unique, to be honest. The goal of the game is to throw a ball into a netless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m / 11.5 ft high pole.
Is cricket popular in the Netherlands?
Believe it or not, cricket is surprisingly popular in the Netherlands, even though it is not featured in this list.
The sport has been played in the country for centuries, and the national team regularly participates in international cricketing tournaments, including the World Cup. While football and field hockey became much more popular through the 20th century, many cricket clubs survived in the Netherlands.
Are darts big in Holland?
Darts is quite popular as well in the Netherlands, and this can be easily explained: Raymond van Barneveld started amassing World titles throughout the years, which made many players register for the game. There is also a national tournament, the Dutch Open, that was founded in 1973 and is running annually.
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Netherlands 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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