Volleyball is quite popular all around the world, but there aren’t many countries where volleyball is the national game. However, I have found a couple where volleyball is really popular.
In which countries volleyball is the national game?
- Cambodia
- Philippines
- Sri Lanka
- Malaysia
- Haiti
- Iran
- Vietnam
- Brazil
- Poland
- Bulgaria
1. Cambodia
Cambodia is an exotic country and its citizens love sport. Sports like football, hockey, rugby, or golf are gaining popularity, but volleyball is still considered the national sport of this country. Citizens can play volleyball almost everywhere and every time and it doesn’t demand any special equipment besides the ball and the net. The simplicity of this sport made it so popular in this exotic country. The National Team of Cambodia isn’t strong in volleyball. The biggest success is a bronze medal in the Asian Games in 1970. Beach volleyball is also quite popular here. The World Tour events take place in Phnom Penh.
2. Philippines
When I was in the Philippines on holidays a couple of years ago, I was astounded by the beauty of this country. But what focused my attention more was the ubiquity of the volleyball games. Doesn’t matter whether you’re on the beach, in the city, or in the suburbs. You can always spot kids or adults playing volleyball. This country has a decent national volleyball team. Philippines women’s national volleyball team won 6 gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games and a couple of others in different competitions. Filipinos also like playing basketball, football, and billiards. Is volleyball a national sport there? It probably is.
3. Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a quite popular tourist destination. It’s affordable and beautiful, but what’s important is its attractiveness for volleyball fans. Although Sri Lanka is in 130th place in the FIVB ranking, the citizens of this country don’t care about it and love volleyball. If you go to Sri Lanka, you can count on a volleyball match with local people. They like the competition and good entertainment. Popular sports here are also cricket, rugby, and netball.
Read it: 20 Absolutely Most Beautiful Volleyball Players (with Instagram)
4. Malaysia
In Asia volleyball is popular. It’s already the 4th country from this continent in the list of countries where volleyball is the national game. In Malaysia volleyball is as popular as football, hockey and badminton. Malaysians eagerly watch the latest volleyball events on TV. They don’t have here any volleyball stars, and they play it only for fun, mostly on the beaches.
5. Haiti
Haiti loves football, but they are into volleyball as well. You probably haven’t heard of the National Team of Haiti in the news, because they aren’t successful. Like in other cases, if you go to Haiti on holidays, there will be many people on the beaches playing volleyball almost all the time. People here are friendly, and they respect each other during a match.
6. Iran
Volleyball for a couple of years is rapidly gaining popularity in Iran. When the National team plays, the stands are always full. Supporters are fanatical and can distract almost every opposite team. Everyone, even the strongest team in the world can lose a match in Iran. Where is Iran on the list of the strongest volleyball men’s nations? Get to know it in this post. For a couple of years, Iran is one of the best Asian team, and they perform well in the other competitions. That’s one of the most important factors in the popularity of volleyball in Iran. They have great players and even better team with great fans.
7. Vietnam
In Vietnam, the national sport is Da Cau. It sounds unfamiliar, but the sport is similar to volleyball. People play it really often. When it comes to volleyball, village people play it often after a hard day of work in the fields. Football, basketball, and cricket are popular in Vietnam too.
8. Brazil
Everyone knows that Brazil loves football. But even though, Brazil has more volleyball fans than the rest of the countries in this list combined. Volleyball is broadcasted on TV and girls practice this sport the most. Almost 16 millions Brazilians practice volleyball. Volleyball in Brazil is way more popular than basketball, formula 1 and tennis. The national teams both men’s and women’s are extremely strong, and they rule in volleyball for 50 years. Brazilian clubs are also extremely strong. Where is Brazil in the list of the best volleyball leagues? Learn it here. Brazilian volleyball players are as recognizable as football players, which is pretty rare. We can easily call volleyball the second religion in this Southern American country.
9. Poland
Like in Brazil, people in Poland are crazy about football and volleyball. The difference is the volleyball team is way more successful. The popularity of volleyball is tremendous here. Don’t be surprised if you go to Poland and in most bars and restaurants you’ll find volleyball games on TV. When there is some important volleyball even, for example, the World Championship, people in Poland invite each other to support the team together and everyone is talking about it. In 2014, Polish fans set the record of the most supporters on the stands during one match. There were 63.000 people at the National Stadium watching the match Poland-Serbia in the World Championship. You can find more surprising volleyball facts in this article. Also, Polish clubs are fantastic, and they are considered one of the best volleyball clubs in the world. If you want to see the full list of the best volleyball clubs, click here.
10. Bulgaria
If you are interested in volleyball, I bet you know players like Matey Kaziyski, Tsvetan Sokolov or Georgi Bratoev. They are the leading players of the National Bulgarian Team. They are quite successful in men’s and women’s volleyball. In 2018, the women’s team won the National League. Fans in Bulgaria are crazy about this sport. I can compare their support to Iran fans. They are fanatics and support their team strong, so when Bulgaria plays home, they have a huge advantage. Other popular sports in Bulgaria are tennis and football. Volleyball is in third place when it comes to popularity, but this discipline has the best fans in this country.
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