Sport in Spain

Sport in Spain has been highly successful through the late 20th century and early 21st century, in a wide variety of disciplines. The most popular and high profile sport in Spain is football. Other sports in which Spain is prolific include tennis, basketball, cycling, padel, handball, rugby, rally, motorcycling, judo, Formula One, water sports, dancing, rhythmic gymnastics, bullfighting, golf, and skiing.

High profile Spanish sporting achievements of the 21st century include: Rafael Nadal's 22 major singles titles in tennis; Carlos Alcaraz's 7 major singles titles in tennis; six Davis Cup victories; team victories at the 2006 and the 2019 World Basketball Championships; the FIBA EuroBasket in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2022; Fernando Alonso's 2005 and 2006 championships in Formula One; twelve premier class titles in MotoGP, led by Marc Márquez with seven; and Óscar Pereiro, Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre's 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 triumphs in the Tour de France. The Spanish men's football team won the Euros in 2008, 2012, and 2024, alongside the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the women's team won the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Success has also continued for historic Spanish football clubs such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Some observers have claimed that Spain is enjoying something of a sporting "Golden Age" similar to the Spanish 17th century achievements in painting and literature.

Spain has also hosted many major international sporting events, such as the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Spain will host the 2030 FIFA World Cup alongside co-hosts Morocco and Portugal.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.