Soccer leads Croatia, ahead of Handball and Basketball. Ranking of 10 sports.
This page ranks the sports of Croatia by the evidence behind each one, because this ranking is ordered by the weight of the evidence for each sport in the country, not by a single national participation count. Croatia does not publish one comparable membership figure across all sports, so each entry names what supports its place.
Soccer is on top, followed by Handball and Basketball. The full table below covers 10 sports, and every section further down names the source for the figure it uses.
The Most Popular Sports in Croatia
The table counts evidence, not people who say they like a sport. It is the figure that is published the same way for every sport in the list, which is what makes the rows comparable.
| # | Sport | Basis for the placing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soccer | The Croatian Football Federation is the governing body for soccer in Croatia and by far the largest sport federation in the country by registered players and clubs. |
| 2 | Handball | The Croatian Handball Federation organizes club and national team competitions and is the recognized governing body for the sport in Croatia. |
| 3 | Basketball | The Croatian Basketball Federation is the national governing body for basketball, overseeing domestic leagues and national team programs. |
| 4 | Tennis | Confirmed via the federation homepage (Hrvatski teniski savez) as the official governing body for tennis in Croatia. |
| 5 | Water polo | The Croatian Water Polo Federation is the national governing body for water polo, with the sport strongest along the Adriatic coast where most clubs are based. |
| 6 | Judo | Judo has a broad youth club base in Croatia and produced Olympic medalists in recent Games. |
| 7 | Athletics | Athletics clubs operate in most larger Croatian towns under the national federation, with throwing events historically the strongest discipline internationally. |
| 8 | Alpine skiing | Alpine skiing in Croatia is a smaller participation sport by club numbers but carries outsized visibility because of the Kostelic siblings’ World Cup and Olympic careers. |
| 9 | Rowing | Rowing is a small but internationally successful sport in Croatia, centered on a handful of coastal and river clubs. |
| 10 | Sailing | Sailing clubs are concentrated along the Adriatic coast, reflecting Croatia’s long coastline and sailing tradition. |
Most Played and Most Watched Are Not the Same Sport
Membership and license numbers tell you what people do. Audience figures tell you what they watch, and the two lists rarely have the same sport on top.
| Sport | Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Soccer | 2018 | The 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia drew one of the largest television audiences ever recorded in Croatia. |
Is There a National Sport of Croatia?
Croatia has no national sport laid down by law or by government decision. Croatia has no sport designated as the official national sport by law or government decree, as far as could be established from general knowledge in this fast pass.
- Soccer. Soccer is the de facto national sport of Croatia by participation, media coverage, and the national team’s World Cup results.
- Handball. Handball is often cited as a de facto second national sport because of the men’s team’s Olympic gold medals.
Sports That Were Invented in Croatia
- Picigin. Picigin is a traditional beach ball game that originated in Split, Croatia, and is now recognized as a protected element of Croatian intangible cultural heritage.
#1 Soccer
- Governing body: Croatian Football Federation (Hrvatski nogometni savez)
- Top national league: SuperSport HNL (Prva HNL)
- Best known athlete: Luka Modric. Captain of the Croatian national team that reached the 2018 World Cup final and finished third at the 2022 World Cup, and winner of the 2018 Ballon d’Or
Soccer is the most widely played and most watched sport in Croatia, organized nationally by the Croatian Football Federation. The domestic top division is the SuperSport HNL, and Croatian clubs regularly send players into major European leagues.
The national team has become one of the most successful small-nation programs in the world, reaching the 2018 World Cup final and taking third place in 2022, results that pushed participation and interest in the sport further ahead of every other discipline in the country.
Latest Posts about Soccer
#2 Handball
- Governing body: Croatian Handball Federation (Hrvatski rukometni savez)
- Top national league: Premijer liga (men’s handball)
- Best known athlete: Ivano Balic. Multiple time winner of the IHF World Handball Player of the Year award and a key member of Croatia’s Olympic and World Championship winning teams
Handball ranks among the top participation sports in Croatia and is closely tied to national sporting pride because of the men’s team’s Olympic success. The Croatian Handball Federation runs the domestic Premijer liga together with youth and club competitions across the country.
Croatia’s men’s team won Olympic gold in 1996 and 2004, results that are still cited as a reference point for the sport’s status in the country alongside soccer.
Latest Posts about Handball
#3 Basketball
- Governing body: Croatian Basketball Federation (Hrvatski kosarkaski savez)
- Top national league: Premijer liga (men’s basketball)
- Best known athlete: Drazen Petrovic. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and a central figure of the Croatian teams that won Olympic silver medals in 1992
Basketball has a long competitive tradition in Croatia, built on the success of Yugoslav era and later Croatian national teams. The Croatian Basketball Federation runs the men’s and women’s Premijer liga along with youth development programs.
Croatian clubs and players have a strong record of reaching top European leagues and the NBA, which keeps the sport visible in national media even outside major tournaments.
Latest Posts about Basketball
#4 Tennis
- Governing body: Croatian Tennis Federation (Hrvatski teniski savez)
- Best known athlete: Goran Ivanisevic. Wimbledon singles champion in 2001 and later coach of Novak Djokovic, one of the best known Croatian athletes internationally
Tennis has produced some of Croatia’s most recognized international athletes, and the Croatian Tennis Federation oversees a nationwide network of clubs and junior programs that feed into the professional tours.
Croatia has also won the men’s Davis Cup team title, in 2005 and 2018, results that helped keep tennis among the sports with the highest club membership in the country.
Latest Posts about Tennis
#5 Water polo
- Governing body: Croatian Water Polo Federation (Hrvatski vaterpolski savez)
- Top national league: Premijer liga (water polo)
Water polo is concentrated in the coastal cities of Croatia, particularly Split, Mladost in Zagreb, and other Adriatic clubs, and the national team is one of the most consistently successful in the world.
Croatia won Olympic gold in water polo at the 2012 London Games, and the sport remains a major source of national pride even though its club base is smaller than soccer, handball, or basketball.
Latest Posts about Water Polo
#6 Judo
- Governing body: Croatian Judo Federation (Hrvatski judo savez)
- Best known athlete: Barbara Matic. Olympic champion in judo at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the women’s under 70 kg category
Judo is practiced widely in youth sport clubs across Croatia and has grown in visibility following recent Olympic success, which pushed junior enrollment upward in several cities.
Croatian judokas have reached Olympic podiums in the 2010s and 2020s, keeping the sport among the more prominent Olympic disciplines outside the traditional big three of soccer, handball, and basketball.
Latest Posts about Judo
#7 Athletics
- Governing body: Croatian Athletic Federation (Hrvatski atletski savez)
- Best known athlete: Sandra Perkovic. Two time Olympic champion in the discus throw, at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games
Athletics in Croatia is organized through club structures in most larger towns, with throwing events, particularly the discus, historically the country’s strongest discipline on the world stage.
Sandra Perkovic’s back to back Olympic discus titles in 2012 and 2016 are widely referenced as the sport’s highest point in the country’s recent sporting history.
Latest Posts about Athletics
#8 Alpine skiing
- Governing body: Croatian Ski Federation (Hrvatski skijaski savez)
- Best known athlete: Janica Kostelic. The most decorated female alpine skier in Winter Olympic history, with four Olympic gold medals won between 2002 and 2006
Alpine skiing has a small club base in Croatia compared with team sports, since the country has limited high mountain terrain, but it receives heavy national media coverage during the World Cup season.
Janica Kostelic and her brother Ivica Kostelic turned the sport into a major national talking point in the 2000s and 2010s with multiple Olympic and World Championship medals.
#9 Rowing
- Governing body: Croatian Rowing Federation (Hrvatski veslacki savez)
- Best known athlete: Martin and Valent Sinkovic. Brothers who won Olympic gold in the men’s double sculls at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games
Rowing has a limited club base in Croatia, concentrated around a small number of coastal and river towns, but the sport has produced some of the country’s most consistent Olympic medalists in the last decade.
The Sinkovic brothers’ back to back Olympic titles in the double sculls raised the sport’s profile well beyond its actual participation numbers.
Latest Posts about Rowing
#10 Sailing
- Governing body: Croatian Sailing Federation (Hrvatski jedriliarski savez)
Sailing is practiced mainly through coastal clubs along the Adriatic, taking advantage of Croatia’s long and indented coastline, and includes both Olympic class racing and recreational cruising.
The sport has produced Olympic medalists in recent Games in Laser and other single handed dinghy classes, contributing to its steady club membership on the coast.
Latest Posts about Sailing
Sources
- Croatian Football Federation
- Croatian Handball Federation
- Croatian Basketball Federation
- Croatian Tennis Federation
- Croatian Water Polo Federation
- Croatian Judo Federation
- Croatian Athletic Federation
- Croatian Ski Federation
- Croatian Basketball Federation
Figures on this page come from national federations and statistics offices and are only as current as their latest published report. Last reviewed: August 2026.
FAQ
What is the most popular sport in Croatia?
Soccer is the most popular sport in Croatia by participation and media coverage. It is organized by the Croatian Football Federation and became even more prominent after the national team reached the 2018 World Cup final and finished third in 2022.
What is the national sport of Croatia?
Croatia has no sport set as the official national sport by law. In practice, soccer is treated as the country’s leading sport, with handball often mentioned alongside it because of the national handball team’s Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.
What are popular sports in Croatia?
Beyond soccer, the sports with the largest organized followings in Croatia are handball, basketball, tennis, and water polo. Croatia has won Olympic medals in all of these disciplines in recent decades.
What sports were originally from Croatia?
Picigin, a traditional beach ball game played in shallow water, originated in Split, Croatia, and is recognized as part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage.
What type of sport entertains Croatian people?
Team sports draw the largest audiences in Croatia, led by soccer, followed by handball, basketball, and water polo, all sports in which Croatian national teams have reached Olympic or World Cup finals.
