The Most Popular Sports in Cuba (Top 10 Ranked)

Baseball leads Cuba, ahead of Boxing and Volleyball. Ranking of 10 sports.

This page ranks the sports of Cuba by the evidence behind each one, because no single publicly documented national dataset of registered sport members, licenses, or a comparable participation survey for Cuba could be confirmed, so the ranking below is ordered by documented international and Olympic achievement instead of a shared numeric measure. The figures come from Instituto Nacional de Deportes, Educacion Fisica y Recreacion (INDER).

Baseball is on top, followed by Boxing and Volleyball. 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 Cuba

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. The reference year is 2024.

#	Sport	Basis for the placing
1	Baseball	Cuba won Olympic baseball gold in 1992, 1996, and 2004, and finished as runner up at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.
2	Boxing	Cuban boxers Teofilo Stevenson (1972, 1976, 1980) and Felix Savon (1992, 1996, 2000) each won three consecutive Olympic heavyweight gold medals, a record shared by only these two a
3	Volleyball	Cuba’s women’s national indoor volleyball team won three consecutive Olympic gold medals, in 1992, 1996, and 2000, a run that established the team among the sport’s most dominant i
4	Athletics	Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor set the world record of 2.45 meters in 1993, and sprinter Alberto Juantorena won gold in both the 400 meters and 800 meters at the 1976 Olympics.
5	Judo	Cuban judoka Driulis Gonzalez won Olympic gold in 2000 after medaling at the 1992 and 1996 Games, and went on to compete across four Olympic Games in total through 2008.
6	Wrestling	Cuban Greco Roman wrestler Mijain Lopez won Olympic gold in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2024, five consecutive Olympic titles in the same weight class, the most by any wrestler in
7	Taekwondo	At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cuban taekwondo athlete Angel Valodia Matos was disqualified from the bronze medal match and later banned for life by the World Taekwondo Federation a
8	Soccer	Cuba’s men’s national team has entered CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying in multiple recent cycles, and broadcasts of Spanish and Latin American club leagues have grown interest in the
9	Chess	Cuban chess player Jose Raul Capablanca held the World Chess Championship title from 1921 to 1927, and Havana continues to host the annual Capablanca Memorial tournament named in h
10	Basketball	Cuba’s men’s basketball team won regional Centrobasket championships during the 1990s, a period widely cited as the country’s strongest era in international basketball competition.

Is There a National Sport of Cuba?

Cuba has no national sport laid down by law or by government decision. No Cuban law or Council of State decree designating an official national sport could be confirmed in available institutional materials.

Baseball. Baseball is widely regarded as Cuba’s de facto national sport based on its Olympic record and domestic league history.

#1 Baseball

Governing body: Cuban Baseball Federation
Top national league: Cuban National Series
Best known athlete: Omar Linares. Long time national team third baseman, widely regarded as the top position player of Cuba’s National Series era from the 1980s through the 1990s

Baseball is widely regarded as the most popular sport in Cuba, with a domestic league known as the Cuban National Series drawing sustained fan interest across the island. The national team built its reputation through Olympic baseball, winning gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2004.

Cuba’s national team also reached the final of the first World Baseball Classic in 2006. The sport’s long presence in Cuban culture is tied to this international success and to the domestic league structure that anchors amateur competition nationwide.

Latest Posts about Baseball

#2 Boxing

Governing body: Cuban Boxing Federation
Best known athlete: Teofilo Stevenson. Won three consecutive Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medals in 1972, 1976, and 1980, an achievement matched only by fellow Cuban Felix Savon

Boxing has a long record of Olympic success for Cuba, built on the country’s amateur boxing system. Teofilo Stevenson won the Olympic heavyweight title in 1972, 1976, and 1980, three consecutive gold medals in the same weight class.

Felix Savon repeated that feat in the 1990s, taking heavyweight gold in 1992, 1996, and 2000. The pair remain the only boxers to win three straight Olympic titles in the same weight division, a record still tied to Cuba’s boxing program.

Latest Posts about Boxing

#3 Volleyball

Governing body: Cuban Volleyball Federation
Best known athlete: Mireya Luis. Outside hitter on all three of Cuba’s gold medal winning Olympic volleyball teams in 1992, 1996, and 2000, one of the sport’s most decorated Cuban players of that era

Volleyball in Cuba is centered on the women’s national indoor team, which won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2000. That run built the sport’s reputation as one of Cuba’s strongest team sports internationally.

Indoor volleyball has historically drawn more national attention in Cuba than beach volleyball, reflecting the visibility of the Olympic era teams from 1992 through 2000. Beach volleyball has a smaller domestic competitive base by comparison.

Latest Posts about Volleyball

#4 Athletics

Governing body: Cuban Athletics Federation
Best known athlete: Javier Sotomayor. Set the men’s high jump world record of 2.45 meters in 1993, a mark that stood for decades and remains the standard against which Cuban athletics success is measured

Track and field has produced some of Cuba’s best known international results. Javier Sotomayor set the men’s high jump world record at 2.45 meters in 1993, a mark that stood for decades.

Alberto Juantorena added to that record by winning both the 400 meters and 800 meters at the 1976 Olympics, a double still cited as one of the sport’s rare achievements. These results anchor athletics as a leading Olympic sport for Cuba.

Latest Posts about Athletics

#5 Judo

Governing body: Cuban Judo Federation
Best known athlete: Driulis Gonzalez. Won Olympic judo gold in 2000 and medaled at four Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008, one of Cuba’s most decorated Olympians in the sport

Judo is a consistent source of Olympic medals for Cuba, supported by a national training system centered at INDER. Driulis Gonzalez won Olympic gold in 2000 after medaling at the Games in 1992 and 1996.

Gonzalez went on to add further Olympic medals through 2008, competing across four Olympic Games in total. That span of results has kept judo among Cuba’s most reliable Olympic sports.

Latest Posts about Judo

#6 Wrestling

Governing body: Cuban Wrestling Federation
Best known athlete: Mijain Lopez. Won five consecutive Olympic Greco Roman wrestling gold medals between 2008 and 2024, the most Olympic titles ever won by a wrestler

Wrestling has become one of Cuba’s strongest Olympic sports through the career of Mijain Lopez, a Greco Roman wrestler who won gold medals in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2024.

That streak of five consecutive Olympic titles in the same weight class is the most by any wrestler in Olympic history. Lopez’s results have kept wrestling prominent within Cuba’s national training program.

Latest Posts about Wrestling

#7 Taekwondo

Governing body: Cuban Taekwondo Federation
Best known athlete: Angel Valodia Matos. Won Olympic taekwondo gold in 2000 before a lifetime ban from the sport following the widely reported 2008 Beijing Olympics referee incident

Taekwondo drew significant international attention in Cuba through Angel Valodia Matos, who competed at multiple Olympic Games for the country. His profile in the sport peaked around the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At those 2008 Games, Matos was disqualified from the bronze medal match and was later banned for life by the World Taekwondo Federation after kicking the referee, an incident that remains widely cited in the sport’s history.

Latest Posts about Taekwondo

#8 Soccer

Governing body: Cuban Football Association

Football has grown in visibility in Cuba in recent years, driven in part by broadcasts of Spanish and Latin American leagues. The men’s national team has taken part in CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifying in multiple recent cycles.

Despite this growth, football remains behind baseball, boxing, and volleyball in domestic prominence, reflecting the historical strength of those Olympic sports within Cuba’s national training system.

Latest Posts about Soccer

#9 Chess

Governing body: Cuban Chess Federation
Top national league: Capablanca Memorial
Best known athlete: Jose Raul Capablanca. World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in chess history and the namesake of Havana’s annual Capablanca Memorial tournament

Chess holds a distinct place in Cuban sport culture, tied to the legacy of Jose Raul Capablanca, who was World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927. Havana has hosted the annual Capablanca Memorial tournament in his honor.

That tournament remains one of the longest running elite chess events tied to a single national federation. Chess programs continue to operate through Cuba’s national sport institute alongside other competitive disciplines.

#10 Basketball

Governing body: Cuban Basketball Federation

Basketball has a domestic following in Cuba supported by regional competition history. The men’s national team won Centrobasket regional championships during the 1990s.

That period remains the sport’s most cited era of international success for Cuba. Basketball continues to be organized through Cuba’s national sport institute alongside the country’s other team sports.

Latest Posts about Basketball

Sources

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 Cuba?

Baseball is generally considered the most popular sport in Cuba. The national team won Olympic gold in 1992, 1996, and 2004, and Cuba has a long running domestic league, the Cuban National Series.

What is the national sport of Cuba?

No Cuban law formally designates a national sport. Baseball is treated as the de facto national sport because of its Olympic record, including gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2004, and its long standing domestic league.

What is the official sport of Cuba?

There is no official sport set by law or government decree in Cuba. Baseball functions as the unofficial national sport based on its Olympic success and its established domestic league, the Cuban National Series.

In Cuba where is volleyball more popular, in beach volleyball or indoor volleyball, and why?

Indoor volleyball is more popular in Cuba than beach volleyball. The women’s national indoor team won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2000, which built a following that beach volleyball’s smaller domestic competitive base has not matched.

What are the most popular sports in Cuba?

The most popular sports in Cuba are baseball, boxing, volleyball, and athletics. Boxing is built on Cuba’s amateur system and Olympic titles from Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, while athletics is anchored by Javier Sotomayor’s 1993 high jump world record and Alberto Juantorena’s 1976 Olympic sprint double.