The Most Popular Sports in Kenya (Top 11 Ranked)

Football leads Kenya, ahead of Athletics and Rugby (Sevens). Ranking of 11 sports.

This page ranks the sports of Kenya by the evidence behind each one, because no membership count, license total or national participation survey is published the same way for every sport in Kenya. Each place in the table therefore carries its own documented reason instead of a number.

Football is on top, followed by Athletics and Rugby (Sevens). The full table below covers 11 sports, and every section further down names the source for the figure it uses.

The Most Popular Sports in Kenya

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	Football	The most loved sport throughout Kenya is football.
2	Athletics	Kenya took the team prize in the senior men’s long course race for 18 successive years, a stranglehold that stretched all the way from 1986 to 2003.
3	Rugby (Sevens)	The Shujaa overcame pre-tournament favourites South Africa 17-12 in a tense final and they will now join France, New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, Australia, Uruguay, Ireland and USA i
4	Volleyball	It was the tenth victory of the team in the last 32 years, following titles in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
5	Cricket	India faced the World Cup dark horses Kenya, who had qualified for the semi-final by beating Zimbabwe in the Super Six stage.
6	Basketball	The Zone 5 side was part of the inaugural championship held in Bamako, Mali going all the way to the final where they lost 82-61 to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
7	Beach Handball	Grace Simiyu scored Kenya’s first-ever points at an IHF World Championship.
8	Netball	The governing body for netball in Kenya, nurturing talent from grassroots to the world stage since the 1940s.
9	Swimming	5 [placement, 100 metres Butterfly, 2008]
10	Boxing	He won the welterweight gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, still the only Kenyan gold medalist outside of athletics (through 2016).
11	Baseball5	Kenya is No. 9 in the WBSC Baseball5 World Ranking.

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
Football	96%	Football has the highest fan engagement of any sport followed in Kenya.

Is There a National Sport of Kenya?

Kenya has no national sport laid down by law or by government decision. Kenya’s Sports Act, 2013, which established the country’s sports governance structures, does not designate any sport as a legally recognized national sport.

Football. Kenya’s High Commission in the United Kingdom describes football as the country’s most loved sport, making it the de facto national sport even without a legal designation.

#1 Football

Governing body: Football Kenya Federation
Top national league: Kenyan Premier League
Best known athlete: Victor Wanyama. Rose to become captain of the Harambee Stars and, in 2013, became the first Kenyan to play in the English Premier League, joining Southampton before moving to Tottenham Hotspur

Football is described by Kenya’s own diplomatic mission as the country’s most loved sport, played and followed in cities and rural counties alike. The Football Kenya Federation runs the men’s top division, the Kenyan Premier League, alongside a women’s league and national youth competitions.

The men’s national team, known as the Harambee Stars, and the women’s team, the Harambee Starlets, represent the country in African and World Cup qualifying competitions. Victor Wanyama, who captained the Harambee Stars, became the first Kenyan to play in the English Premier League, raising the profile of the sport well beyond the country’s borders.

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#2 Athletics

Governing body: Athletics Kenya
Best known athlete: Eliud Kipchoge. Became the first person to run a marathon distance under two hours, clocking 1:59:40.2 at the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna in 2019

Long distance running is the discipline that has made Kenya a permanent fixture on the world athletics stage, led by the national federation Athletics Kenya. World Athletics has documented an 18-year unbroken streak of Kenyan team titles at the World Cross Country Championships, from 1986 to 2003.

Kenyan runners, most from the Rift Valley region, regularly fill the top places at major international marathons and championships. Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to complete a marathon distance in under two hours, clocking 1:59:40.2 in Vienna in 2019, cementing athletics as a source of national pride.

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#3 Rugby (Sevens)

Governing body: Kenya Rugby Union
Top national league: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series
Best known athlete: Collins Injera. Retired in 2023 as Kenya’s all-time leading try scorer on the World Rugby Sevens Series with 279 tries in 424 appearances between 2007 and 2022, and scored two tries in the 2016 Singapore Sevens final as Kenya beat Fiji 30-7 to win the country’s only series title to date

Rugby sevens is the format in which Kenya has made its clearest mark internationally, through the men’s national team known as Shujaa. The Kenya Rugby Union side qualified for the Olympic sevens tournament by beating South Africa in the final of the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens in 2023.

Collins Injera, a winger who played for the national side for fifteen years, retired in 2022 as the leading try scorer in the history of the World Rugby Sevens Series and was part of the squad that won the Singapore Sevens in 2016, the only series title Kenya has taken so far.

#4 Volleyball

Governing body: Kenya Volleyball Federation
Best known athlete: Sharon Chepchumba. Named Most Valuable Player of the 2023 African Championship, leading Kenya with 18 points in the final against Egypt as the Malkia Strikers won their tenth continental title

Volleyball is one of the sports in which Kenya’s women have been most successful on the continent. The women’s national team, the Malkia Strikers, won the African Nations Championship for the tenth time in 2023, a title the team has held on nine previous occasions since 1991.

Opposite Sharon Chepchumba was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading Kenya with 18 points in the 2023 final against Egypt, while teammates Emmaculate Misoki and Mercy Moim were also named to the tournament Dream Team. The women’s team is generally considered the stronger of Kenya’s two national volleyball sides on the international stage.

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#5 Cricket

Governing body: Cricket Kenya
Best known athlete: Steve Tikolo. Captained Kenya to the semi-final of the 2003 Cricket World Cup and holds the national record for most One Day International runs by a Kenyan, with 3,369 runs

Cricket in Kenya reached its highest point at the 2003 World Cup, when the national team beat Zimbabwe in the Super Six stage to become the only non Test-playing nation to reach the semi-finals of the tournament. Cricket Kenya continues to run the sport domestically.

Steve Tikolo, who captained that 2003 side, remains Kenya’s most recognized cricketer and holds the national record for One Day International runs. The sport has a long history in the country, with roots going back to the colonial period, and remains most established in Nairobi and among the Asian Kenyan community.

#6 Basketball

Governing body: Kenya Basketball Federation

Basketball is run domestically by the Kenya Basketball Federation, with the men’s national team known as the Morans. According to FIBA, the team’s best continental result came at the inaugural AfroCan championship in 2019 in Bamako, Mali, where Kenya reached the final before losing 82-61 to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The sport is especially popular in Nairobi, where school and university leagues feed into the national league system. The Morans also returned to the AfroBasket championship after a near three-decade absence from the competition.

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#7 Beach Handball

Governing body: Kenya Handball Federation
Best known athlete: Grace Simiyu. Scored the first points ever recorded for a Kenyan team at an IHF World Championship, at the 2025 IHF Youth Beach Handball World Championship in Tunisia

Beach handball is the newest discipline on Kenya’s international competitive calendar, run by the Kenya Handball Federation. Kenya’s youth teams made their first appearance at an IHF World Championship in 2025, at the Youth Beach Handball World Championship in Tunisia, where both the men’s and women’s sides faced Germany twice on the opening day.

Grace Simiyu scored the first points ever recorded for a Kenyan team at an IHF World Championship during that debut, while Joseph Samuel did the same for the men’s side. The discipline is still building its domestic base compared with more established Kenyan sports, but the debut marked a first for the federation.

#8 Netball

Governing body: Netball Kenya

Netball is organized nationally by Netball Kenya, which traces the sport’s presence in the country back to the 1940s, mainly through schools. The national team, known as the Kenya Netball Federation squad, competes in African and Commonwealth-linked tournaments.

The sport remains most visible at school and university level, where it is one of the main team sports played by girls and young women. It has not reached the same international profile in Kenya as football, athletics or volleyball, but its long institutional history keeps it among the country’s established team sports.

#9 Swimming

Governing body: Kenya Swimming Federation
Best known athlete: Jason Dunford. Reached the final of the 100 metres butterfly at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and finished fifth, the best Olympic swimming result achieved by a Kenyan

Swimming in Kenya is organized by the Kenya Swimming Federation and is concentrated mainly in Nairobi and coastal cities such as Mombasa, where pool access is more common. The sport has produced a small number of internationally competitive swimmers rather than broad national participation.

Jason Dunford reached the final of the 100 metres butterfly at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and finished fifth, a result that remains one of the most notable Olympic swimming performances by a Kenyan. The sport continues to depend heavily on school and private club programs for its talent pipeline.

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#10 Boxing

Governing body: Kenya Boxing Federation
Best known athlete: Robert Wangila. Won the welterweight gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, becoming the first boxer from Sub-Saharan Africa to win Olympic boxing gold and remaining, through 2016, the only Kenyan Olympic gold medalist outside athletics

Boxing has a long amateur tradition in Kenya, run domestically by the Kenya Boxing Federation and known through the national team’s nickname, the Hit Squad. The sport’s high point came at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when Robert Wangila won the welterweight gold medal.

Wangila’s win made him the first boxer from Sub-Saharan Africa to take Olympic boxing gold, and he remained Kenya’s only Olympic gold medalist outside athletics for almost three decades. The national team continues to compete at continental and world amateur championships.

Latest Posts about Boxing

#11 Baseball5

Governing body: Kenya Baseball5 team
Best known athlete: Peter Mambo. Captained Kenya’s Baseball5 team at the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup 2025, where the team finished fifth

Baseball5, a compact five-a-side format created by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, has grown quickly in Kenya through school programs. According to the WBSC, Kenya is ranked ninth in the world in Baseball5, one of the sport’s strongest global rankings for the country in any discipline.

Kenya’s youth team, captained by Peter Mambo, finished fifth at the WBSC Youth Baseball5 World Cup in 2025. The sport is being expanded into secondary schools as part of a wider push by the national federation to build participation beyond the traditional baseball and softball programs.

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 are the most popular sports in Kenya?

Football is described by Kenya’s own diplomatic mission as the country’s most loved sport, and it is organized nationally by the Football Kenya Federation. Athletics, especially long distance running, is the discipline in which Kenya is most successful internationally, alongside rugby sevens, volleyball, cricket, basketball, handball, netball and swimming, all of which have national federations and documented international results.

What is Kenya’s national sport?

Kenya has no sport designated as national by law: the Sports Act, 2013, which governs sport in the country, does not name one. Football is nonetheless widely treated as the de facto national sport, described by Kenya’s High Commission in the United Kingdom as the most loved sport throughout the country.

What sport is Kenya famous for?

Kenya is most famous internationally for distance running. Kenyan athletes, coordinated by the national federation Athletics Kenya, dominated the team standings at the World Cross Country Championships for 18 consecutive years, from 1986 to 2003, and Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon distance in under two hours, clocking 1:59:40.2 in Vienna in 2019.

Is volleyball popular in Kenya?

Volleyball is one of Kenya’s most successful team sports internationally, particularly for women. The national women’s team, the Malkia Strikers, won the African Nations Championship for the tenth time in 2023, having previously won the title nine times since 1991.

What sport does Kenya play at the Olympics?

Kenya’s strongest Olympic sport is athletics, where distance runners such as Eliud Kipchoge, the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, have brought the country international recognition. Kenya has also competed in Olympic rugby sevens and swimming, where Jason Dunford reached the 100 metres butterfly final at the Beijing 2008 Games and finished fifth.