Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world’s most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in Great Britain. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the remarkable extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.

Association Football

Association football is the most popular sport in almost all countries of Europe. European national teams have won 12 of 21 editions of the FIFA World Cup. UEFA, the governing body for European football, has hosted the UEFA European Championship since 1960, and the UEFA Women’s Championship since 1984.

The most popular and successful football leagues are the

• Spanish La Liga
• the French Ligue 1
• the English Premier League
• the Italian Serie A
• the German Bundesliga
• the English Premier League.

Other main football leagues on continent are the

• Portuguese Primeira Liga
• the Russian Premier League
• the Turkish Super Lig
• the Netherlands Eredivisie.

Of course there are many other very significant football leagues in Europe. The top clubs in each league play the UEFA Champions League, while lower-ranked clubs compete in UEFA Europa League.

Rugby Union

Rugby union is popular in southern France, southern England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and northern Italy. Although the game is played competitively in Germany, Russia, Romania and Georgia, it is not at a fully professional level.

Europe’s main competition for national teams is the Six Nations Championship, first held in 1883 as the Home Nations Championship. The other European national teams play at the Rugby Europe International Championships. The England national teams is the only European team to have won the Rugby World Cup, whereas France was runner-up three times and Wales reached the semifinals once.

The three main domestic rugby union competitions are the fully professional Premiership (England), Top 14 (France) and Pro14 (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa). The European Rugby Champions Cup is the premier continental championship, with clubs qualifying from the three professional competitions.