The 5 Most Popular Sports in Brazil

Everyone knows Brazilians are crazy about football. However, there are many other popular sports in Brazil. 

Especially in coastal cities such as Rio de Janeiro, sports are a part of the daily life of Brazilians. Whether we are watching games, cheering for our athletes, or playing, Brazilians are much connected to sports in general.

Check the 5 most popular sports in Brazil:

Football

Of course, football is the most popular of all sport in Brazil. After all, it is indeed a national passion.

Even though England invented football, there is a very popular saying in Brazil, in which we refer to our homeland as the “country of football” (país do futebol).

Every football game is an important event in Brazil. Every Sunday, families reunite at home and friends go out to bars and pubs just to watch the main games together. But that is not all. People really like to play it as well.

It is very common to see groups of friends gathering every week to play football for fun. If you are having a barbecue with friends and someone brings a ball, rest assured that there will be a football match happening at some point. Moreover, football is also a very common extracurricular activity for children at schools. Football camps are also fairly popular among children.

If you are interested in Brazilian football, check our blog post The Top Brazilian Clubs: Understanding Brazilians’ Passion for Football.

Footvolley

Footvolley is a mix of beach volleyball and football. The inventor of this sport, Octavio de Moraes, started to play it with friends at Copacabana Beach during the ’60s.

The game is played with two players on each side of the court. They essentially follow the rules of beach volleyball, but you cannot use your hands. You should only touch the ball with your feet, chest, and head.

The ball used for this is also a volleyball. Many former football players have become devoted footvolley players, including Romário, Edmundo, and Júnior.

After gaining so much popularity in Brazil, footvolley is now a well-known sport in the entire world, having its own world championship and other major events around the globe.

Volleyball

Volleyball became known in Brazil around 1910 and the first professional club was founded in 1923. Between indoor volleyball and beach volleyball, the truth is that this is one of the most popular sports in Brazil.

The great performance of Brazilian athletes in world championships also helped to popularize volleyball across the country.

Brazil’s men’s national volleyball team has won three world championships, three world cups, and three gold Olympic medals. Meanwhile, the women’s national team has also won two gold Olympic medals and several other championships.

Volleyball is also a popular sport practiced in gym classes at school.

Swimming

Swimming is probably the sport people practice the most when they are young. It is very common for parents to sign up their children for swimming lessons at a very young age in Brazil. 

This might be due to the fact that, living in a coastal country, Brazilians tend to go to the beach a lot and kids like to play in the water. 

Even though Brazilians usually do not watch swimming competitions a lot, there are great swimmer athletes in Brazil. A few of them worth mention are Cesar Cielo, Fernando Scherer, Gustavo Borges, Thiago Pereira, and Poliana Okimoto.

Capoeira

Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatic moves, and music. It is known for quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for a wide variety of kicks, spins, and highly mobile techniques.

Brazilians frequently practice Capoeira in schools, sports clubs, and parks.

Honorable mention

Altinha

Even though Altinha is not an official sport, people in Rio de Janeiro absolutely love it and practice it a lot at the beach. People have been playing Altinha in Rio for the past 30 years

Just make a circle with friends and kick the ball to each other without letting it hit the ground. It is ok to use your head, shoulders, feet, chest, heel… Altinha does not have any rules, age limits, or gender restrictions. Just keep the ball in the air and have fun. 

Play the most popular sports in Brazil at Caminhos Language Centre

Caminhos Language Centre offers much more than Portuguese courses in Rio de Janeiro. We like to make our students experience the Brazilian culture while learning about the country and the language. That is why we have free after-class activities every day of the week at our school.

With Caminhos, you can play beach volleyball on Mondays, football on Thursdays, and take capoeira classes every week.

Sign up for Portuguese classes at Caminhos and experience Rio de Janeiro with us!