Sport
Louis Dor
Aug 04, 2016
The Olympics are here (sort of)! Tomorrow we will watch Andy Murray wave the flag for Team GB in the Rio de Janeiro MaracanĂ£ at the opening ceremony, as our lead representative.
The Rio Olympics also sees a new sport in the mix, following rugby sevens' inclusion, which is deeply exciting.
So what are countries' best team sports?
Well, did you know Lithuania is the third best country in the world at basketball, according to official rankings?
Taipei is third-best at baseball, a sport at which Japan is ranked first, and Malawi is sixth best in the world at netball.
Bulgaria is the seventh best team at volleyball, while Iran is eighth.
South Korea is in the top 30 for rugby union, volleyball, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, field Hockey and handball.
These were the stats that most surprised us as we made a world map of each country's best sport.
We surveyed the world rankings of the most popular team sports to come up with the map: football, rugby Union, test cricket, volleyball, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, field hockey, handball, netball, and rugby league.
You can browse the maps below:
South America:
North America:
Central America and the Carribbean:
(Discounting the West Indies cricket team)
Africa:
Middle East:
Oceania:
Asia:
Europe:
View the interactive map, below:
Here's the full list of every country's best sport:
Afghanistan (Baseball) 64
Albania (Football) 45
Algeria (Handball) 21
American Samoa (Rugby Union) 102
Andorra (Rugby Union) 62
Angola (Basketball) 15
Anguilla (Volleyball) 103
Antigua and Barbuda (Football) 85
Argentina (Football) 1
Armenia (Football) 110
Aruba (Baseball) 32
Australia (Test Cricket) 1
Austria (Football) 11
Azerbaijan (Field Hockey) 26
Bahamas (Volleyball) 59
Bahrain (Volleyball) 47
Bangladesh (Test Cricket) 9
Barbados (Netball) 11
Belarus (Ice Hockey) 9
Belgium (Football) 2
Belize (Football) 114
Benin (Football) 73
Bermuda (Netball) 31
Bhutan (Football) 186
Bolivia (Baseball) 61
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Football) 20
Botswana (Netball) 20
Brazil (Volleyball) 1
British Virgin Islands (Volleyball) 103
Brunei Darussalam (Football) 195
Bulgaria (Volleyball) 7
Burkina Faso (Football) 75
Burundi (Volleyball) 103
Cambodia (Football) 183
Cameroon (Volleyball) 26
Canada (Ice Hockey) 1
Cape Verde (Football) 47
Cayman Islands (Rugby Union) 61
Central African Republic (Basketball) 57
Chad (Basketball) 89
Chile (Football) 3
China (Basketball) 14
Colombia (Football) 4
Comoros (Football) 159
Congo (Football) 59
Congo DR (Football) 51
Cook Islands (Rugby League) 22
Costa Rica (Football) 25
CĂ´te d'Ivoire (Football) 34
Croatia (Handball) 10
Cuba (Baseball) 5
Curaçao (Baseball) 66
Cyprus (Volleyball) 57
Czech Republic (Ice Hockey) 6
Denmark (Handball) 3
Djibouti (Football) 204
Dominica (Test Cricket) 7
Dominican Republic (Baseball) 12
Ecuador (Football) 12
Egypt (Handball) 15
El Salvador (Volleyball) 17
England (Rugby League) 3
Equatorial Guinea (Football) 83
Eritrea (Volleyball) 144
Estonia (Ice Hockey) 29
Ethiopia (Football) 123
Faroe Islands (Football) 90
Fiji (Rugby League) 7
Finland (Ice Hockey) 4
France (Basketball) 5
French Guiana (Volleyball) 144
French Polynesia (Rugby Union) 94
Gabon (Basketball) 76
Gambia (Football) 168
Georgia (Rugby Union) 12
Germany (Handball) 1
Ghana (Football) 38
Gibraltar (Field Hockey) 62
Greece (Basketball) 10
Greenland (Handball) 40
Grenada (Netball) 30
Guam (Rugby Union) 74
Guatemala (Baseball) 41
Guinea (Football) 58
Guinea-Bissau (Football) 102
Guyana (Rugby Union) 55
Haiti (Volleyball) 67
Honduras (Baseball) 27
Hong Kong (Rugby Union) 23
Hungary (Handball) 8
Iceland (Handball) 12
India (Test Cricket) 2
Indonesia (Baseball) 42
Iran (Volleyball) 8
Iraq (Baseball) 68
Ireland (Rugby Union) 7
Israel (Ice Hockey) 33
Italy (Volleyball) 4
Jamaica (Netball) 4
Japan (Baseball) 1
Jordan (Basketball) 29
Kazakhstan (Ice Hockey) 17
Kenya (Rugby Union) 27
Kuwait (Handball) 29
Kyrgyzstan (Football) 100
Laos (Football) 176
Latvia (Ice Hockey) 10
Lebanon (Rugby League) 20
Lesotho (Volleyball) 103
Liberia (Football) 108
Libya (Basketball) 79
Liechtenstein (Football) 173
Lithuania (Basketball) 3
Luxembourg (Ice Hockey) 43
Macedonia (Handball) 28
Madagascar (Basketball) 82
Malawi (Netball) 6
Malaysia (Field Hockey) 13
Maldives (Volleyball) 79
Mali (Basketball) 57
Malta (Rugby League) 18
Mauritania (Football) 109
Mauritius (Volleyball) 67
Mexico (Baseball) 7
Moldova (Rugby Union) 33
Monaco (Rugby Union) 97
Mongolia (Ice Hockey) 50
Montenegro (Handball) 49
Montserrat (Volleyball) 121
Morocco (Volleyball) 33
Mozambique (Basketball) 61
Myanmar (Baseball) 68
Namibia (Rugby Union) 21
Nepal (Baseball) 70
Netherlands (Field Hockey) 2
Netherlands Antilles (Volleyball) 144
New Caledonia (Football) 191
New Zealand (Rugby Union) 1
Nicaragua (Baseball) 15
Niger (Volleyball) 73
Nigeria (Basketball) 25
North Korea (Ice Hockey) 42
Northern Ireland (Rugby Union) 7
Norway (Ice Hockey) 11
Oman (Field Hockey) 31
Pakistan (Test Cricket) 3
Palestine (Basketball) 75
Panama (Baseball) 17
Papua New Guinea (Rugby League) 14
Paraguay (Football) 39
Peru (Football) 46
Philippines (Baseball) 28
Poland (Volleyball) 2
Portugal (Football) 8
Puerto Rico (Baseball) 11
Qatar (Handball) 26
Romania (Handball) 9
Russia (Ice Hockey) 2
Rwanda (Volleyball) 42
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Volleyball) 79
Samoa (Rugby League) 4
San Marino (Volleyball) 121
SĂ£o TomĂ© e PrĂncipe (Football) 150
Saudi Arabia (Handball) 34
Scotland (Rugby Union) 9
Senegal (Basketball) 31
Serbia (Basketball) 6
Seychelles (Volleyball) 67
Sierra Leone (Football) 118
Singapore (Netball) 16
Slovakia (Ice Hockey) 8
Slovenia (Basketball) 13
Solomon Islands (Rugby Union) 96
Somalia (Football) 204
South Africa (Rugby Union) 3
South Korea (Baseball) 4
South Sudan (Football) 155
Spain (Basketball) 2
Sri Lanka (Test Cricket) 7
St. Kitts and Nevis (Football) 92
St. Lucia (Netball) 18
Sudan (Football) 128
Suriname (Volleyball) 67
Swaziland (Netball) 29
Sweden (Handball) 2
Switzerland (Ice Hockey) 7
Syria (Basketball) 72
Taipei (Baseball) 3
Tajikistan (Football) 164
Tanzania (Field Hockey) 74
Thailand (Netball) 34
Timor-Leste (Football) 175
Togo (Basketball) 91
Tonga (Rugby Union) 13
Trinidad and Tobago (Netball) 9
Tunisia (Volleyball) 16
Turkey (Basketball) 8
Turkmenistan (Football) 127
Turks and Caicos Islands (Volleyball) 103
Uganda (Volleyball) 42
Ukraine (Ice Hockey) 21
United Arab Emirates (Ice Hockey) 44
Uruguay (Football) 9
US Virgin Islands (Basketball) 59
USA (Basketball) 1
Uzbekistan (Football) 66
Vanuatu (Field Hockey) 82
Venezuela (Baseball) 6
Vietnam (Volleyball) 79
Wales (Rugby Union) 5
Yemen (Football) 177
Zambia (Netball) 17
Zimbabwe (Netball) 21
More:The map of Europe according to which sport each is country is best at
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