Sports in Malta include association football, basketball, athletics, rugby, tennis, cycling, and others.

Football

Association football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Malta. The national stadium is called

Ta' Qali Stadium The National Stadium, locally also referred to as Ta' Qali, officially known as Grawnd Nazzjonali ( Maltese for ''National Stadium''), is a stadium located in Ta' Qali, Malta. The stadium, which also contains the headquarters of the Malta Footbal ...

. The national football team has won several matches over big opponents that reached the final phases in

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, such as

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Recently a large number of football grounds have been built throughout the island. The top football league in Malta is called the

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...

, and consists of 14 teams.

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

is also very popular.

Watersports

Malta is a good place for surfing and offers a lot of different surf spots. During winter time most of the beaches transform into surfer hangouts.

Waterpolo

Water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

is also very popular in Malta. The

Malta men's national water polo team The Malta men's national water polo team is the representative for Malta in international men's water polo. Results Olympic Games *Water polo at the 1928 Summer Olympics, 1928 – Quarterfinals *Water polo at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 – F ...

has achieved some great results against strong teams, and has competed in the Olympics twice. Maltese clubs participate in the European Club competitions organised by LEN, are seen as being in the top 10 water polo leagues in Europe.

Boċċi

Boċċi is the Maltese version of the Italian game of

bocce (, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancien ...

, French

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

and British

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

. Other than certain differences in rules and the ground on which the game is played, one of the most obvious differences between Maltese boċċi and foreign equivalents is the shape of the bowls themselves which tend to be cylindrical rather than spherical in shape. Many small clubs (usually called Klabbs tal-Boċċi in

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

) can be found in Maltese and Gozitan localities, and are usually well-frequented and are quite active on a local and European level. Even the emigrants to Canada, Australia, and The United States have taken the game with them and now forms an important part of their social scene.

Hockey

Maltese National Hockey League is the official field hockey league in Malta, with 4 teams participating in the National League. The current champions are Sliema Hotsticks Hockey Club. The National Hockey Stadium is located in Paola, Kordin. The Malta National Hockey Team participates in several international fixtures each year.

Rugby

Rugby Union has been played in Malta since the beginning of the 20th century, with evidence of rugby pitches at RAF Ta' Qali Air Field in the 1920s and other fields in RAF Luqa Air Field. The Malta Rugby Football Union was formed in 1991. 5 clubs are established in Malta - Falcons, Kavallieri, Overseas, Stompers and Wolves. In October 2021 the national men's team was ranked 41st in the world. They have recently been achieving success, defeating teams including

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. In 2018, Malta achieved its largest win against Andorra, that of 89-3. As of 2016 Malta Rugby Union had 2,480 registered players. Rugby league is also played in Malta, primarily due to return migration of

Maltese Australians Maltese Australians are Australian citizens who are fully or partially of Maltese people, Maltese descent or Malta-born people who reside in Australia. While most of them emigrated to Australia from Malta, a number emigrated from the United Ki ...

bringing it back with them. In July 2022, the national men's team was ranked 10th in the world. The national team are known as the Malta Knights, and boast players currently playing in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

such as

Jarrod Sammut Jarrod Sammut (born 15 February 1987) is a Maltese international rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Barrow Raiders in the BetFred Championship. He previously played as a for the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, and played for Cr ...

Jake Mamo Jake Mamo (born 6 June 1994) is a retired Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who most recently played as a er or for the Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the ...

, the most famous player to come from Malta would be former

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...

Mario Fenech Mario Fenech (nicknamed "The Maltese Falcon", “Falcon”, or "Muzza"; born 11 November 1961) is a Maltese Australian rugby league personality. He is a former player of the game who had a lengthy career in the New South Wales/Australian Rugby ...

. In 2016 Malta Rugby League had 285 players, with the large majority based in Australia.

Motorsport

Motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

includes drag racing represented by the Malta Drag Racing Association, with recent high ranking Maltese dragsters in official FIA European championships. There is also autocross (ASMK), hill climb (Island Car Club), motocross, karting and banger racing championships.

Basketball

In 2020, Malta got its first-ever female head coach leading a men’s Division One basketball team. It was Silvia Gambino who started the position at

Mellieħa S.C. Mellieħa Sports Club is a Maltese sports club based in the town of Mellieħa. Founded in 1947, just after the end of the Second World War, the primary aim was that of promoting and fostering the development of sports in the village and its sur ...

Libertas.

Volleyball

Malta has a first division for women's volleyball teams. The president of the national federation MVA has been Jesmond Saliba.

Snooker

Malta also hosts a

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

round, the

Malta Cup The European Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been staged periodically since 1989 as the European Open. Between 2005 and 2008 it was known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the Brit ...

, which became a non-ranking event. In 2008 Malta's

Tony Drago Tony Drago (born 22 September 1965) is a Maltese former professional snooker and pool player. Known for his speed around the table, during his snooker career he won two professional titles: the 1993 Strachan Challenge Event 3 and the 1996 G ...

was a member of a victorious European

Mosconi Cup The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1994 between teams representing Europe and the United States. Named after American pool player Willie Mosconi, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in golf and the Weber ...

team, which was played in Portomaso, Malta. Claudio Cassar was World Blackball Champion in 2014.

Boxing

Boxer

Jeff Fenech Jeff Fenech (born 28 May 1964) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2008. He won world titles in three weight divisions, having held the IBF bantamweight title from 1985 to 1987, the WBC super-bantamweight ...

is of Maltese descent. Recently contact sports such as

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

Kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

have become increasingly popular.

Cricket

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

are an affiliate member of the ICC & has full

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

status. Home games are played at Marsa. In 2020 there was a T20 summer domestic league consisting of 12 teams, and in 2019 a 50-over winter league which comprised 5 teams. Along with other sports, tennis is a popular activity in Malta and Gozo. The islands offer a wide range of options for both beginners and elite players. Clubs are spread out across Malta and games are being played on a regular basis all year around. There ,are over 1,200

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

routes in Malta. The island offers a mixture of both

trad climbing Traditional climbing (or Trad climbing) is a style of rock climbing in which the climber places all the necessary protection gear required to arrest any falls as they are climbing, and then removes it when the pitch is complete (often done b ...

and

sport climbing Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors to ...

and also offers a good variety of

bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help sec ...

and

deep water soloing Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc, is a form of solo rock climbing that relies solely upon the presence of water at the base of a climb to protect against injury from falls from the generally high-difficulty routes. While typica ...

. The geography and small size of the island makes the climbing easily accessible. The sport is growing in popularity with local communities, as well as tourists and visitors.

List of sports teams in Malta

References

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