The

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

of football in the country of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

is run by the Federación Dominicana de Fútbol. The association administers the national football team, as well as the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol. In the Dominican Republic, baseball is the most popular sport, followed by basketball or association football, depending on the area in the Dominican Republic. Football is considered to be in constant growth since 2012. This sport was usually played from middle to high-class high school students, specially in urban areas like Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Moca and Jarabacoa, however, in the last few years, the sport has expanded and it is played mostly everywhere in the country. That the sport was first played by wealthy children created an extreme commercialization on the sport, where most of the available football courts, where children are to master their skills, have to be rented, prices often range between 40 - 50 USD an hour, nonetheless, there are futsal courts available for free. Nowadays, football can be as popular as basketball, as interest keeps growing, Dominicans are constantly waiting for their squad to bring a Gold Cup title to the country.

History

Football was first introduced to the Dominican Republic at the beginning of 20th Century. For a long time, the country was not renowned in the sport, due to football being played only in amateur level. From 2010s, more concrete attempts were made to professionalise football in the country. In 2014, the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol was founded as the first-ever professional football league in the country, in an attempt to boost the country's football profile. Since 2020s, Dominican Republic has experienced a dramatic rise in fortune at the sport. The country's U-23 team qualified for the first time ever in the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men's ...

, but fell short from qualifying, losing all three games and failed to reach the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. Nonetheless, its rise in fortune has been facilitated by the recent success of the U-20 team, when the country reached a major football final for the first time in

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in Honduras, ...

. Though failed to win the trophy, the Dominican Republic was able to secure two historic football debut in

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

as well as the

2024 Summer Olympics ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summe ...

. Its recent rise in fortune has been attributed to the professionalisation of football in the country, which began in 2014.

League

Liga Dominicana de Fútbol is the top professional league in the Dominican Republic, it began in 2014.

League system

Until 2014

National team

The Dominican Republic national team has never qualified for a major tournament such as the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

World Cup 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 ...

References

{{League systems