Football is certainly the most loved and practiced sport in the world at all levels, both at an amateur and a competitive level, but there are many Nations that have an important football tradition.
Why football is so famous and practiced all over the world? [aa]
Why football is so practiced all around the world? It is quite easy to explain: Everyone can play football, everywhere and every time! Narrow streets, squares, gardens, beaches can be the perfect pitch to play football; you don’t really need a fancy ball, as long as it rolls you can start playing.
Let’s analyze the countries where football is some kind of religion and it has a deeper cultural, social and sporty meaning, by checking some datas on LosApostadores.es.
Football in Europe
Without a doubt, Europe is the continent where multiple athletes from different countries practice football as their main sport. Italy, Spain, England, Germany and France have always been at the top of world football and consequently the number of passionate practitioners, who try to emulate their favorites, football players is very high.
Football is also widely practiced in the Scandinavian countries, especially at a youth level, since in Sweden and Norway the importance of outdoor activities is primary in the education of children. In general, it can be safely said that most European nations have the sport of reference in football: only the Baltic States are excluded from this count, as historically linked to basketball.
South America and its relation with football
The discussion made previously also applies to South America, since countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay are giants of world football; everywhere, from the metropolises to the smallest rural communities, football is followed and practiced, resulting almost as a creed, a religion that deserves respect, devotion and love, combined with the characteristic South American fantasy.
It is almost impossible to establish with certainty how many boys are playing football because literally every corner hosts improvised matches; often, it is on the street that the most scrupulous observers go scouting new talents, who can retrace the footsteps of legendary players such as Messi and Ronaldo, who grew up precisely with a ball in the alleys of the city.
A curiosity about Uruguay: it is the smallest country, by number of inhabitants, to have won a World Cup. The famous “garra charrua” inherent in the Uruguayan soul is therefore applied to football from an early age.
New international frontiers for football worldwide
The traditionally strongest countries from a footballing point of view, however, are not the only ones where this sport is widely practiced. Thanks also to the recent work of the Football Ambassadors, such as Ricardo Kaka, Thierry Henry or Alessandro Del Piero, new frontiers have opened up to global football.
The Chinese investments, within the international and national clubs, have meant that the Asian public also became more passionate about football, increasing the number of practitioners exponentially.
Similarly, Australia and the United States are experiencing a real “golden age” which, as a consequence, affects the spread of football among young people, ready to face a new type of “football”.
