Sport in Malta

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

Football

Main article: Football in Malta

The Ta' Qali National Stadium is the home ground of the Malta national football team

Association football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Malta. The national stadium is called Ta' Qali Stadium. The national football team has won several matches over big opponents that reached the final phases in World Cups, such as Belgium and Hungary. 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, and consists of 14 teams. Futsal is also very popular.

Waterpolo

Main article: Water polo in Malta

Water polo is also very popular in Malta. The Malta men's national water polo team 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, French pétanque and British bowls. 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) 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.

Rugby

Main articles: Rugby league in Malta and Rugby union in Malta

Rugby union is played in Malta, In October 2018 the national men's team was ranked 39th in the world. They have recently been achieving success, defeating teams including Sweden, Croatia and Latvia. 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, primarily due to return migration of Maltese Australians bringing it back with them. In July 2018, the national men's team was ranked 18th in the world. The national team are known as the Malta Knights, and boast players currently playing in the English Superleague such as Jarrod Sammut, Jake Mamo, the most famous player to come from Malta would be former South Sydney Rabbitohs, Mario Fenech. In 2016 Malta Rugby League had 285 players, with the large majority based in Australia.

Motorsport

Motorsport 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.

Snooker

Malta also hosts a snooker round, the Malta Cup, which as of 2008 became a non-ranking event. In 2008 Malta's Tony Drago was a member of a victorious European Mosconi Cup team, which was played in Portomaso, Malta. Claudio Cassar was World Blackball Champion in 2014.

Boxing

Boxer Jeff Fenech is of Maltese descent. Recently contact sports such as Boxing and Kickboxing have become increasingly popular.

Hockey

Main article: Maltese National Hockey League

Maltese National Hockey League is the official field hockey league in Malta, with 5 teams participating.

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.

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 routes in Malta. The island offers a mixture of both trad climbing and sport climbing and also offers a good variety of bouldering and deep water soloing. 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

Number	Locality	Football	Futsal	Waterpolo	Boċċi	Handball	Basketball	Rugby Union	Athletics	Regatta	Darts	Billiards	Volleyball	Hockey
1	Valletta	Valletta F.C. Valletta St. Paul's Valletta Stars Rovers United Valletta St. Pauli	Valletta Futsal	Valletta United W.P.C.	St. Paul's Marsamxett			Valletta Lions (defunct)		Marsamxett			Valletta V.C.
2	Mdina	Mdina Knights F.C.	Mdina Knights Futsal
3	Attard	Attard F.C.	Attard Futsal (defunct)
4	Balzan	Balzan F.C.	Balzan Futsal (defunct)										Balzan V.C.
5	Vittoriosa	Vittoriosa Stars F.C.
6	Birkirkara	Birkirkara F.C. Birkirkara St. Joseph Mrieħel Devon Fleur-de-Lys	Mrieħel ESS			Aloysians H.C.		Birkirkara Alligators (defunct)	Birkirkara St. Joseph				Aloysians V.C. Birkirkara V.C. Fleur-de-lys V.C.
7	Birzebbugia	Birżebbuġa St. Peter's F.C. Birzebbugia Tigers		Birzebbuga A.S.C.	Birżebbuġa					Birżebbuġa
8	Cospicua	St. George's F.C. Cospicua Dynamos				De La Salle H.C.
9	Swieqi	Swieqi United F.C.	Swieqi United Futsal Swieqi United U-21 Futsal			Swieqi Phoenix H.C.		Overseas RUFC					Swieqi Phoenix V.C.
10	Lija	Lija Athletic F.C.
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See also

• Malta Olympic Committee
• Maltese National Regatta
• Maltese National Badminton Championships
• Malta Sailing Federation
• Handball Malta and Malta Handball Association
• Aquatic Sports Association of Malta