Malawi’s Most Popular Sports
Major sports are something that every country shares in common, with some of the most popular sports in the world covering a huge audience and the big events capturing billions of viewers too. Often times the biggest international events show just how competitive athletes are from different regions, and even some lesser-known individuals become favorites for online sports betting odds and capture podiums on the big stage.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the most popular sports in Malawi, how these athletes have performed internationally, and what may look to be the next big push for Malawi’s sports stars.
Football/Soccer Remains The Most Popular
It comes as no surprise that football tops the list as the most popular sport in the country, as it is by some margin the most popular sport in the world. The world cup brings in billions of viewers, and players from smaller regions that are able to step onto the international stage gain a lot of home support.
Whilst Malawi hasn’t had any players find their way into a major international roster just yet, there are plenty of players that have become well known over the years and help to be ambassadors for the sport in the country.
The men’s team is currently ranked 122nd in the world but over the past few years have started to gradually move their way up the rankings, and as the sport continues to capture the interests of the young in the country, there’s a huge potential for future Malawi players to be globally recognized.
Athletics is a strength for the region
African nations and athletics go hand in hand, some of the fastest track stars have hailed from Eastern Africa, one of the most impressive marathon runners of all time hails from nearby Kenya, and athletics continues to show huge opportunities for youngsters getting into a variety of different athletics sports.
Similarly to soccer, there aren’t any athletes from the young nation that have become global phenoms, but it seems to be only a matter of time as athletes from the region continue to push the bar on not only what’s possible but shattering all expectations for performance across all ages.
Netball boasts the countries biggest performers
Malawi has managed to find huge success in their women’s netball team, The Queens, having gained a lot of respect amongst the African nations. They’ve attended the World Netball Championships with their best performance finding 5th place but stringing together a few fantastic years of 6th following this great performance.
With a huge number of teams taking part each year, competition in netball is fierce, so placing so highly is extremely impressive, and a continued push with great support for The Queens could see some higher placed finishes, and netball becoming one of the country’s most successful sports.
Basketball and Volleyball are fantastic imports
With the US Peace Corps spending some time in Malawi, new sports were introduced to the locals with basketball and volleyball taking hold. Whilst there are still some restrictions for players looking to really go far in either sport, opportunities are slowly opening up and becoming more readily available.
Both are still niche sports, but it only takes one superstar to grow a lot of support.
As opportunities continue to be come more available, it’s only a matter of time before a young Malawi star is born and finds international success, this success brings a huge amount of support and the money needed to continue growing and developing talent too. It’ll be an exciting few years as Malawi is primed to take its position in the sporting spotlight.
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