Compared to the rest of the world, Americans seem to have very contrasting tastes in many things. From their food choices, like ketchup, and their penchant for putting ice in beverages, to their television advertisements. But the difference in choices is perhaps even more pronounced when it comes to sports.
One of the more glaring differences is in football or American football, a sport rarely seen outside of North America. Yet soccer, by far the world’s most popular sport, is only now starting to enter the same echelon as sports like baseball, basketball, and hockey. But even that is divergent from most nations – the U.S., along with a handful of other nations, calls this sport soccer. Most nations call it football. (One popular American sport played worldwide is Basketball, and Team USA is gearing up, along with team physicians from UCLA, for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.)
Some competitions, extremely popular elsewhere in the world, have likely never been heard of by most Americans. 24/7 Tempo identified some of the most interesting, unusual, and regionally popular athletic games that most Americans don’t know about. Some of these, like netball, handball — not the handball you’re thinking of — or Aussie rules football, bear many similarities to popular American sports and often trace their origins to these sports.
Then there are others listed here that have no similarities whatsoever, like the national sport of Afghanistan – buzkashi – a game that is played with the headless carcass of a goat. Some of these sports, while hugely popular where they are played, are usually only played in one place, and sometimes only during a single annual event. In these cases, such as the hyper-violent calcio fiorentino, the event is usually the cornerstone of a well-attended festival. Here are some of the most popular carnivals from around the world.
Not all of these sports are held in professional arenas — many are held outdoors, on sawdust, and in muddy terrain. Others are held in official sports venues and are often locally popular enough to sell out events to tens of thousands of fans. Many of these sports have some local popularity in the United States, but if you want to see high-level competition for any of these sports, you’ll likely need to buy a plane ticket.
Here are obscure sports that most Americans don’t know about.
1. Aussie rules
- Where it’s popular: Australia
- Most similar to: Rugby (in terms of rules)
Aussie rules or Aussie rules football, or “footy,” is, as the name suggests, primarily, but not exclusively, played in Australia. Footy is played on a larger, oval field (rather than a rectangular one) and has 18 players per side, compared to the 15 per side in rugby. While players are allowed to grab and throw the ball in rugby, they can only punch it or kick it in Aussie rules.
2. Bo-Taoshi
- Where it’s popular: Japan
- Most similar to: Capture the Flag
Bo-Taoshi was originally designed as a training routine for the Japanese military, the game is played by opposing 75-person teams. One team attempts to lower the pole to a 30-degree angle before the other team can reach a goal with the pole remaining upright.
3. Buzkashi
- Where it’s popular: Afghanistan
- Most similar to: Has similarities to soccer or rugby
The national sport of Afghanistan is played on horseback and bears some similarities to soccer or rugby in that two teams are trying to score a goal, and these teams create formations to maintain possession. But this is where the similarities end. In Buzkashi, the object used to score is not a ball, but the decapitated corpse of a goat.
Buzkashi was temporarily made illegal during the reign of the Taliban but was reinstated after the regime’s ouster.
4. Caber toss
- Where it’s popular: Scotland
- Most similar to: Lumberjack toss
The caber toss is a traditional Scottish game in which participants compete to flip a 9.5-foot, 175-pound pole end over end and have it land standing straight up. The game is a test of both power and finesse.
5. Calcio fiorentino
- Where it’s popular: Florence, Italy
- Most similar to: Soccer
The boundaries of what can be considered a sport are truly pushed at the Calcio Fiorentino, the annual competition held at the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. The game involves teams from four Florence neighborhoods, who attempt to move a ball into each other’s goals. Allowed to use any means necessary, they will resort to beating each other up to gain an advantage.
6. Chess boxing
- Where it’s popular: Europe
- Most similar to: Chess and boxing
As the name would suggest, chess boxing combines the board game of chess with the physical competition of boxing. The players compete in alternating three-minute rounds of chess and then boxing. Competitors must be ready to duke it out physically and mentally — and quickly be able to switch between the two — to be successful. The players can win either by checkmating or knocking out their opponent.
7. Futsal
- Where it’s popular: Europe, South America
- Most similar to: Soccer
Sometimes called indoor soccer or indoor football, Futsal has spread in popularity around the world and is popular in South America and Europe. It is played indoors and in a much smaller space than the traditional soccer field and is usually played in a five-on-five format.
8. Gaelic football
- Where it’s popular: Ireland
- Most similar to: Rugby and Aussie rules football
Reportedly the most commonly played sport in Ireland, Gaelic football is similar to Aussie rules football, which is closely related to Rugby. Unlike Aussie rules football, in Gaelic football, the ball is round and the field is rectangular.
9. Handball
- Where it’s popular: Europe
- Most similar to: Soccer and basketball
While Americans might be familiar with the handball game similar to squash or racquetball, played in parks against a cement wall, much of the world knows handball as a different sport altogether. Sometimes called team handball, the sport is a hybrid of soccer and basketball, with players carrying and dribbling the ball. The game is most popular in Scandinavia.
10. Hornussen
- Where it’s popular: Switzerland
- Most similar to: Golf
Hornussen is played by hitting a small rubber disk with a long and flexible club to get the disk to a certain destination. There are nearly 300 Hornussen clubs throughout Switzerland.
11. Hurling
- Where it’s popular: Ireland
- Most similar to: Lacrosse
A sport with its origins in Ireland, hurling, believed to be over 800 years old, is similar to lacrosse, but played with a wooden stick with a flat, rounded head and no netting. While it is most popular in Ireland, hurling is played worldwide.
12. Kabaddi
- Where it’s popular: South Asia
- Most similar to: Tag
Kabaddi, the national game of Bangladesh and Nepal, is similar to the game of tag, popular on school playgrounds nationwide, except that participants are permitted to tackle one another. The game is growing in popularity in the United Kingdom.
13. Netball
- Where it’s popular: Canada
- Most similar to: Basketball
Originating in England in the 1890s, netball is a variant of what was at the time the nascent sport of basketball. Compared to its cousin, netball is played with smaller hoops. Although men’s teams play this sport, it is generally more popular as a women’s sport.
14. Onabashira
- Where it’s popular: Japan
- Most similar to: Unknown
Though it is a game, many might think Onabashira sounds a lot like work. Popular in Japan, the dangerous game involves cutting down logs and transporting them, with the help of rope and gravity, over difficult terrain. The object of the ancient game is to build a nearby shrine with logs that can weigh as much as 10 tons.
15. Pacu Jawi
- Where it’s popular: Indonesia
- Most similar to:
Pacu Jawi is an Indonesian festival with origins on the Island of Sumatra, which involves a competition where a rider mounts behind two oxen with plows attached. The oxen run through thick mud at full speed, and contestants are judged based on their speed and the straightness of the pull. The event is held every year to celebrate the completion of the annual rice harvest.
16. Pato
- Where it’s popular: Argentina
- Most similar to: Basketball
Pato is the national sport of Argentina and is similar to basketball but with at least one major difference: it is played on horseback. The object of the game which is played between two teams, is to throw a ball with a leather handle through a circular hoop.
17. Schwingen
- Where it’s popular: Switzerland
- Most similar to: Wrestling
Schwingen, also called Swiss wrestling, is a form of wrestling that originated in Switzerland, where it remains hugely popular. Often played on sawdust, it has a complicated rule set, but competitions occur in 10-12 minute rounds, with two opponents facing off and attempting to throw each other on their backs.
18. Sepak bola api
- Where it’s popular: Indonesia
- Most similar to: Soccer
Sepak bola api is a game very similar to soccer except instead of a soccer ball the game is played with a flaming coconut that has been dried, hollowed out, and soaked in kerosene. Players typically undergo a three-week training ritual before a match to better withstand the pain from the flame.
19. Sepak takraw
- Where it’s popular: Southeast Asia
- Most similar to: Blend of soccer and volleyball
Sepak Takraw is a highly entertaining hybrid game where the goal is for teams to get a grapefruit-sized ball to land on the opponent’s side of the field using their head, feet, or knees — anything but their hands. The game is most popular in Southeast Asia.
20. Tejo
- Where it’s popular: Colombia
- Most similar to: Cornhole
Much like the game of cornhole, many Americans are familiar with, Tejo is played by tossing a metal disk and trying to hit a small target, often while the players drink beer. The similarities stop there, however, as the targets are surrounded by explosive packets of gun pounder which will earn the thrower more points if they are hit.