National sport National sport A national sport is considered to be an intrinsic part of the culture of a nation. Some sports are "de facto" (not established by law) national sports, as baseball is in the United States and Gaelic games are in the Ireland, while others are "de jure" (established by law) national sports, as lacrosse and ice hockey are in Canada. These sports do not have to be necessarily the most played or most followed, which would be either association football or cricket in all but a few countries are widely considered to be important to the significant for its
Soccer in Canada Soccer in Canada Soccer in Canada is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate. According to FIFA's Big Count, 2,695,712 people played in Canada in 2006. Professional soccer in Canada is played in Major League Soccer, the United Soccer League, and the upcoming Canadian Premier League. Canada also has many semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. Canada's men's and women's national soccer teams are ranked 79th and 5th respectively in the FIFA World Rankings, as of September 3, 2018. Soccer is played in Canada according to the rules of association football. What is called soccer in Canada today was