Sport in Italy Sport in Italy Sport in Italy has a long tradition. In several sports, both individual and team, Italy has good representation and many successes. Football is the most popular sport in Italy. Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and is (along with Germany) currently the second most successful football team in World Cup history, after Brazil, having won four FIFA World Cup championships. Basketball, volleyball, and cycling are the next most popular/played sports, with Italy having a rich tradition in all three. Italy also has strong traditions in swimming, water polo, rugby union, tennis, athletics, fencing and Formula One.
Sport in Saint Petersburg Sad («Юсупов Сад») toured Germany, Sweden and Finland in 1907 under the name "Sankt Petersburger Amateur Eislaufverein" and won most of its games. Bandy was also played during the Soviet years, with Dynamo Leningrad becoming the runner-up for the Soviet Cup in 1947 and Lenin IVF Leningrad being the runner-up for the Soviet Union Championship in 1952. However, Saint Petersburg has not had an elite team in this sport since BSK Saint Petersburg had to cease its operations in 2005. Chess tradition was highlighted by the 1914 international tournament, in which the title "Grandmaster" was first formally conferred by Russian