Sport in Ireland Football in 2003 accounted for 34% of total sports attendances at events in the Republic of Ireland, followed by hurling at 23%, association football (soccer) at 16% and rugby at 8%, and Initiative's ViewerTrack study measuring 2005 sports audiences showed the sport's highest-profile match, the All-Ireland Football Final, to be the most watched event of the nation's sporting year. Football is the most played team sport in Ireland. Gaelic football, hurling, golf, aerobics, cycling, swimming and billiards/snooker are the other sporting activities with the highest levels of playing participation in the Republic of Ireland. As Northern Ireland is a constitute
Sport in Ireland the past. On the international stage, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland teams have both competed in three FIFA World Cups, with the Republic also appearing in three European Championships, most recently in 2016. The Milk Cup is an international youth tournament held annually in Northern Ireland, in which clubs and national teams from elsewhere in the world may compete. Northern Ireland also played host to the 2005 UEFA Under-19 European Championships. Rugby union is played and supported throughout Ireland, and is especially popular in urban areas such as Dublin, Limerick and Cork. Rugby union is played at club,