46 sports names in Spanish

The whole world is wild about sports. But do you know all the different sports names in Spanish? Can you chat with other sports fans or play sports with your Spanish-speaking friends? No need to worry. We’ve got you covered.

Sports names in Spanish can range from obvious cognates to new words that seem to come out of left field (that’s a béisbol reference). You already know why this vocabulary is important. People in the United States say “soccer,” while the rest of the world calls it football. Many sports names in Spanish, such as fútbol, are fairly clear to any listener. But what about a sport like baloncesto (basketball)? Let’s get into the names of sports in Spanish so you can talk about last night’s big game with ease.

A list of sports in Spanish
Different countries, different sports in Spanish
How to use sports names in Spanish

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A list of sports in Spanish

Even between British and American English, sports names can vary. What’s “football” in England is “soccer” in the United States. This is all to say that using different vocabulary in different countries is natural. The same is true for sports names in Spanish.

Let’s start with a basic list of sports names in Spanish. Below, we include the article in Spanish (el or la) to help you learn not only the word but its gender, too. In English, we don’t say “the basketball,” so we have omitted those articles.

Spanish	English
el baloncesto el básquetbol	basketball
el fútbol americano	American football
el béisbol	baseball
el fútbol	soccer/football
los deportes de motor el automovilismo	motor sports car racing
el motociclismo	motorcycle racing
el billar la carambola	billiards pool
los bolosel boliche	bowling
el ajedrez	chess
las damas Inglesas	checkers
los eSports los ciberdeportes	e-sports
el hockey sobre hielo	ice hockey
el hockey sobre patines	roller hockey
el hockey sobre césped	field hockey
el handball el balonmano	handball
la natación	swimming
el boxeo	boxing
el kickboxing	kickboxing
el paracaidismo saltar de paracaídas	skydiving
la gimnasia	gymnastics
el tenis	tennis
el sófbol	softball
el críquet	cricket
el ciclismo de ruta	road cycling
el ciclismo de pista	track cycling
el ciclismo de montaña	mountain biking
el vóleibol	volleyball
el golf	golf
el tiro con arco	archery
el tenis de mesa el ping pong	table tennis
el triatlón	triathlon
la esgrima	fencing
la lucha grecorromana	Greco-Roman wrestling
la/el yoga	yoga
el esquí	skiing
hacer surf surfear	surfing
el snowboarding	snowboarding
correr trotar	running jogging
bucear	diving
esnorquelear	snorkel
el cámping el campismo	camping
el senderismo el trekking	hiking trekking
la danza	dancing
el skateboarding andar en patineta patinar en skate	skateboarding ride a skateboard skate on a skateboard
hacer pesas levantamiento de pesas	weight lifting
los dardos	darts

The names for sports in Mexican Spanish

Different countries sometimes have different sports names in Spanish. In Mexico, it’s unlikely that you’ll hear baloncesto (basketball). Most people call it el básquet, the shortened version of básquetbol. Same with el fut or el box.

El fútbol americano (American football) is not unheard of in Mexico, as well. If you move to Mexico, you probably won’t be playing full-contact American football. Instead, you’ll probably play el tocho bandera or tochito (flag football).

Another special sport in Mexico is lucha libre, or Mexican wrestling, in which colorful characters wear their trademark brightly colored face masks. Lucha libre is fought between the heroes (técnicos) and the villains (rudos). Whether you believe the fighting is real or staged, the athleticism required for the high-flying moves is impressive. Lucha libre is a treasured national pastime in Mexico and fans go absolutely wild for it.

How to use sports names in Spanish

When using these sports names in Spanish, you’ll typically pair them with the verb jugar (to play) or hacer (to do). For example:

Juego ajedrez con mis amigas. (I play chess with my friends.)
Hago natación tres veces por semana. (I go swimming three times per week.)

Some sports use the verb form of the word, such as surfear (to surf), bucear (to dive) and correr (to run). To use these sports in a sentence, conjugate the verb as you would normally.

Surfeamos en Nicaragua. (We surf in Nicaragua.)
He buceado en el Caribe. (I have gone diving in the Caribbean Sea.)
Ella corre cada mañana. (She runs every morning.)

Here’s more on how to talk about fútbol, the beautiful game.

Talk sports using sports names in Spanish

Whether you’re talking about a pro soccer game or playing sports yourself, every sports fan needs sports names in Spanish in order to chat. Sports are a great way to make friends and learn about local culture. Sports topics even come up in business meetings. You don’t need to memorize a bunch of statistics, but you should know the basic vocabulary. With these sports names in Spanish, you can talk about your hobbies and meet new people at the next big game.

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Alison Maciejewski Cortez

Alison Maciejewski Cortez is Chilean-American, born and raised in California. She studied abroad in Spain, has lived in multiple countries, and now calls Mexico home. She believes that learning how to order a beer in a new language reveals a lot about local culture. Alison speaks English, Spanish, and Thai fluently and studies Czech and Turkish. Her tech copywriting business takes her around the world and she is excited to share language tips as part of the Lingoda team. Follow her culinary and cultural experiences on X.