Sports in Costa Rica

What sports are played in Costa Rica?

Football. The Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (FCRF) states that six leagues make up the federation: UNAFUT, LIASCE, LINAFA, LIFUTSAL, LIFUPLA and UNIFFUT. They cover eleven-a-side football, futsal, beach football and women's football.^[2]

School sport. ICODER's procedure for the Central American school games of 2026 lists the sports for the secondary-level delegation as chess, athletics, handball, basketball, football, futsal, judo, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis and volleyball, and athletics and swimming for students with disabilities.^[29]

Olympic sports. Olympedia's narrative states that at the Winter Games Costa Rica has taken part in Alpine skiing, biathlon and cross-country skiing. Its only medals-by-sport row for Costa Rica is swimming.^[1]

Surfing. The ISA's World Surfing Games were held at Playa Jacó in 2016, and The Tico Times reported the opening of the 2009 edition in Jacó.^[22][24]

What is the most popular spectator sport in Costa Rica?

No measured ranking of spectator sports in Costa Rica was retrieved, and no season attendance figure for the first division was found. The proxy retrieved is television audience measurement.

Television ratings. Centro TV publishes monthly programme rankings for Canal 7 Teletica and Canal 6 Repretel from Kantar IBOPE Media data, with a household rating (“Hogares Total”) and a count of individuals. Each table is one month's reading.^[21]

For 1 to 31 July 2026 it ranks first “FUT COPA MUNDIAL” on Canal 7 Teletica, 12 broadcasts with a household rating of 22.79 and 277,290 individuals; second is the channel's post-match World Cup programme, at 18.90. For June 2026 it ranks second a Costa Rica friendly, “PARTIDO AMISTOSO SELE”, at 17.99.^[21]

Domestic league football appears lower. In December 2025 “FUTBOL NACIONAL” on Canal 6 Repretel ranks 17th, at 9.09, and in May 2026 “FUTBOL NACIONAL” on Canal 7 Teletica ranks 16th, at 7.88. The August 2026 table lists a national-team pre-match programme on Repretel, “PREVIO PARTIDO SELECCION NAL”, 17th at 7.48.^[21] These are monthly programme ratings, not a ranking of sports.

How is sport organised in Costa Rica?

The Constitution. The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones publishes the Constitución Política de la República de Costa Rica of 7 November 1949 with its reforms. Article 89 states: “Todas las personas tienen derecho al deporte, a la educación física y a la recreación. El Estado garantizará este derecho”, and continues with the State's duties to promote its universalisation and support sporting disciplines at every level. The note beneath it records that this was added by Ley n.º 10.376, “con rige a partir de su publicación; publicada en La Gaceta n.° 1 de 8 de enero de 2024.”^[18]

The statute. The Instituto Costarricense del Deporte y la Recreación (ICODER) states that “por la Ley 7.800 nace el 1° de agosto de 1998, como una institución semi autónoma del Estado, con personería jurídica propia e independencia administrativa, tal como reza el Artículo I de dicha ley.”^[15] ICODER's page on the law links the text on the Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (SCIJ) of the Procuraduría General de la República; that system could not be retrieved, so no consolidated version or its date was read.^[17]

The council. ICODER prints article 8 of Ley 7800: “El Instituto tendrá un Consejo Nacional del Deporte y la Recreación, en lo sucesivo el Consejo Nacional, integrado de la siguiente manera:”. Item a) is “El ministro o el viceministro que tenga a su cargo la cartera del Deporte, quien lo presidirá y, en caso de empate, tendrá voto decisivo.” Item d) is “Una persona representante del Comité Olímpico Nacional de Costa Rica.” and item e) “Una persona representante del Comité Paralímpico Nacional de Costa Rica.” The list continues to item i), a representative of the national federations and associations of sport and recreation for persons with disabilities.^[16] La Gaceta n.° 220 of 19 November 2019 prints items d), e) and i) in the same words in article 4 of Ley n.° 9739, Reformas para la inclusión al deporte y la recreación de las personas con discapacidad, which gives article 8 this text; the law was approved on 27 August 2019 and states: “Rige a partir de su publicación.” Whether article 8 was amended after 2019 could not be checked against a consolidated text.^[31]

The Olympic committee. Panam Sports and ANOC list the Comité Olímpico Nacional de Costa Rica; ANOC gives 30 September 2024 as the election date of its current president and secretary general.^[19][20] Olympedia states that the committee “was formed on 30 July 1953 and given official recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the IOC session in Athens, on 15 May 1954.”^[1] The committee's own site could not be retrieved.

Football. The FCRF states that “No es sino hasta el 13 de junio de 1921 que se organizó la Liga Nacional de Fútbol”, that the body was named Federación Deportiva de Costa Rica in 1931 and later Federación Nacional de Fútbol before taking its present name “por los años sesentas”, and: “COSTA RICA OFICIALIZÓ SU INGRESO A LA FIFA EN EL AÑO 1927.”^[2]

Integrity decisions. La Nación reported on 28 July 2026 that the federation, through its Comisión Disciplinaria, “sancionó con la exclusión por 10 años del fútbol profesional al equipo San Carlos FC”, after an integrity-office investigation into four matches fixed in 2025. The club had played the 2024-2025 Liga de Ascenso season. The same report states that Puerto Golfito FC was excluded for ten years in 2024.^[14] CR Hoy reported on 19 March 2024: “El Puerto Golfito FC y 3 de sus miembros fueron suspendidos 10 años por parte de la Comisión Disciplinaria de la Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (Fedefútbol) por amaño de partidos en la Liga de Ascenso.” It reported that the commission had notified the final resolution of file 001-2023 and that the matter could go before the Tribunal de Apelación; no appeal decision was retrieved.^[34] A second report that day stated that the federation's legal department confirmed a breach of article 66 of the Código Disciplinario under a resolution of the Comisión Disciplinaria, and that all affiliated leagues had been notified.^[30] The resolution itself was not retrieved.

What are the main domestic leagues and competitions?

First division. The FCRF lists UNAFUT as the “Liga Profesional de Primera División”.^[2] UNAFUT's own site publishes the “Reglamento de Competición Liga Promerica Temporada 2026-2027” and the “Normas de Competición Liga Promerica Temporada 2026-2027”; Liga Promerica is the name its own site prints. The same site lists clubs including LD Alajuelense, Deportivo Saprissa, CS Herediano and CS Cartaginés, and names the season's tournaments Apertura and Clausura.^[3]

Regional club competition. Concacaf states that LD Alajuelense are “the only team to have won the competition, lifting the trophy in each of the tournament's first three editions, most recently in 2025.” It lists Alajuelense, Saprissa, CS Herediano and CS Cartaginés among the clubs in the 2026 Concacaf Central American Cup, which it states “kicks off on July 28”.^[26]

National games. ICODER states: “Los Juegos Deportivos Nacionales constituyen el principal programa que desarrolla el Gobierno en el campo del deporte.” It states that their organisation and execution fall to ICODER, and its site lists the XLIII edition for 2027.^[27]

How has Costa Rica performed at the Olympic Games?

All figures here are Olympedia's, from its participation, Medals by Games and Medals by sport tables for the code CRC, read as rows. Olympedia prints no totals row under either medal table.^[1]

Editions. Olympedia's participation table lists Costa Rica at the Summer Games of 1936 and of every edition from 1964 to 2024, and at the Winter Games of 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2002 and 2006. It lists no 1906 row. Costa Rica is filed as CRC throughout, and nothing filed under another code is included here.^[1]

Pre-war rows and art competitions. Costa Rica's only pre-war edition in the table is 1936, for which the Medals by Games table has no row. No table carries an art-competition row for Costa Rica, so the rows below include no art-competition medal.^[1]

Post-war rows. In gold, silver and bronze: 1988, 0, 1, 0. There is no row for any edition from 1964 to 1984 or for 1992.^[1]

From 1992. 1996, 1, 0, 0; 2000, 0, 0, 2. There is no row for any edition from 2004 to 2024, and no Winter Games row.^[1]

By sport. The one medals-by-sport row is swimming: 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.^[1]

Youth Games. The participation table carries Youth Olympic Games rows for 2010, 2014 and 2018; they are typed separately, and the medal tables carry no Youth row for Costa Rica.^[1]

Which athletes and teams are internationally recognised?

Olympic swimming. Olympedia's narrative names the medallists as the sisters Silvia and Claudia Poll, and states that Sylvia Poll, so spelled in that sentence, won silver in the women's 200 metres freestyle in 1988. It states that Claudia Poll won gold in the same event in 1996, and two bronze medals at Sydney 2000, in the 200 and 400 metres freestyle.^[1]

The 2014 World Cup. FIFA's page for the Costa Rican association records its best World Cup performance as “Quarter-finals” in 2014.^[4] 11v11 lists Costa Rica's matches of that tournament: 14 June, Uruguay v Costa Rica, 1-3; 20 June, Italy v Costa Rica, 0-1; 24 June, Costa Rica v England, 0-0; 29 June, Costa Rica v Greece, 1-1 (5-3), marked a win; and 5 July, Netherlands v Costa Rica, 0-0 (4-3), marked a loss.^[5]

Other World Cups. 11v11 lists, for 1990: 11 June, Costa Rica v Scotland, 1-0; 16 June, Brazil v Costa Rica, 1-0; 20 June, Sweden v Costa Rica, 1-2; 23 June, Czechoslovakia v Costa Rica, 4-1.^[6] For 2002: China PR v Costa Rica, 0-2; Costa Rica v Turkey, 1-1; Costa Rica v Brazil, 2-5.^[7] For 2006: Germany v Costa Rica, 4-2; Ecuador v Costa Rica, 3-0; Costa Rica v Poland, 1-2.^[8] For 2018: Costa Rica v Serbia, 0-1; Brazil v Costa Rica, 2-0; Switzerland v Costa Rica, 2-2.^[9] For 2022: Spain v Costa Rica, 7-0; Japan v Costa Rica, 0-1; Costa Rica v Germany, 2-4.^[10] FIFA's page records six appearances, the last in 2022.^[4] 11v11's record for 2025-26 lists World Cup qualifiers ending on 18 November 2025 and no match at the 2026 final tournament.^[11]

Surfing. The ISA's site for the 2016 World Surfing Games lists Costa Rica as bronze medallist in the ISA Aloha Cup, behind the United States and Argentina.^[22]

What major international competitions has Costa Rica hosted?

ISA World Surfing Games, 2016. The International Surfing Association's event site records the “2016 INS ISA World Surfing Games” at Playa Jacó, Costa Rica, from 6 to 14 August 2016, with Peru as team gold medallist.^[22] The ISA's event calendar lists the edition among its past World Surfing Games, located at “Jacó, Costa Rica”.^[23]

ISA World Surfing Games, 2009. The Tico Times reported on 31 July 2009 that the competition began that day with opening ceremonies in Jacó, that “all the surfing will take place about three miles south of there on Playa Hermosa”, and that it would close on 9 August. That account is a single secondary source.^[24]

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, 2022. FIFA's 2022 annual report states that the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022 was “Played in two host cities – Alajuela and San José, over 18 days”, with 16 nations, and that Spain beat Japan 3-1 in the final.^[25]

Regional school games, 2026. ICODER's 2026 procedure placed the secondary-level Central American school games in Honduras, 4 to 13 September 2026, and places the games for students with disabilities, scheduled for 25 to 31 October 2026, in Guatemala; neither is hosted in Costa Rica.^[29]

What are Costa Rica's main sporting rivalries?

The counts that follow come from a single secondary statistics site, 11v11, not from either federation's own record, and are current to the latest match each page lists.

Mexico, football. 11v11 prints Costa Rica's record against Mexico as games won 7, drawn 19, lost 35. Its list opens with a 2-0 Mexican win at the Central American and Caribbean Games on 2 April 1935, and its latest entry is Mexico v Costa Rica, 0-0, at the Gold Cup on 22 June 2025.^[12]

United States, football. 11v11 prints the record as “Games won: 17 | Games drawn: 6 | Games lost: 21”. Its first entry is a 3-1 Costa Rican win on 19 August 1975, and its latest is USA v Costa Rica, 2-2, at the Gold Cup on 29 June 2025, which it marks as a Costa Rican loss.^[13]

Other live fixtures. 11v11 lists a 3-1 loss to Colombia in a friendly on 1 June 2026, and the 7-0 loss to Spain at the 2022 World Cup.^[11][10]

What is the role of school and university sport?

The education ministry. The Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) states: “El Ministerio de Educación Pública debe contribuir a la formación integral de las personas estudiantes del sistema educativo costarricense, ofreciendo oportunidades para el desarrollo de hábitos, destrezas y capacidades deportivas por medio del Programa Juegos Deportivos Estudiantiles.”^[28]

Regional school games. ICODER's procedure for 2026 names the body behind the Central American school games as the Consejo del Istmo Centroamericano de Deporte y Recreación (CODICADER). It sets out how the national student delegation is chosen for the secondary-level games in Honduras and the games for students with disabilities in Guatemala.^[29]

The council. Article 8 of Ley 7800, as ICODER prints it, seats the minister or vice-minister of education on the Consejo Nacional del Deporte y la Recreación and gives a seat to the universities that teach sports science.^[16] No publication from a national university sport body was retrieved.

Were any sports invented in Costa Rica?

No federation, government instrument or standard reference retrieved claims that a sport was invented or codified in Costa Rica.

National sport. The statute register, the SCIJ, could not be retrieved, so no search of it for a law declaring a national sport could be made. Article 89 of the Constitution, as the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones publishes it, names no particular sport.^[18] ICODER's account of Ley 7800 names none either.^[15]

Surfing. The ISA record retrieved for Costa Rica is one of hosting, not of origin.^[22] A unanimous committee report of the Asamblea Legislativa dated 29 April 2019, on bill file 21241, recommends an article 1 that opens “Se declara de interés público la práctica y el desarrollo del surf por ser una actividad de importancia turística, económica y deportiva de Costa Rica.” and an article 2 that opens “Se declara el tercer sábado de cada mes de octubre como el Día Nacional del Surf.”^[32] Teletica reported on 18 October 2019 that the President of the Republic had made both declarations official that day.^[33] Neither text declares surfing a national sport; the number of the resulting law was not retrieved.