Sports in Sweden

What sports are played in Sweden?

The breadth of organised sport is set by the membership of the national confederation. A Riksdag Committee on Cultural Affairs report of 2017 states: “RF har 71 specialidrottsförbund (SF) som medlemmar.”^[7] That figure is dated to the report, and the confederation's own member list could not be retrieved for this page.

Several federations publish their own scale. Svenska Innebandyförbundet states on its own site that floorball has “över 125 000 licensierade spelare”.^[18] Elite leagues are run in football by Svensk Elitfotboll, in ice hockey by the SHL and in handball by Svensk Elithandboll; floorball's top division is Svenska Superligan SSL, and Svenska Bandyförbundet lists bandy's Elitserien.^{[11][13][15][16][17]}

Olympic results give a second, countable measure. The rows of Olympedia's medals-by-sport table for Sweden at the Olympic Games include cross-country skiing at 37 gold, 31 silver and 26 bronze, wrestling at 28, 27 and 31, athletics at 21, 23 and 41, shooting at 15, 25 and 18, and canoe sprint at 15, 11 and 4.^[1]

What is the most popular spectator sport in Sweden?

Two leagues' own full-season attendance totals are reported here, side by side and without ranking them.

For football, Allsvenskan's own site reported on 10 November 2025 that “Totalt har 3 291 868 personer sett Allsvenskan och Superettan på plats säsongen 2025”, of whom Allsvenskan drew 2 635 842, “vilket skapar ett snitt på 10 982 per allsvensk match”; the second tier, Superettan, drew 656 026.^[11] The report gives these as figures for the 2025 season.

For ice hockey, the SHL reported on 5 May 2026, after the 2025/26 play-offs and qualifiers had been played, that the regular season drew 2 565 027 spectators at an average of 7 047, and that the season total including play-offs was 2 899 578, which the league describes as a record in total attendance for the fourth year in a row.^[13] Both sets of figures are the leagues' own.

How is sport organised in Sweden?

The constitution names the state plainly: Regeringsformen, 1 kap. 1 §, reads “All offentlig makt i Sverige utgår från folket.”^[9]

Two bodies, two legal persons. The umbrella confederation of national federations is Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund (RF). The body Olympedia names as Sweden's National Olympic Committee is Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté (SOK).^[1] Neither body's own statutes could be retrieved; both organisations' sites refused retrieval. The account here therefore rests on the state's instruments and on the Riksdag.

A report from the Riksdag Committee on Cultural Affairs, published in 2017 as 2016/17:RFR12, states: “Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté (SOK) är den högsta instansen för olympiska frågor inom den svenska idrottsrörelsen.” It describes SOK as made up of 36 Olympic federations and 14 federations recognised by the IOC, and continues: “RF har ett myndighetsansvar för att fördela statsbidraget till SOK, men SOK är dock en egen juridisk person.”^[7] Olympedia's entry for Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté gives 1913 as the year it was founded and 1913 as the year it was recognised by the IOC.^[32] No merger, split or renaming of either body is recorded in the documents read.

The state's instruments. Lag (1995:361), issued on 6 April 1995 and consolidated to SFS 1999:1044, has a single section: “Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund prövar frågor om fördelning av statsbidrag till idrottsverksamhet i enlighet med vad regeringen bestämmer.”^[6] The grants themselves are governed by Förordning (1999:1177) om statsbidrag till idrottsverksamhet, issued on 9 December 1999; the consolidated text read runs to SFS 2025:20. Section 1 ties it to the 1995 Act: “Denna förordning innehåller föreskrifter om sådant statsbidrag till idrottsverksamhet som avses i lagen (1995:361) om överlämnande av förvaltningsuppgifter till Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund.” Section 2 defines sport as “prestationsinriktad tävlingsidrott och hälsoinriktad bredd- och motionsidrott i vilken det ingår ett centralt moment av fysisk aktivitet” and an organisation as “föreningar och förbund som är anknutna till Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund”, and section 7 provides that “Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund prövar frågor om statsbidrag enligt denna förordning.”^[5] Section 6 is permissive, not mandatory: “Statsbidrag får beviljas” to “organisationer på central, regional eller lokal nivå som arbetar med idrottsverksamhet”, to “Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté för förberedelser inför och deltagande i internationell tävlingsverksamhet”, and to “huvudmän som är ansvariga för utbildning vid riksidrottsgymnasier”.^[5]

Gambling and funding. The 2017 Riksdag report states that until 2010 the state's funding of sport came mainly from the state's income from AB Svenska Spel, and that sport is now financed by appropriation.^[7] The gambling market is now governed by Spellag (2018:1138), in force from 1 January 2019; the consolidated text read on 24 September 2026 runs to SFS 2026:1077. Chapter 6, section 2 provides that a licence for lotteries for public-benefit purposes “får ges endast till en ideell förening eller ett registrerat trossamfund” that, among four conditions, “enligt sina stadgar har till huvudsakligt syfte att främja allmännyttiga ändamål inom landet” and “för sin verksamhet behöver intäkter från spel”; a second paragraph allows a licence to another legal person “om det finns särskilda skäl för det”.^[8] Allsvenskan's own site names Unibet as its “HUVUDPARTNER OCH PRESENTING PARTNER”.^[12]

What are the main domestic leagues and competitions?

Men's football's top two divisions are Allsvenskan and Superettan, run by Svensk Elitfotboll; Allsvenskan's site names TV4 as its media partner.^[11][12]

Ice hockey's top division is the SHL, whose site links to an SHL category on TV4 Play and to Telia's television sport page for the league.^[14] Handball's top divisions for men and women are both called Handbollsligan, organised by Svensk Elithandboll, which was publishing items on the 2026/27 season on 17 September 2026.^[15] Floorball's top division is Svenska Superligan SSL, with men's and women's play-offs.^[16]

Bandy's top divisions are Elitserien Herr and Elitserien Dam under Svenska Bandyförbundet, which lists the 2027 Swedish championship finals for 19 and 20 March 2027 at ABB Arena Syd in Västerås.^[17]

How has Sweden performed at the Olympic Games?

Every figure in this section is from Olympedia. Its narrative states: “With the exception of the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, Sweden has competed at every Olympic Games and every Olympic Winter Games.”^[1]

Olympedia prints no total for Sweden. Its medals-by-Games table gives one row per edition. The rows it types as Summer Olympics, from 1900 to 2024, add up to 150 gold, 181 silver and 184 bronze. A separate row, the 1956 Equestrian Olympics, carries 3 gold. The Winter rows, from 1924 to 2026, add up to 73 gold, 57 silver and 65 bronze. All rows typed Olympic Games together add up to 226 gold, 238 silver and 249 bronze, and the medals-by-sport table's Olympic Games rows add up to the same three numbers.^[1] Those sums are arithmetic on Olympedia's rows, not a figure Olympedia publishes.

The row for 1912 at Stockholm carries 23 gold, 25 silver and 17 bronze. The most recent rows are the 2024 Summer Olympics, with 4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze, and the 2026 Winter Olympics, with 8 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze.^[1]

Two typing questions. Olympedia types the 1906 Games at Athens as “Intercalated Games”, not Olympic Games, and gives Sweden a row of 2 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze under that type, with its own medals-by-sport table; that row is not in the sums above.^[1][2] Olympedia's medals-by-sport table carries no row headed art competitions. It carries three art rows under their own names: sculpture, one gold and one bronze; painting, one gold; and architecture, one bronze. Those medals are included in the sums above, because the per-sport rows including them add up to the per-Games rows.^[1] Youth Olympic Games rows from 2010 to 2024 are typed separately and are not included.^[1]

Which athletes and teams are internationally recognised?

World Athletics reported that Armand Duplantis won the men's pole vault at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on 15 September 2025, clearing 6.30m; the report's headline describes the height as a world record.^[29]

In handball, the IHF's history of the men's world championships records that Sweden hosted the 1954 championship, held from 13 to 17 January, and that “The host won the final 17:14 (8:5)”.^[23] The same account records that Sweden won the 1958 final 22:12 in the German Democratic Republic.^[23]

Svenska Fotbollförbundet's record of the men's World Cup finals lists the 1958 final, played in Sweden, as “Brasilien-Sverige 5-2 (2-1)”, and records third places in 1950 and 1994.^[20] At the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States the same record places Sweden 27th, eliminated by France in the round of 32.^[20]

In floorball, the International Floorball Federation reported that Finland beat Sweden 5-4 in overtime in the men's world championship final in Malmö on 15 December 2024.^[26]

What major international competitions has Sweden hosted?

Olympic Games. Olympedia records that “Stockholm was selected by acclamation at the 11th IOC Session in Berlin, on 28 May 1909” to host the 1912 Games, whose competition ran from 5 May to 27 July 1912.^[3] The 1956 Games were awarded by the IOC to Melbourne. Olympedia states that Australian quarantine laws required a six-month quarantine for horses, that this “precluded Melbourne from being able to host the equestrian events”, and that “It was decided, actually in violation of the Olympic Charter, to contest separate Equestrian Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, from 10 through 17 June 1956.” It records that Stockholm was chosen at the 50th IOC Session in Athens on 13 May 1954, and that six events in dressage, eventing and jumping were held.^[4] Olympedia's editions list types these as a separate edition, the 1956 Equestrian Olympics at Stockholm, beside the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, 22 November to 8 December 1956.^[2]

Football. Svenska Fotbollförbundet records the 1958 FIFA World Cup as “1958 i Sverige” and the 1992 European Championship as “1992 i Sverige”, with the 1992 final “Danmark-Tyskland 2-0.”^[20][21]

Ice hockey. The IIHF states that the 2025 IIHF World Championship was held in Stockholm and Herning, Denmark, from 9 to 25 May 2025.^[27] An IIHF report of 17 June 2021 records Stockholm co-hosting with Helsinki in 2012 and 2013.^[28]

Handball. Besides the 1954 men's championship, the IHF's timeline records that “The first-ever IHF Men's Junior World Championship takes place in Sweden” from 11 to 19 April 1977.^[23][24] The 2023 men's world championship was co-hosted by Poland and Sweden; the IHF reported on 30 January 2023 that Denmark beat France 34:29 in the final and that Spain won the bronze-medal match against Sweden.^[25]

Floorball. Svenska Innebandyförbundet states that the first world championship was held in 1996 and that 15 106 spectators saw the final in Globen.^[19] The IFF records the 2024 men's championship final in Malmö.^[26]

What are Sweden's main sporting rivalries?

Football. Svenska Fotbollförbundet's own opponents record, headed “Sveriges motståndare 1908-2025”, gives the men's record against Denmark as 110 matches, 48 won, 20 drawn and 42 lost, goals 189–176, and against Finland as 91 matches, 69 won, 11 drawn and 11 lost, goals 299–96.^[22] These are the Swedish federation's figures, not Denmark's or Finland's. See also Denmark and Finland.

Athletics. Finnkampen, the athletics international between Sweden and Finland, is documented by Svenska Friidrottsförbundet from its first meeting in Helsinki in 1925. The federation publishes year-by-year results; its entry for 2017 states that the overall victory record then stood level at 67-67, and no later running total is printed. It records Finland winning both the men's match, 228 to 225, and the women's, 229.5 to 224.5, in Helsinki in 2024, and Sweden winning both in Stockholm in 2025, the men 252 to 201 and the women 242.5 to 211.5.^[30] SVT reported that at the 2026 match, at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Sweden's women won 230–222 and Finland's men won 227–225.^[31]

Floorball. The 2024 men's world championship final was between Sweden and Finland, won by Finland in overtime.^[26]

What is the role of school and university sport?

School sport is set in two ordinances. In the Gymnasieförordning (2010:2039), consolidated to SFS 2026:1367, chapter 3, section 5 provides: “Utöver ämnet idrott och hälsa ska det anordnas idrotts- och friluftsverksamhet som ska bedrivas under lärares ledning.”^[10]

The same ordinance provides for the riksidrottsgymnasium, the upper-secondary sports school. Chapter 5, section 25 provides that “Statens skolverk får efter förslag från Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund besluta om var idrottsutbildning vid riksidrottsgymnasium får anordnas och om hur många platser dessa utbildningar får omfatta.”^[10] Chapter 5, section 27 provides that a programme including the subjects specialidrott and tränings- och tävlingslära “får godkännas som en nationell idrottsutbildning om den har en tydlig elitidrottskaraktär och ett etablerat samarbete med ett specialidrottsförbund som är relevant för utbildningen.” It continues: “Utbildningen får bara godkännas om specialidrottsförbundet tillstyrker det.”^[10]

The funding link runs through the sport grants ordinance: section 6 of Förordning (1999:1177) lists among permitted recipients “huvudmän som är ansvariga för utbildning vid riksidrottsgymnasier”.^[5] No document on university sport was retrieved.

Were any sports invented in Sweden?

The claim on record is made by a federation, and it is a claim of origin, not of codification. Svenska Innebandyförbundet's history page opens: “Innebandy är en sport med svenskt ursprung.”^[19] The same page states that popularity at youth centres during the 1970s led to dedicated clubs being formed, that “Först ut var Sala IBK 1979”, and that “I november 1981 bildades Svenska Innebandyförbundet. 15 föreningar närvarade vid bildandemötet i Sala.” It gives 1985 as the year the federation was admitted to Riksidrottsförbundet.^[19] Those are a claim of origin, a founding of a club, and a founding of an association: three separate things, all from the federation itself. The page names no inventor and no first code of rules.^[19]

For handball, no statement on the game's origins by Svenska Handbollförbundet could be retrieved. The IHF's history of the men's world championships records that the first championship, on 5 and 6 February 1938, was contested by host Germany, Austria, Sweden and Denmark under the International Amateur Handball Federation.^[23] That is a record of participation, not of invention.