Sport in Serbia
Sport in Serbia plays an important role, and the country has a strong sporting history. The most popular sports in Serbia are football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, water polo and handball.
Professional sports in Serbia are organized by sporting federations and leagues. One of particularities of Serbian professional sports is existence of many multi-sport clubs, biggest and most successful of which are Red Star, Partizan, and Beograd in Belgrade, Vojvodina in Novi Sad, Radnički in Kragujevac, Spartak in Subotica.
Football
Football is the most popular sport in Serbia, and the Football Association of Serbia with 146,845 registered players, is the largest sporting association in the country. Dragan Džajić was officially recognized as "the best Serbian player of all times" by the Football Association of Serbia, and more recently the likes of Nemanja Vidić, Dejan Stanković and Branislav Ivanović play for the elite clubs of Europe, developing the nation's reputation as one of the world's biggest exporters of footballers. The Serbia national football team lacks relative success although it qualified for three of the last four FIFA World Cups. Serbia national youth football teams have won 2013 U-19 European Championship and 2015 U-20 World Cup. The two main football clubs in Serbia are Red Star and Partizan, both from Belgrade. The rivalry between the two clubs is known as the "Eternal Derby".Basketball
Serbia is one of the traditional powerhouses of world basketball, as Serbia men's national basketball team have won two World Championships, three European Championships, one FIBA Diamond Ball, and two Olympic silver medals as well. The women's national basketball team won the European Championship in 2015 and Olympic bronze medal in 2016. Serbia men's national 3x3 team have won four FIBA 3x3 World Cups, and two FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup. A total of 31 Serbian players have played in the NBA in last three decades, including Predrag "Peja" Stojaković and Vlade Divac. The renowned "Serbian coaching school" produced many of the most successful European basketball coaches of all times, such as Željko Obradović, who won a record 9 Euroleague titles as a coach. The first foreign coach in the history of any NBA team is Igor Kokoškov. KK Partizan basketball club was the 1992 European champion and ŽKK Crvena zvezda women's basketball club was 1979 European champion.Tennis
Recent success of Serbian tennis players has led to an immense growth in the popularity of tennis in Serbia. Novak Djokovic, seventeen-time Grand Slam champion, finished in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018 as No. 1 in the world. Monica Seles, a former world no. 1, member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, won eight Grand Slam singles titles. Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Janković were both ranked No. 1 in the WTA Rankings. There were two No. 1 ranked-tennis double players as well: Nenad Zimonjić and Slobodan Živojinović. The Serbia men's tennis national team won the 2010 Davis Cup, and 2020 ATP Cup, also two World Team Cup while Serbia women's tennis national team reached the final at 2012 Fed Cup.Volleyball
Serbia is one of the leading volleyball countries in the world. Its men's national team won the gold medal at 2000 Olympics, silver and bronze medal at the World Championship, the European Championship on 3 occasions as well as the 2016 FIVB World League. The women's national volleyball team are current world Champions, has won European Championship three times as well as Olympic silver medal in 2016.Water polo
The Serbia men's national water polo team is the second most successful national team after Hungary in the history of sport, having won Olympic gold medal in 2016, three World Championships. The last 3 FINA World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2014. A record 12 FINA World Leagues and seven European Championships in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018, respectively. VK Partizan has won a seven European champion titles, VK Bečej and VK Crvena zvezda one.Other sports
Other noted Serbian athletes include: swimmers Milorad Čavić and Nađa Higl ; track and field athlete Ivana Španović ; wrestler Davor Štefanek, taekwondoist Milica Mandić, and auto-racing driver Dušan Borković.National leagues
Football:- Serbian Superliga
- Serbian SuperLiga
- Prva Futsal Liga
- Basketball League of Serbia
- First Women's Basketball League of Serbia
- Volleyball League of Serbia
- Handball League of Serbia
- Serbian First League of Handball for Women
- Serbian Water Polo League A
- Serbian Hockey League
- Rugby Championship of Serbia
- Serbian Rugby League Championship
National sports teams
- Serbia national football team
- Serbia national under-21 football team
- Serbia national under-19 football team
- Serbia women's national football team
- Serbia national futsal team
- Serbia men's national basketball team
- Serbia women's national basketball team
- Serbia men's national 3x3 team
- Serbia men's national volleyball team
- Serbia women's national volleyball team
- Serbia men's national handball team
- Serbia women's national handball team
- Serbia men's national water polo team
- Serbia women's national water polo team
- Serbia Davis Cup team
- Serbia Fed Cup team
- Serbia Hopman Cup team
- Serbia national rugby league team
- Serbia national rugby union team
- Serbia national rugby sevens team
- Serbia national ice hockey team
Achievements
Football
Club
;UEFA Champions League- 1990–91 winners: Red Star Belgrade
- 1991 winners: Red Star Belgrade
Basketball
International (men)
International (women)
Club
;Euroleague- 1991–92 winners: Partizan
- 1978–79 winners: ŽKK Crvena zvezda
Volleyball
International (men)
International (women)
Handball
International (men)
International (women)
Club
;EHF Champions League- 1984–85 Champions League winners: Metaloplastika Šabac
- 1985–86 Champions League winners: Metaloplastika Šabac
- 1975–76 Champions League winners: ŽRK Radnički Belgrade
- 1979–80 Champions League winners: ŽRK Radnički Belgrade
- 1983–84 Champions League winners: ŽRK Radnički Belgrade
Water polo
International
Club
;LEN Champions League- 1963–64 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 1965–66 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 1966–67 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 1970–71 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 1974–75 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 1975–76 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 1999–00 Champions League winners: Bečej
- 2010–11 Champions League winners: Partizan
- 2012–13 Champions League winners: Crvena zvezda
Tennis
International
;Davis Cup- 2010 Davis Cup winners
- 2013 Davis Cup runner-up
- 2020 ATP Cup winners
- 2009 World Team Cup winners
- 2012 World Team Cup winners
- 2012 Fed Cup runner-up
Sporting infrastructure
- List of football stadiums in Serbia
- List of indoor arenas in Serbia
Sport events hosted in Serbia
- 2007 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival
- 2009 Summer Universiade
- 1973 World Aquatics Championships
- Belgrade Marathon, annually
- 1962 European Athletics Championships
- 1969 European Indoor Games
- 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships
- 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships
- EuroBasket Women 1954
- EuroBasket 1961
- EuroBasket 1975
- 2005 EuroBasket
- 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship
- 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship for Women
- EuroBasket Women 2019
- 2018 EuroLeague Final Four
- 1961 European Amateur Boxing Championships
- 1973 European Amateur Boxing Championships
- 1978 World Amateur Boxing Championships
- 1971 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
- 1975 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
- 1978 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
- 1982 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
- 2011 Canoe Sprint European Championships
- 2018 Canoe Sprint European Championships
- 1990 29th Chess Olympiad
- 2009 European Team Chess Championship
- 2013 European Individual Chess Championship for Women
- Tour de Serbie
- 2018 European Fencing Championships
- UEFA Euro 1976
- 1973 European Cup Final
- 1979 UEFA Cup Final
- 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship
- 2016 UEFA Futsal Championship
;Handball
- 1957 World Women's Handball Championship
- 1973 World Women's Handball Championship
- 2012 European Men's Handball Championship
- 2012 European Women's Handball Championship
- 2013 World Women's Handball Championship
- 1989 World Judo Championships
- 2006 European Judo Open Championships
- 2007 European Judo Championships
- 1998 European Karate Championships
- 2010 World Karate Championships
- 2018 European Karate Championships
- 1932 European Rowing Championships
- 2014 European Rowing Championships
- 1957 European Shooting Championships
- 1972 10m European Shooting Championships
- 2005 European Shooting Championships
- 2011 World Shotgun Championships
- 2011 European Shooting Championships
- 1974 Table Tennis European Championships
- 1981 World Table Tennis Championships
- 2007 Table Tennis European Championships
- Serbia Open, 2009–2012
- 2010 Davis Cup, World Group final
- 2013 Davis Cup, World Group final
- 1975 Men's European Volleyball Championship
- 1975 Women's European Volleyball Championship
- 2005 FIVB Volleyball World League, Final Round
- 2005 Men's European Volleyball Championship
- 2009 FIVB Volleyball World League, Final Round
- 2011 Women's European Volleyball Championship
- 2005 FINA Men's Water Polo World League, Super Final
- 2006 Men's European Water Polo Championship
- 2006 Women's European Water Polo Championship
- 2010 FINA Men's Water Polo World League, Super Final
- 2016 Men's European Water Polo Championship
- 2016 Women's European Water Polo Championship
- 1980 European Weightlifting Championships
- 2003 European Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships
- 2012 European Wrestling Championships
- 2017 European Wrestling Championships