We take a look at the most popular sports in Mongolia, using evidence to balance tradition, participation signals and results on some of the world’s biggest stages.
1. Mongolian Wrestling (Bökh)
Naadam, Mongolia’s largest national festival, centers on wrestling. UNESCO describes Naadam as a nationwide celebration focused on three traditional games: wrestling, horse racing and archery. Wrestling is one of the festival’s key pillars.
Wrestling’s size and visibility at the National Naadam tournament are a major reason why it continues to be so prestigious. It features 512 wrestlers in a single-elimination format. In a country where Naadam is a shared annual moment across the nation, that kind of headline tournament keeps wrestling culturally dominant.
2. Horse Racing
Horse culture is a national identity marker in Mongolia – and the numbers prove it. In a UN-related report cited by AP, Mongolia was described as having about 3.4 million horses vs about 3.3 million people, illustrating just how common horses remain in everyday life.
In addition to the sheer number of horses in Mongolia, youth participation is a driving force behind the sport’s popularity. ABC News reports that during Naadam season, more than 10,000 children take part in 395 races across Mongolia. Distances range from roughly 10km to 30km, depending on the horse’s age class.
That combination of tradition, scale and youth involvement shows that horse racing isn’t just a historic sport – it’s a very popular one, too.
3. Archery
Archery completes Naadam’s “three games”, and UNESCO includes it in the festival’s core. Archery has clearly formalised rules, which help keep it alive as a sport, not just a ceremony.
A Mongolia-focused tourism information site explains the standard competition format. Archery competitions involve teams of five to seven archers and a fixed target set, with shooting distances of 75m for men and 60m for women.
When a national archery association structure was first formed in the mid-20th century, 60 archers were part of its early institutional growth. This demonstrates that organized sports have existed in Mongolia for decades. Do you want more? Check out our article about mythology’s greatest archers!
4. Football (Soccer)
Unlike the other three Naadam sports, football’s popularity is demonstrated through leagues, development projects, and school participation. A stable league structure typically attracts fans, sponsors, and youth pipelines, so Mongolia’s 2016 launch of a 10-team semi-professional league was a significant indicator of football’s popularity.
Regarding participation, a recent interview with a representative of the Mongolian Football Federation talked about a national push to include football in schools. This reached 400 schools and 30,000 players in a year, with an aim to expand further.
Despite Mongolia’s growing interest in the sport, however, there’s currently only one football stadium in the country.
5. Judo
In Mongolia, combat sports don’t just exist; they win. That matters for popularity because medals drive funding, enrollment and media attention.
Olympics.com notes that Mongolia has won two gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze Olympic medals across judo, boxing, shooting and wrestling.
At the continental level, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) profile for Mongolia says that more than half of the country’s Asian Games medals come from freestyle wrestling and judo combined. With that kind of repeat success, judo stays highly visible and widely practised across Mongolia.
6. Boxing
Boxing is a long-running medal contributor for Mongolia. As a result, it maintains its popularity beyond a small, dedicated audience. As well as Mongolia’s Olympic success, boxing has shown up in recent multi-sport events.
Mongolia won a gold medal in boxing at the 2023 Asian Games (men’s 57-63.5 kg category), a headline result that sparked new interest in the sport at home.
When a sport keeps producing top-tier results over decades, it typically remains visible in gyms, schools and TV coverage.
7. Basketball 3×3
In Mongolia, 3×3 basketball has become a popular “new wave” sport, particularly among young people. The performance of the nation at a major Asian multi-sport event is a clear indication of this popularity. According to AP, Mongolia’s 3×3 teams won a silver (women) and a bronze (men) at the 2023 Asian Games. The men’s game was decided at a nail-biting 21-20.
Medals in a fast, watchable format like 3×3 often translate quickly into local pickup play, leagues and school interest.
8. Esports and Breaking
Beyond “the three games,” Mongolia’s sports identity is becoming more diverse. AP reports that Mongolia earned a silver medal in esports (Dota 2), and describes a growing youth interest in breaking. This dance sport, with its roots in Mongolia’s post-1990 cultural opening, now appears in major competition pathways.
Medals and national team representation are strong indicators that esports and dance-based sports are no longer considered fringe activities, despite the difficulty in standardizing participation numbers.
9. Olympic-Style Wrestling (Freestyle and Greco-Roman)
Mongolia is also a serious force in Olympic-style wrestling, particularly freestyle, in contrast to Bökh, the traditional form of wrestling that is practiced in Mongolia. The OCA explicitly calls wrestling the most popular sport in Mongolia, noting that Mongolian wrestlers won the country’s first four Olympic medals at Mexico 1968. At the time of the report, the sport had won eight Olympic medals all together.
Mongolia’s most successful sports in the Asian Games are freestyle wrestling and judo, with more than half of the country’s Asian Games medals coming from those two sports combined.
Key Takeaways from the Most Popular Sports in Mongolia The Naadam trio of archery, horse racing, and wrestling enjoy widespread support in Mongolia, where they are the most popular sports. Esports, football, and 3×3 basketball, however, are becoming increasingly popular with Mongolians of all ages.
