• Source: Football in Cuba

Football in Cuba is run by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba. The association administers the national teams, as well as the Campeonato Nacional.
Football has been very popular among young people and the new generations in Cuba, being among two most popular national sports.




History


The first recorded football match in Cuba was in 1901. Football has struggled as sport in Cuba since Baseball is the number one sport in the country. Since the 21st Century football has enjoyed a surge of popularity amongst the youth since Raúl Castro eased restrictions media, allowing international football to be televised starting with the 2010 World Cup.
La Liga and particularly Real Madrid and Barcelona are popular amongst the youth.




Professional football


Professional sports have been forbidden by the Cuban government since 1961, but in 2016, Maikel Reyes became the first Cuban to be allowed to sign a professional contract with a foreign team when he joined Mexican third-tier side Cruz Azul Premier. Until then, Cuban footballers who played professionally had done so without approval of the country's football association and after fleeing the country.




League system


Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Cuba is national top league where usually 16 clubs are split into four groups of four.




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National team


Cuba has only qualified for the world cup once in 1938 and were eliminated in the quarter-finals. They lost 8–0 to Sweden.
Traditionally one of the weaker teams in CONCACAF has seen significant improvement qualifying for the Gold Cup, and reaching the quarter-finals in 2015 and 2017.
Cuban professional players from abroad are recruited to improve the national football team.




Football stadiums






See also


Lists of stadiums




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Tim nasional sepak bola Kuba
• ISO 3166-1
• Kualifikasi Piala Dunia FIFA 2026 (CONCACAF)
• Lester Moré
• Adrian Mutu
• Daftar klub sepak bola divisi tertinggi di negara anggota CONCACAF
• Weston McKennie
• Coca-Cola
• Cakupan Google Street View
• Daftar gol internasional yang dicetak oleh Javier Hernández
• Football in Cuba
• Cuba national football team
• Football Association of Cuba
• Cuba
• Cuba Gooding Jr.
• Cuba national under-20 football team
• Cuba national under-17 football team
• FC Mayabeque
• Cuba women's national football team
• Cuba (disambiguation)