Belize’s sporting culture mixes British, Caribbean and Central American influences. Football is the most popular sport, and basketball is not far behind. Cycling, canoeing, softball and cricket also have a strong following. The national football team, known as the Jaguars, reached its only CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013 after finishing fourth at that year’s Central American Cup. Striker Deon McCaulay became a national hero in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, when his 11 goals made him joint top scorer worldwide alongside Luis Suárez and Robin van Persie. At home, the Premier League of Belize has been the top division since 2011. Verdes FC won both the opening and closing titles in 2025–26.

Two of Belize’s biggest sporting traditions are endurance races. The Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic was first held in 1928 and is billed as the longest-running cycling race in the Western Hemisphere. Each Easter weekend, riders race from Belize City to San Ignacio and back. La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge is a four-day canoe race of about 290 km (180 miles) down the Belize River from San Ignacio to Belize City, held every March since 1998.

Belize has competed at the Summer Olympics since 1968. It competed as British Honduras in 1968 and 1972 and has missed only one Games, when it joined the US-led boycott of Moscow 1980. No Belizean has yet won an Olympic or Commonwealth Games medal. Belize’s best Olympic result came in 2012, when Kenneth Medwood reached the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles. In basketball, Milt Palacio was born in Los Angeles to Belizean parents. He played seven NBA seasons (1999–2006) for the Vancouver Grizzlies, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz. In Europe he won the Serbian League, Serbian Cup and Adriatic League with Partizan, and a Spanish title with Caja Laboral. He also led Belize to the 1998 CARICOM Basketball Championship.

Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Belize. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.

Popular sports of Belize

  • Football (Soccer)
  • Basketball
  • Road cycling
  • Canoeing
  • Softball, cricket, athletics, volleyball and sailing

Belize Sporting Success

  • CARICOM Men’s Basketball Championship winners (1998, on home soil in Belize City)
  • FIBA COCABA Championship runners-up (2009)
  • Qualified for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Belize’s first major football tournament
  • Deon McCaulay – joint top scorer (11 goals) in qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup
  • Central American Cricket Championship winners (2019)
  • 2025 Central American Games – 15 medals, including gold in team 9-ball billiards

Great athletes from Belize

  • Milt Palacio (basketball) – seven NBA seasons and titles in Serbia and Spain. Born in the USA to Belizean parents.
  • Chito Martínez (baseball) – born in Belize City, he is the only Belize-born player in Major League Baseball (Baltimore Orioles, 1991–1993)
  • Deon McCaulay (football) – Belize’s most capped player and all-time top scorer
  • Kenneth Medwood (athletics) – 400m hurdles semi-finalist at London 2012, Belize’s best Olympic result
  • Kaina Martinez (athletics) – reached the 100m quarter-finals at London 2012
  • Shaun Gill (athletics) – 100m sprinter and Belize’s only athlete and flag bearer at Paris 2024

Belize Sports trivia

  • In qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, Deon McCaulay scored as many goals as Luis Suárez and Robin van Persie, even though Belize was knocked out after just two rounds.
  • The Holy Saturday Cycling Classic began in 1928. The organiser, Monrad Metzgen, got the idea after noticing people cycling long distances to cricket matches. The first winner took more than 21 hours, while the course record is now under 5 hours 40 minutes.
  • Belize City’s former National Stadium was renamed the Marion Jones Sports Complex in 2001 after the Belizean-heritage sprinter visited following the Sydney Olympics. The name became controversial when Jones was later stripped of her Olympic medals for doping.
  • Belize joined the US-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the only Summer Games it has missed since first competing in 1968.
  • Belize has never competed at the Winter Olympics.

Belize at major events

Past sporting events hosted in Belize

  • 1998 CARICOM Men’s Basketball Championship – Belize City, won by Belize
  • 2023 FIBA U17 Centrobasket – Belize City Civic Center, won by Puerto Rico
  • FIFA World Cup qualifiers and CONCACAF Nations League matches at FFB Stadium, Belmopan

Upcoming sporting events in Belize

  • 2026–27 CONCACAF Nations League – Belize’s matches against Sint Maarten, St Vincent and the Grenadines and French Guiana, 26 September to 6 October 2026, reported to be played at FFB Stadium. The competition is part of qualifying for the 2027 Gold Cup.
  • La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge – March 2027
  • 97th Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic – Easter 2027

Annual sporting events held in Belize

  • Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic – Belize City to San Ignacio and back (about 229 km / 142 miles), held since 1928
  • La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge – four-day canoe race from San Ignacio to Belize City, held since 1998 around Baron Bliss Day in March
  • Premier League of Belize – football, with opening and closing seasons

Sporting Facilities in Belize

  • FFB Stadium, Belmopan – home of the national football team, capacity about 5,000
  • Marion Jones Sports Complex, Belize City – football, athletics and cycling, capacity about 7,500
  • MCC Grounds, Belize City – a former cricket ground from the colonial era, now used for football
  • Belize City Civic Center – indoor arena used for basketball