Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026: Full List of Sports, Participating Countries and Record-Breaking Nations

The Commonwealth Games are a major international multi-sport event held every four years. It involves countries that are a part of the Commonwealth.

The ’26 games in Glasgow, Scotland, are taking place from Thursday, 23 July, to Sunday, 2 August. This is the 23rd edition of the competition, which first began in 1930 as the British Empire Games.

During the 21st century, Birmingham, the Gold Coast, Glasgow, Delhi, and Melbourne, besides Manchester, have served as host cities.

It was intended that 74 different nations were to have their teams in the ’26 Commonwealth Games.

Unlike in the Olympics, besides Paralympics events, countries that are part of Great Britain compete separately. This means that England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland are pitted against each other rather than being grouped together.

The Commonwealth Games is effectively a scaled-down version of the Olympics, besides the Paralympics.

The Commonwealth Games, like the Olympics and Paralympics, occur every four years. That’s in between each Olympic & Paralympic cycle.

Part of the Commonwealth Games’ legacy is being the 1st multi-sport event to fully integrate para-events.

Which sports consist of the ’26 Commonwealth Games?

Only a total of 10 different sports will be conducted at the ’26 Commonwealth Games. It’s a significant decrease from the 17 sports represented the last time Glasgow held the event 12 years ago in ’14.

Hockey and all racquet sports were among those that were dropped. However, the likes of athletics, swimming, track cycling, netball, boxing & judo all made the final list.

There are also Para events in athletics, swimming, track cycling, and powerlifting besides bowls.

Full list of the sports

• Athletics & para-athletics (track & field only)
• Swimming & Para-swimming
• Artistic gymnastics
• Track cycling & para-track cycling
• Artistic gymnastics
• Track cycling & para-track cycling
• Netball
• Weightlifting & Para-powerlifting
• Boxing
• Judo
• Bowls & Para-bowls
• 3×3 basketball & 3×3 wheelchair basketball

Nations participating

All 74 members of the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) are due to compete in this year’s Games in Galsgow.

They are made up of 55 sovereign states, 9 British Overseas Territories, the 4 UK home nations, 3 Crown Dependencies, and 2 associated states of the Realm of New Zealand, besides 1 external territory of Australia.

In addition to the nations listed below, 9 other nations have previously been members of the CGA. They have since either merged with other nations or withdrawn from the CGA. They are Aden, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, North Borneo, Sarawak, and South Arabia, besides Zimbabwe.

Unlike the rest of the nations competing, ’26 Commonwealth Games debutants Gabon & Togo don’t have historical links with the Commonwealth. Both nations joined the Commonwealth only 4 years ago in ’22.

Full list of nations competing

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Botswana
• British Virgin Islands
• Brunei
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Cayman Islands
• Cook Islands
• Cyprus
• Dominica
• England
• Eswatini
• Falkland Islands
• Fiji
• Gabon
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Grenada
• Guernsey
• Guyana
• India
• Isle of Man
• Jamaica
• Jersey
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Montserrat
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Nauru
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Niue
• Norfolk Island
• Northern Ireland
• Pakistan
• Papua New Guinea
• Rwanda
• Saint Helena
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa
• Scotland
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Solomon Islands
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• Tanzania
• The Gambia
• Togo
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Vanuatu
• Wales
• Zambia

Nations with the best records?

Most Commonwealth Games medals

1. Australia – 2,604 (1,003 gold, 834 silver and 767 bronze)
2. England– 2,322 (773 gold, 783 silver and 766 bronze)
3. Canada – 1,647 (510 gold, 548 silver and 589 bronze)
4. New Zealand– 706 (179 gold, 232 silver and 295 bronze)
5. India– 564 (203 gold, 190 silver and 171 bronze)
6. Scotland – 502 (132 gold, 143 silver and 227 bronze)
7. South Africa – 416 (137 gold, 132 silver and 147 bronze)
8. Wales – 334 (75 gold, 104 silver and 155 bronze)
9. Nigeria– 271 (82 gold, 84 silver and 105 bronze)
10. Kenya – 258 (91 gold, 80 silver and 87 bronze)

Commonwealth Games nations who haven’t won a medal

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Belize
• Brunei
• Eswatini
• Falkland Islands
• Gabon (making debut in 2026)
• Gibraltar
• Maldives
• Montserrat
• Rwanda
• Saint Helena
• Sierra Leone
• Togo (making debut in 2026)
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• Tuvalu

Bowls & Para-bowls were held yesterday soon after the opening ceremony of the event.