If you're stepping away from organised activities, practically every kid in the world plays football, all you need is a ball, clearly that outnumbers sports that need equipment - Tennis and especially Squash.
By that metric Tag is probably the most popular sport.
Anyway you need a ball, several people, a goal, and a large open field to play something vaguely close to soccer. So it’s popularity varies wildly by area.
Anyway you need a ball, several people, a goal, and a large open field to play something vaguely close to soccer. So it’s popularity varies wildly by area.