Even though both sports have their own pros and cons, Football seems to have an edge over cricket, and here’s why.

1. International Participation

World-Football International Participation 104 countries currently engage in international cricket, according to the International Cricket Council (ICC). Uncannily, this is exactly half the amount held by FIFA, the organization that governs football.

Nonetheless, the ICC only has 10 full members, a number that just recently increased with Bangladesh's admission in 2000. As a result, all international first-class cricket competitions feature games between these 10 countries: England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe.

And while events like the Cricket World Cup welcome "associate members" (teams like Ireland, Holland, and Scotland), there is a perception that the ICC is and will continue to be a somewhat closed organization with regard to new members. Although the sport is growing in popularity in countries like the Netherlands and the USA, Bangladesh has only secured three test victories since joining the elite nine years ago, and the country continues to rank last in the Test Rankings (ignoring the current ban on the Zimbabwe team). The future does not seem well for associate members, and the sport is still highly amateur for affiliate members (such as in the Falkland Islands, Belize, and Rwanda).

For a moment, contrast it with football. In the last five World Cups, countries like Croatia, South Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, the United States, and Ukraine have enjoyed successful (and unexpected) campaigns, while at the European level, Greece in 2004, the Czechs in 1996, and Denmark in 1992 have achieved outstanding success. Football is undoubtedly a more leveled-out sport than other sports, with more nations able to participate at a high level, boosting the game's competitiveness and preventing it from becoming stale.