Motorcycles and football: Motoball, Europe's craziest sport — here's what it's like

Did you know that for over 100 years there has been a sport that combines motorcycles and soccer? Here’s what it’s all about.

We’re talking about motorcycles—and soccer. It’s not science fiction, but a pairing that has existed for a century: it’s Motoball, essentially “five-a-side soccer on motorcycles”, a sport practically unknown in Italy but very popular in other countries across Europe. Its top competition is the European Championship, which will take place July 21–25 in Lithuania—another country where this discipline is well known and which will host it again for the first time in 30 years. Let’s see what it’s about.

The first traces of Motoball date back to the early decades of the 1900s: in 1923, the first documented match took place in England, but in the 1930s it spread more widely in France and Germany with dedicated championships, to the point that these two countries became the main references for the discipline. It all started from an idea by some soccer and polo associations; for this reason it’s also known as moto polo: an experiment that gave birth to a sport which has endured over time.

It is essentially a motorcycle discipline: teams of riders on bikes with a ball at their feet, playing an 80-minute match divided into four 20-minute periods. Each team consists of four players on motorcycles plus a goalkeeper without a motorcycle, with a ball 40 cm in diameter and weighing 1 kilogram. The objective is the same as in traditional soccer: get the ball into the opponent’s net—but shots can only be taken from outside the semicircular area in front of each goal. Players may not touch the ball with their hands or arms; other parts of the body are allowed, as is the motorcycle.

As mentioned, the European Championship—the top level of this motorsport discipline (with senior and under-18 divisions)—is returning soon: competing will be Russia, Germany, France, Belarus, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, along with Lithuania, the host country for this 2026 edition. The most successful nation of all time is Russia, the true queen of the sport, ahead of Germany in second place and France completing the podium of the all-time rankings.

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