page_title: Culture of Peru
section_title: Sports
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of Peru / Sports
caption_attribution_description: Sofia Mulanovich
context_page_description: This article is part of a series on theCulture of Peru
  Norte Chico civilization 3500 BC-1800 BC
  Chavín culture 900 BC-200 BC
  Moche culture 100-700
  Tiwanaku empire 550-1000
  Wari Empire 6th century-1438
  Kingdom of Cusco 1197-1438
  Inca Empire 1438-1572
  Viceroyalty of Peru 1542-1821
  Republic of Peru 1821-present
context_section_description: Football is the most popular sport in Peru. Football in Peru is governed by the Peruvian Football Federation (PFF), which organizes the men's and women's national teams. Football legends from Peru include Alejandro Villanueva, Teodoro Fernández, Valeriano López, Alberto Terry, Hugo Sotil, César Cueto, Roberto Challe, Héctor Chumpitaz and Teófilo Cubillas, Peru's most successful striker in the World Cup finals with ten goals. Nolberto Solano
  Current renowned players include defender Carlos Zambrano (Rubin Kazan), midfielder Juan Manuel Vargas (Universitario) and strikers Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen), Paolo Guerrero (Flamengo) and Jefferson Farfán (Lokomotiv Moscow). Alianza Lima, Sporting Cristal and Universitario de Deportes are the biggest teams in Peru. In 2003, Cienciano won the Copa Sudamericana after defeating Argentinian club River Plate, and then proceeded to beat Latin American powerhouse Boca Juniors (also from Argentina) in the Recopa Sudamericana played in Miami. Sporting Cristal was finalist in the Copa Libertadores de América 1997, South America's most important football tournament. Also Universitario de Deportes, but in 1972. 
  Achievements from the Peru national football team include competing at the FIFA World Cup, in 1930, 1970 (Quarterfinalists), 1978, and 1982, being Teófilo Cubillas, among the top 10 goal scorers in the history of the World Cup and having a record as the only player to score 5 goals in 2 different World Cups. The national team won two Copa América's in 1939 and 1975. 
  Claudio Pizarro holds the record as the top scorer from a foreign country in the history of Bundesliga. Paolo Guerrero holds the record as the current all time top scorer in the history of the Copa América still active, finishing as the top scorer in all three of these tournaments (2011, 2015 and 2019), which is also a record.
  Achievements from the Peru women's national football team include finishing third place at the 1998 Sudamericano Femenino, and finishing fourth place at the 2003 Sudamericano Femenino.
  Women's volleyball is a popular and also successful sport in Peru (Silver medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics, Runners-up in the Volleyball World Championship, and 14 times South American Champion).
  Tennis, Surfing and Rugby in Peru are a minor, but growing sports. 
  Sofía Mulánovich is the first South American ever to win the Surfing World Title, which she did in 2004. She is also the first Peruvian surfer ever to win a World Surf League World Championship Tour event. In 2004, she won three out of the six World Championship Tour events, and finished the season as World Champion.
caption: Sofía Mulánovich, Peruvian surfing World Champion.
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