Commonwealth Games 2026 begin tomorrow

The 2026 Games - taking place between July 23 and August 2 - are being held in Glasgow, Scotland and are the 23rd edition of a competition that first started in 1930 as the British Empire Games.

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

It is expected that 74 different nations will have teams in the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Unlike events such as the Olympics and Paralympics, countries that are part of Great Britain compete separately. That means that England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are pitted against each other rather than grouped together.

The Commonwealth Games is effectively a scaled-down version of the Olympics and Paralympics but all competing nations tend to have historical ties to the British Empire.

Like the Olympics and Paralympics, the Commonwealth Games are also held every four years - in between each Olympic and Paralympic cycle.

Part of the Commonwealth Games' legacy is being the first multi-sport event to fully integrate Para events.

A total of 10 different sports will be played at the 2026 Commonwealth Games - a significant drop from the 17 sports represented the last time Glasgow held the event in 2014.

While hockey and all racquet sports were among those to be dropped, the likes of athletics, swimming, track cycling, netball, boxing and judo all made the final list.

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


Full list of sports at the 2026 Commonwealth Games


Athletics and Para-athletics (track and field only)

Swimming and Para-swimming

Artistic gymnastics

Track cycling and Para-track cycling

Netball

Weightlifting and Para-powerlifting

Boxing

Judo

Bowls and Para-bowls

3x3 basketball and 3x3 wheelchair basketball

All 74 members of the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) are set to compete in this year's Games in Glasgow.

Those are made up of 55 sovereign states, nine British Overseas Territories, the four United Kingdom home nations, three Crown Dependencies, two associated states of the Realm of New Zealand and one external territory of Australia.

Nine other nations have previously been members of the CGA, but have since either merged with other nations or withdrawn from the CGA. They are Aden, Hong Kong, Ireland, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, North Borneo, Sarawak, South Arabia, Zimbabwe.

Unlike the rest of the nations competing, 2026 Commonwealth Games debutants Gabon and Togo do not have historical links with the Commonwealth.

Both nations only joined the Commonwealth in 2022.


Full list of nations competing in the 2026 Commonwealth Games

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


Most Commonwealth Games medals

Australia - 2,604 (1,003 gold, 834 silver and 767 bronze)

England - 2,322 (773 gold, 783 silver and 766 bronze)

Canada - 1,647 (510 gold, 548 silver and 589 bronze)

New Zealand - 706 (179 gold, 232 silver and 295 bronze)

India - 564 (203 gold, 190 silver and 171 bronze)

Scotland - 502 (132 gold, 143 silver and 227 bronze)

South Africa - 416 (137 gold, 132 silver and 147 bronze)

Wales - 334 (75 gold, 104 silver and 155 bronze)

Nigeria - 271 (82 gold, 84 silver and 105 bronze)

Kenya - 258 (91 gold, 80 silver and 87 bronze)


Commonwealth Games nations to have never 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



-BBC