FootGolf Gaining Leverage as The World's New Trendy Sport Combining Soccer & Golf

A newly-invented game called footgolf is slowly gaining popularity all over the world. Its second World Cup event was held last month in Argentina.

Footgolf is exactly what it sounds like. It's a fusion between soccer, which is called football in most parts of the world, and golf. Fox News explained that the game uses golf rules but with a soccer ball. Instead of golf clubs, players use their legs to shoot the ball into a much larger hole. The player who finishes the entire circuit with the least amount of strokes wins.

The sport was invented in the Netherlands back in 2009, but it didn't catch on with the public until 2012 when its first World Cup event was held in Hungary. 80 footgolfers across eight countries participated in the inaugural footgolf world championships. Last month, the number of participants rose to 230 from 26 countries.

Javier De Ancizar, president of the Argentine FootGolf Association, told Yahoo Sports that he was impressed by the Argentinians' warm reception of the sport. He revealed that the recently-concluded tournament was the first time a footgolf event was played with full spectators watching.

The tournament's individual honor was awarded to Christian Otero. The Argentinian footgolfer was ecstatic to have won the world championship for his home country.

"I had to win. I felt a lot of pressure and I am very happy," he said. "This sport is incredible. There aren't many sports that have such a lovely setting,"

Meanwhile, the United States won in the team category, outlasting first runner-up Argentina. Countries who participated in the second footgolf world championships include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Argentine FootGolf Association strongly believes that the International Olympic Committee will soon recognize footgolf as an Olympic event.

"In Argentina, the Confederation of Sports has already recognized it (Footgolf)," De Ancizar explained. "Even if it doesn't make it as an Olympic sport, we think that soon it will become one of the top sports on an international level."

Marcelo Landau, a footgolf promoter and organizer in Florida said that the Argentinian league is the benchmark that other countries follow, per The New York Times. 

Meanwhile, Matias Perrone, Argentina's representative at the first footgolf world championship in Hungary, best described the recent fascination towards footgolf. He said, "Soccer is my wife and footgolf is my mistress; she tempts me."