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The Commonwealth Games is a major international multi-sport event held every four years among countries that are part of the Commonwealth.
The 2026 edition, taking place between 23 July and 2 August, is being held in Glasgow, Scotland and is the 23rd edition of the competition that first started in 1930 under its previous name, the British Empire games.
In the 21st century, Birmingham, the Gold Coast, Glasgow, Delhi, Melbourne and Manchester have all 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. 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.
What sports are part of the 2026 Commonwealth Games?
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
Which nations are taking part in the Games?
All 74 members of the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) are those that are competing 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
Which nations have the best record?
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 medalled
- 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
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
