Sport in Sri Lanka is a significant part of Sri Lankan culture. Popular sports include cricket, rugby union, water sports, badminton, athletics sports, football, basketball and tennis. Sri Lanka's schools and colleges regularly organize sports and athletics teams, competing on provincial and national levels.

The Sri Lanka national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, rising from the underdog status to winning the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The Sri Lankan national cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, where they lost to Australia at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. After qualifying to play in the finals of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka was beaten by India. The legendary Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan also ended his career at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which hosted the 2011 World Cup finals. The national cricket team of Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2022.

Sri Lanka has many sports stadiums, including Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium and R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla and Galle International Stadium in Galle. The country co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World Cup with India and Pakistan, the 2011 Cricket World Cup with India and Bangladesh and has hosted the Asia Cup tournament on numerous occasions. Water sports such as boating, surfing, swimming and scuba diving on the coast, the beaches and backwaters attract many Sri Lankans and foreign tourists.

The Sri Lankan Government does renovations to maintain the quality of the stadiums, with the separated funds shared for Sri Lankan Cricket. The cricket board draws and recruit new players annually, and divided into two team A and B. Once the players reach a higher position in their career, they have the opportunity to get picked under the Nation team.

Some of the traditional sports in Sri Lanka include Kabaddi, Gillidanda (proto-cricket), Kili thadthu, Kanna muchi, Chak-gudu, Thenkai addi, and Elle. There are two styles of martial arts native to Sri Lanka, which are Cheenadi and Angampora.

Games such as Kotta Pora (Pillow fight), Ankeliya (tugging the horn), Kana mutti bindeema (breaking pots), Porapol Gaseema, Lissana gaha nageema (climbing the greasy pole), Banis Kaema (bun eating contest) and Gudu Keliya are played during Avurudu, the Sinhalese New Year.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka. It is one of the twelve nations that are full members and take part in test cricket and one of the seven nations that has won a Cricket World Cup. Cricket is played at professional, semi-professional and recreational levels in the country and international cricket matches are watched with interest by a large proportion of the population.

Cricket was brought to the island by the British and was first played in the 1800s. The earliest definite mention of cricket in Ceylon was a report in the Colombo Journal on 5 September 1832 which called for the formation of a cricket club. The Colombo Cricket Club was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1832. Since then, the sport has grown domestically with major events such as the Premier Trophy (starting 1938) and the Premier Limited Overs Tournament (starting 1988–89).