countries Method — Country List

Recommendation: Use menu in Most Cases

The countries method returns countries for only one selected sport. The same countries are already available inside the menu response.

For a standard integration, menu is recommended because one request returns the complete hierarchy:

sport → country → tournament

Step-by-step loading requires separate requests:

1. sports → retrieve sportId
2. countries → retrieve countryId
3. tournaments → retrieve tournamentId
4. events → retrieve tournament matches

The countries method is an additional method. Use it when countries should be loaded only after a sport is selected or the project does not need the complete menu response. If tournaments will still be required after countries, retrieving the full hierarchy through menu is more convenient.

Request

GET https://YOUR_API_DOMAIN/v1/countries/{sportId}/{type}/{lang}

Send the API key in the HTTP header:

Package: YOUR_API_KEY

Path Parameters

Values of type:

Live Request Example

This example uses football with sportId=1:

curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://YOUR_API_DOMAIN/v1/countries/1/live/en' \
  --header 'Package: YOUR_API_KEY'

Prematch Request Example

curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://YOUR_API_DOMAIN/v1/countries/1/line/en' \
  --header 'Package: YOUR_API_KEY'

Shortened Live Response Example

The following excerpt comes from a real English football response. The values are unchanged, but the body array has been shortened to three countries.

{
  "status": 1,
  "page": "/v1/countries",
  "body": [
    {
      "id": 4,
      "name": "Australia",
      "sport_id": 1,
      "counter": 8
    },
    {
      "id": 218,
      "name": "Japan",
      "sport_id": 1,
      "counter": 2
    },
    {
      "id": 225,
      "name": "World",
      "sport_id": 1,
      "counter": 24
    }
  ]
}

Shortened Prematch Response Example

This excerpt also comes from a real English football response. The body array has been shortened.

{
  "status": 1,
  "page": "/v1/countries",
  "body": [
    {
      "id": 4,
      "name": "Australia",
      "sport_id": 1,
      "counter": 104
    },
    {
      "id": 218,
      "name": "Japan",
      "sport_id": 1,
      "counter": 30
    },
    {
      "id": 225,
      "name": "World",
      "sport_id": 1,
      "counter": 68
    }
  ]
}

The counter values represent the sports line only at the time of the response and change continuously.

Response Fields

Top-level Fields

Country Object

Note that the path parameter is named sportId, while the corresponding JSON field is named sport_id.

Ready-to-use Country Icons

Each country can use a standard SportAPI icon. Take the id value from the response and insert it in place of {countryId}:

https://cdn.sportapi.net/flags/v1/color/{countryId}.webp

Example for a country with id: 218:

https://cdn.sportapi.net/flags/v1/color/218.webp

Relationship with menu

Objects in the countries method’s body array contain the same main data as country objects inside menu for the selected sport.

If the methods are called at different times, the country list and counter values may differ because the sports line changes continuously.

Using the Returned id

After selecting a country, take its id field. This identifier is named countryId in the next method’s URL.

To retrieve tournaments for the selected country, pass all of the following:

• the selected sport’s sportId;
• the selected country’s countryId;
• the same live or line type.

When using menu, the tournaments are already available in the selected country’s sub array, so no additional request is required.

Do not pass a stored countryId without checking that the country is present in the current countries or menu response. A country is returned only while it contains available matches for the selected sport and line type.

If the only match in the country’s last tournament ends or disappears, the country will also be absent from the next response. In step-by-step navigation, pass to tournaments only a countryId obtained from the current countries response.

Snapshot of Saved Responses

All examples use football (sportId=1).

These figures describe specific responses retrieved on August 21, 2026. They are not a permanent description of the API.

Full unabridged responses:

• Live, Russian
• Prematch, Russian
• Live, English
• Prematch, English

The files contain only API response bodies. No API key is stored in them.

Update Frequency

Recommended request frequency for countries:

• Live — no more than once every 60 seconds;
• Prematch (line) — no more than once every 120 seconds.

See Data Update Guidelines for more details.

Key, subscription, and parameter errors are documented in Error Handling.