A sporting facility built in what is now Vatican City was the first-century chariot-racing track of the Circus of Nero. Also known as the Circus of Caligula, the track was built in what was then ancient Rome. The circus itself was constructed on Vatican hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, and was completed in the reign of Emperor Caligula. The circus lasted until between 318 and 322 when Emperor Constantine I ordered construction on the site to be replaced with the Old St. Peter's Basilica.

A game of calcio fiorentino was held in the 16th century within Vatican City. A predecessor to association football and rugby, the game was organized by the Papal States and was held on 7 January 1521, in the Cortile del Belvedere, located in the Apostolic Palace. The first match itself was notably attended and organized by Pope Leo X.

In the aftermath of World War II, Pope Pius XII encouraged sporting activities within Vatican City. Sporting activities were organized and executed by the Catholic Church, through Catholic youth and sports associations.

Pope John Paul II has made multiple speeches and messages that relate to sport and has helped with multiple advancements to the spread of sport within Vatican City, such as the establishment of the Church and Sport section in the Pontifical Council for the Laity during his rule. Being known as the "athlete Pope", he also established Office of Church and Sport for the promotion of sport within Vatican City and the Church's connection with sport.

On multiple occasions, the current sovereign of Vatican City as of June 2024, Pope Francis, has stated that sport could be used as a way of advocating peace across nations, fraternity, and diplomacy. He praised the North Korean and South Korean teams at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, for their joint supply of a unified Korean team at the Games, stating that the Vatican would back up peace initiatives between the two nations. Francis has also stated to Vatican Athletics that sport "reminds us that, despite our differences, we are all members of the same human family", stating that sport could promote peaceful relationships with other nations during the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.

As of July 2024, Vatican City is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and is therefore not able to send a team to the Olympic Games, though it had made bids to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. To form a National Olympic Committee, national sport federations must conduct sporting activities within its borders and internationally. It also must be affiliated with at least five international federations that govern sports included in the programme of the Games. As of May 2024, two of its national sport federations have been affiliated with governing bodies of sports, namely Vatican Cycling with the Union Cycliste Internationale and Vatican Taekwondo with World Taekwondo.

Prior to the designation of Paris as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the city of Rome expressed its intent to host the Games in 2014. Due to the Vatican's location within the city, Francis sent support for the events of archery and football to be held within its boundaries, specifically at the Gardens of Vatican City and the Palace of Castel Gandolfo. In September 2016, the city withdrew its bid as the host of the Games, leaving it to the city of Paris.

As part of planning to join the Olympic Games, delegations from Vatican City lead by the head of the sports department in the culture ministry, Melchor Sánchez de Toca Alameda [es], were present at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea as observers. Francis has also met with IOC President Thomas Bach multiple times for talks to let Vatican City take part in the Olympic Games opening ceremonies.

The Vatican supplied two athletes to compete symbolically for Vatican City at the 2022 Mediterranean Games, held in Oran, Algeria, in a "non-scoring" manner. The decision was approved by the local organizers of the Games and Davide Tizzano, the president of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games. Runners Sara Carnicelli and Simone Adamoli were part of the delegation to be the first ever participants from Vatican City to compete in a multi-sport event. Eventually, Carnicelli competed in the women's half marathon, unofficially placing ninth with a time of 1:17:21, and became the first ever athlete for Vatican City to compete in a multi-sport event following Adamoli's withdrawal from his event.

A delegation from Vatican City was present at the 2019 edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe in Budva, Montenegro, but was only allowed to observe as they were barred from competing due to the absence of a National Olympic Committee alongside the Faroe Islands. They were then set to compete at the 2021 Games of the Small States of Europe held in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, through a partnership with the Italian Olympic Committee signed in 2018, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to avoid scheduling conflicts with the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were rescheduled to be held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

Vatican City is not a member of the International Cricket Council; however, a representative national men's cricket team was formed in 2013. The St Peter's Cricket Club, also known as the Vatican Cricket team and Vatican XI, was initially the idea of then-Australian ambassador to the Holy See, John McCarthy. The club was tasked with recruiting players from among seminarians and priests at Catholic colleges and seminaries in Rome. For its home matches, the team plays at the Roma Capannelle Cricket Ground. The team's initial squad in 2014 was composed of players from India, Pakistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, and New Zealand.

The first ever match for the team was against the Roma Capannelle Cricket Club, where the former lost. The team also tours in various locations such as Portugal in 2017, England in 2018, and another tour in England in 2024. For the 2018 tour, the team then played against a team made up of Anglican priests and seminarians of the Church of England, with the main objective of sports diplomacy and interfaith dialogue to improve both relations between the two Christian denominations.

Vatican City is not a member of FIFA; however, representative men's and women's national football teams exist and play friendly matches and in unofficial tournaments. All of the Vatican's football activities are held at Campo Pio XI, a football stadium in Rome. The men's team first unofficial match was against Austrian journalists in 1985 which ended in a score of 3–0 in favor of the former, while the first official match was against San Marino, which ended in a draw. The women's team first match was against AS Roma's youth team, losing to a score of 0–10. The women's team also stirred controversy after one of their matches was abandoned in Simmering, Vienna, on 22 June 2019 as part of the club's twentieth anniversary, after opposing players from FC Mariahilf and bystanders protested about the Catholic Church's stance on abortion and homosexuality during the playing of Vatican City's national anthem.

After World War II, association football was introduced to the country and the sport's first tournament in the country was held in 1947. The first football club in the country was formed in the mid-1960s by employees of the Vatican Museums, and a local football league, the Vatican City Championship, was founded in 1972 and is made up of teams representing employees of the different administrative departments in the Vatican. The league went through many name changes, first being called the Coppa Vaticano at its inception, then being renamed the Coppa Amiciza in 1947, and the Campionato della Citta Vaticano in 1981, by Sergio Valci who was the former president of the Health Insurance Fund (Fondo Assistenza Sanitaria; FAS) and a Vatican healthcare employee until his death in 2012.

Other tournaments include the secondary cup Coppa Sergio Valci, which was first named the Coppa ACDV in 1985 then renamed in 1994, and the Vatican Suppercoppa, which started in 2005 and sees the winner of the Vatican City Championship face the Coppa Sergio Valci winners.

Vatican City and the Italian Olympic Committee had an agreement to set up an official athletics team with the intention of making the country to be able to compete in international sporting tournaments such as the Summer Olympics. The official athletics team, Vatican Athletics, was established on 10 January 2019, with initial accredited members that included Swiss Guards, nuns, priests, museum workers, and maintenance workers, as well as two migrant Muslim Africans as honorary members. Vatican Athletics is Vatican City's first official sporting association. Although not affiliated with World Athletics, the organization is affiliated with the Italian Athletics Federation and is the first sports team to have legal status in the country. Four days after the organization was established, the team earned its first podium finish on 14 January 2019, with Don Vincenzo Puccio, a Sicilian priest who won a silver at the Maratona di Messina, a marathon in Messina, in a time of 2:31:53.

The national team has also competed at international tournaments such as the Mediterranean Games and the Championships of the Small States of Europe. Runner Sara Carnicelli competed at both of these, becoming the first athlete from the Vatican City to participate in a multi-sport event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games. She also became the first official international medalist from the country when she won a bronze medal at the 2022 Championships of the Small States of Europe in Marsa, Malta. However, because of an agreement with European Athletics and the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe, she had to give the bronze medal to Roberta Schembri of Malta, who finished in fourth place; she was then awarded an honorary medal. The nation competed at the following edition of the championships, which were held in Gibraltar on 22 June 2024, where hurdler Giuseppe Zaparatta won a bronze medal when he placed third in the men's 110 metres hurdles.

Prior to becoming a member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Vatican City was used as a venue for the 1974 Giro d'Italia, where it was used as a starting point for the course. The riders paid homage to Pope Paul VI before starting the race; eventually, Eddy Merckx of Belgium won the race.

Vatican Cycling became a member of the UCI in September 2021, becoming the first national governing body of Vatican City to be recognized by a world governing body. The first two cycling activities Vatican Cycling organized upon becoming a member of the UCI were dedicated to para-cyclist Alex Zanardi, who's considered to be one of "Italy's greatest athletes". The following year, Dutch cyclist Rien Schuurhuis became the first athlete to represent Vatican City as a regular scoring competitor after competing in the men's road race at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, although he did not finish the race; Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won the race. Schuurhuis also competed for the nation in the same event at the 2023 edition across Scotland and ending in Glasgow, and also did not finish the race; Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands won the race. Despite being born in the Netherlands, Schuurhuis was eligible to represent Vatican City due to his marriage with Chiara Porro, the Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See.

Vatican Padel was established on 8 November 2018 and became a member of the International Padel Federation in 2022, becoming the third national governing body of Vatican City to be recognized by a world governing body. Prior to the national team's debut, the national governing body organized inclusive padel matches on 5 April 2022, for families with children who have autism and Down syndrome. The following day, Argentinian padel player Fernando Belasteguín [es], who ranked number one in the world for 16 consecutive years, visited the nation for the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

The national team made their debut in April 2024, with three friendly matches against the San Marino national team in the Villa Pamphili Padel Club in Rome. The national team lost to San Marino 3–0. This match served as a precursor before their debut at the qualifiers for the 2024 European Padel Championships in Cagliari, Italy, and the 2024 Small States of Europe Padel Championships in Luxembourg.

Vatican City and World Taekwondo holds a close relationship with each other. The World Taekwondo Demonstration Team first visited the nation in 2016, and has made a subsequent visit with North Korean taekwondo practitioners in 2018 for a "demonstration for peace". In 2017, Pope Francis was granted an honorary black belt by the federation.

Prior to becoming a member, the nation held courses for the sport for students at the Saint Pius X Institute under a partnership with the Italian Taekwondo Federation. Then, Vatican Taekwondo officially became a member of World Taekwondo on 23 November 2021, becoming the second national governing body of the nation to be recognized by a world governing body, after Vatican Cycling. Vatican Taekwondo has no registered athletes or officials on World Taekwondo's website as of June 2024.

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):