A systematic review of sport for development interventions across six global cities

•Critical appraisal of research on Sport for Development interventions.•Limited methodological details and weak quality of methods and evidence.•Need for more rigorous, systematic research and evaluation efforts.•Next steps identified for Sport for Development organisations and researchers.Recently published reviews have begun the process of synthesizing the knowledge within the growing Sport for Development (SfD) field, but there is a need to critically evaluate the research on which these findings are based. This systematic review is a critical appraisal of both quantitative and qualitative evidence in academic and grey literature in the SfD field. The strength and quality of the research is assessed to provide a more nuanced understanding of the reported evidence of SfD interventions in six global cities (Cape Town, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Nairobi, and New Orleans). The results include several key findings: (a) there is a limited number of academic and grey literature with enough methodological details for critical appraisal; (b) the quality of methods and evidence in individual studies is largely classified as weak; and (c) there is a need for more rigorous, systematic research and evaluation efforts that are openly shared and assessed. These findings provide a foundation from which to suggest ‘next steps’ for SfD organisations and researchers.