CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report n°55 - May 2020
Football players’ production index: measuring nations’ contributions
Drs Raffaele Poli, Loïc Ravenel and Roger Besson
AFC players UEFA players 1. Introduction S - ea e 2 S perl a C CS RM re er ea e re er ea e 2 2 n esl a I a 50 2 a 522 The 55th Monthly Report of the CIES Football I In an S per ea e 2 E re yer a 2 5 Observatory analyses the contribution of na- IR ers an l ro ea e 50 E F rst v s on 5 ea e F rst v s on 05 tional associations worldwide from the point 2 ea e I re er a OR ea e R v s on 00 of view of the production of professional play- ea e 2 20 R re er ea e 2 S ro ea e 55 F rst ea e 2 ers. To do so, we have traced the association of I re er ea e 2 CRO 5 origin of 55,865 footballers having played dur- M S S per ea e 2 5 Stars ea e 5 C v s on 2 ing the 2019 calendar year in 132 top or second SI re er ea e 2 0 C E C e h a ha ea e F division leagues from 93 countries covering all E rab an l ea e E S perl a 2 S per ea e 0 st v s on 00 continents. IE ea e 2 E re er ea e 00 e 5 Cha p onsh p 55 The sample taken into account includes all the RS st v s on ES a a 5 RS S 520 Se n a v s n principle leagues worldwide. The difficulty in e ES Me str l a 2 Total 9705 FI e a sl a 0 accessing the information of line-ups fielded FI nen 255 CAF FR e 55 by teams explains the absence of most of the e 5 e 2 20 African sub-Saharan championships. The lat- RS st v s on FRO Me stara e l n 25 RS S 520 EO Erovn l a 2 ter are thus largely under-represented. How- e ER n esl a 5 0 Total 2195 ER 2 n esl a ever, their level of professionalism remains RE S per ea e 5 limited. CONCACAF I 0 CRC r era v s n 0 II 0 a a onal IR re er v s on 2 The origin of players was defined as the asso- O a a onal 0 IS rvals e l 2 5 M re er ea e ISR at ha l ciation where they grew up and from where ME a M 5 a e t 5 2 s enso M 50 I Ser e 5 they have eventually departed due to recruit- C r era v s on Ser e ment carried out by a foreign club. For exam- F 5 re er ea e 20 S r era v s on y a 2 ple, a player such as Riyad Mahrez, though an S M S 2 at onal v s on S Cha p onsh p 0 rsl a 2 Algerian international, was considered as be- Total 5571 M Divizia Națională 225 M F rst ea e 2 ing French insofar as he grew up there before CONMEBOL M re er ea e 0 leaving for England following his recruitment R S perl a M E F rst ea e 2 r era a onal 0 E Ere v s e 02 by Leicester City. O r era v s n 5 Eerste v s e 2 R Ser e IR re ersh p Ser e OR El teser en 02 C I r era v s n v s on r era 20 O E stra lasa 52 CO r era I a 0 r era 5 OR r e ra a EC a ro Se n a a R v s on ro es onal ROM a I 522 ER r era v s n 52 a II 5 Se n a v s n 20 R S re er ea e R r era v s n F Se n a v s n 22 SCO re ersh p 2 E r era v s n 0 Cha p onsh p 2 Total 9459 SMR Ca p onato SR S per a 5 OFC rva a 2 re ersh p 2 S I S per ea e Total 323 Challen e ea e S S per a 00 2 a 5 S S 2 S 5 S E llsvens an S perettan R S per 5 R re er ea e 5 ersha a 522 re er ea e 2 Figure 1: sample of otal the study
1 Monthly Report 55 - Football players’ production index: measuring nations’ contributions
2. Quantitative contribution Figure 2: most common origins within the leagues studied Brazil is the most represented country among layers M n tes the players from the 132 leagues studied. The ra l 2 2 0 2
2,742 Brazilians from the sample played more 2 r ent na 2 0 2 55 0 than three million minutes in 2019 (1,204 per Fran e 0 2 2 player on average). Only one other country had more than 2,000 footballers in the champion- Colo b a 5 00 ships taken into account: Argentina. In the top 5 Spa n 2 ten places are a third South American country, Serb a 2 02 Colombia (4th), six European nations, of which France is the best ranked (3rd), as well as Ja- En lan 22 0 pan (9th). er any 0 50
apan 0 50 05
0 he etherlan s 0 0 0
R ss a 02 2 5
2 r ay 0 2 2 2
Croat a 202
S 2 25 2
5 So th r a 2 222
ra ne 0 5
Ro an a 2 0
Italy 055 2
Ch le 5
20 ort al 2 00
2 Monthly Report 55 - Football players’ production index: measuring nations’ contributions
If we limit the analysis to footballers playing Figure 3: most common origins among outside of the countries where they grew up, expatriates within the leagues studied
Brazil retains its top place (1,535 expatriates). layers M n tes There are more French (948) abroad than Ar- ra l 5 5 gentinians (913), but the latter have played a greater number of minutes. Numerous in other 2 Fran e 0 United Kingdom associations, the English are r ent na 2 55
in fourth place. Four African countries are in En lan 55 5 0 the top 20 (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). 5 Spa n 525 52 Serb a 5
er any 5 0
Colo b a 5 5 5
Croat a 0 5 0
0 r ay 5 0
er a 55 2
2 he etherlan s 0 2 5
ort al
hana 2 2 22
5 ra ne 2 2 5
el 2 0 22
R ss a 22 2 0 5
Sene al 22 52
Slova a 250 5
20 C te Ivo re 200 5
3 Monthly Report 55 - Football players’ production index: measuring nations’ contributions
3. Qualitative contribution Figure 4: football players’ production index, by association To deepen our analysis, we have weighted In e the domestic league minutes played by each ra l 20 25 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
footballer according to the sporting level of 2 Fran e 50 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 5 the clubs of employment. For this purpose, Spa n 5 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| we have developed a coefficient of sporting strength for teams worldwide. This coefficient r ent na 0 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| was calculated by taking into consideration 5 En lan 20 2 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 5 the division and results of teams at national er any 2 0 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| level, as well as the results of the representa- tives of every association in international club Colo b a 2 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 0 competitions. he etherlan s 00 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2 If we take into account the sporting level of Italy 5 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2 teams where the footballers played, Brazil is 0 Serb a 5 5 |||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2
still in first place with a football players’ pro- ort al 5 |||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2 2 duction index of 1.6 million (6.8% of the total). 2 R ss a 50 5 ||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2 France (5.1%) and Spain (4.8%) complete the podium ahead of Argentina (4.6%) and two r ay 50 ||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2 other European countries: England (3.5%) and apan 50 ||||||||||||||||||||||||| 2
Germany (3.1%). 5 S ||||||||||||||||||||||| 2 0
ra ne 0 0 0 ||||||||||||||||||||||
C e h Rep bl 2 ||||||||||||||||||
Croat a 5 ||||||||||||||||||
Me o 2 ||||||||||||||||
20 S e en 25 0 ||||||||||||||||
4 Monthly Report 55 - Football players’ production index: measuring nations’ contributions
4. Conclusion
Independently of the modalities of calculation, Brazil emerges as the principle worldwide power regarding the production of profession- al footballers. Brazilians are numerous (2,742 in the 132 leagues studied, of which 1,535 are abroad), play a considerable number of min- utes (1,204 domestic league minutes per year compared to a general average of 1,133 min- utes) and play in high-level clubs (sporting coefficient of 0.49 compared to an average of 0.37). The five European countries with the world’s most competitive competitions – the big-5 – are all ranked in the top ten. The second big- gest exporter, France, is second, just ahead of Spain. The French are more numerous than the Spanish in the leagues studied (1,740 as opposed to 1,349), but are less fielded (on av- erage 1,260 minutes against 1,360 in 2019) and play in clubs with a lower level (sporting coef- ficient of 0.55 as opposed to 0.63). Seven non-European countries are ranked in the top twenty places: four are part of the CONMEBOL (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay), two are from the CONCACAF (Unit- ed States and Mexico) and one from the AFC (Japan). The absence of African countries is partially explained by the impossibility of ac- cessing the information on line-ups fielded by teams in local leagues. However, if we lim- it the analysis to expatriate players, four Afri- can countries figure in the top twenty (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Ivory Coast).
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