FIFA World Cup 2018: Countries with most expatriate footballers

According to the study, there were 12,425 expatriate footballers in the world as on May 01, 2018, playing in 2,235 teams from the 142 leagues of the 93 countries.

With the 2018 FIFA World Cup slated to be kicked-off in Russia on June 14, 2018, millions of football fanatics will have their eyes glued on the scores and cheering the teams they love. Football (or soccer) is undeniably the most loved game in the world.

Being a global game, clubs and agents are always on the lookout to find the next footballing wizard. Similarly, millions of football players dream to play for the big clubs and make a good living for themselves playing football.

The CIES Football Observatory, a research group in Switzerland which specialises in the statistical analysis of football, conducted a global study on expatriate footballers in the world in May 2018.

Players who play for a country that is not a country of their origin and move abroad for sporting reasons are expatriate players. According to the study, there were 12,425 expatriate footballers in the world as on May 01, 2018, playing in 2,235 teams from the 142 leagues of the 93 countries surveyed. At the global level, expatriates constitute around 21.2% of players or around 5.6 footballers per team.

The average age of these expatriates is around 26.8 years. European teams prefer younger expatriates with the average age being around 26.3 years, while the Asian teams rely on the experienced players with the average age of expatriates being around 29 years. Here is a list of the top 10 countries with the highest number of expatriate footballers in the world:

1. Brazil – 1,236


2. France – 821


3. Argentina – 760


4. Serbia – 465


5. England – 413


6. Spain – 361


7. Croatia – 346


8. Germany – 346


9. Colombia – 327


10. Uruguay – 324

This report highlights the fact that despite the regional differences, player migration is a well-established reality in football and it is only slated to increase as professional football leagues develop around the world.