Observatoire du football CIES

Best non big-5 leagues' U20 worldwide

Roger Besson — 2025-12-23T15:33:20Z

Based on the exclusive game data meticulously collected by our partners Impect, this report presents the players born in 2006 or later who performed best over the 2025 calendar year (up until December 8).

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Football expatriates 2020-2025

Roger Besson — 2025-05-20T12:05:00Z

This Monthly Report investigates the origins and destinations of expatriate footballers, i.e. those who did not grow up in the association of the club of employment, for the period between 2020 and 2025. The analysis by national origin shows that no country has exported as many players as Brazil.

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Training clubs of big-5 league players

Roger Besson — 2025-02-25T14:06:28Z

The 99th Monthly Report analyses the clubs that have trained the footballers having played in Europe's big-5 league matches over the last twenty years. This study is particularly close to our hearts as it symbolically refers to the twentieth anniversary of the CIES Football Observatory, which we are celebrating this year. It is also a way of highlighting the training work of teams around the world and paying tribute to (...)

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Scouting report 2024

Roger Besson — 2024-12-20T07:59:54Z

This report presents the players from 65 leagues born in 2004 or later who performed the best during the ongoing season or the one just completed for leagues organised over the calendar year. The footballers have been divided into 20 categories according to the main position played and their technical characteristics. The method developed enables us to produce relevant scouting reports for any player segment in a rapid and efficient manner.
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Global economic analysis of the transfer market (2015-2024)

Roger Besson — 2024-09-06T13:22:02Z

This report analyses the transfer fee investments made by clubs on a global scale over the last decade. The first chapter reveals the evolution of the sums committed by teams, both in total and by league, as well as the net balance sheets of transfer operations at the latter level. The second chapter focuses on clubs from three angles: expenditure, income and net spending.

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Worldwide demographic analysis of women's football

Roger Besson — 2024-05-24T12:39:26Z

Women's football steadily grows and the process of professionalisation is continuing. Although still comparatively less available than for men, data on the demographic profile of female players is now more accessible for women too. This report analyses the composition of 223 teams from 19 leagues around the world: 14 European and 5 non-European.

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Origins and destinations of football expatriates (2020-2024)

Roger Besson — 2024-05-10T07:57:40Z

This report examines from a spatial perspective the presence of expatriate players in professional leagues. The analysis covers 135 leagues around the world, including 83 from UEFA member associations, with May 1st as the reference date for both 2024 and 2020, the year chosen to present data on migration trends.

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Technical performance analysis in six game areas

Roger Besson — 2024-04-12T13:29:40Z

This report presents the CIES Football Observatory's approach to assessing the level of performance of outfield players in six different areas of the game: ground defence, distribution, take on, chance creation, finishing and aerial play. For each of these areas, indices have been created by considering players' related actions, both in terms of their frequency in relation to the minutes played and, where relevant, their success (...)

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Playing under high pressure and ball retention

Roger Besson — 2024-03-15T14:30:51Z

This report analyses the data on high intensity pressure produced by the French company SkillCorner. It presents several statistical models highlighting the link between teams' styles of play, the level of pressure experienced by players and their ability to retain possession. It shows the importance of contextualising individual performance in relation to that of the team and the position (...)

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Spatial analysis of transfer revenues streams (2014-2023)

Roger Besson — 2024-02-24T06:56:54Z

This report analyses from a spatial perspective the origin of transfer revenues collected by clubs worldwide between 2014 and 2023 according to their parent association. In total, clubs earned no less than €75 billion: around two-thirds from international transfers and the rest from domestic ones. However, this proportion varies greatly from country to country.

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