These 5 countries export the most soccer players

In soccer, a frequently occurring situation is for players to leave their home country to play internationally. For this reason, a measure such as the number of players a country exports can become important, as it is an indicator of the talent that a nation has. The following are the 5 countries that export the most footballers.

1. Brazil

Brazil tops the list of exported footballers, according to the CIES Football Observatory Migration Atlas. In this, a ranking of countries is made according to the number of players who have played professionally abroad during 2019. According to the Atlas, Brazil leads the list with 1600 footballers, of which 74.6% are active in top leagues. division. The main destinations of soccer players in the Latin country are Portugal, Italy, and Japan, with 260, 69 and 65 Brazilians exported respectively.

2. France

In second place is the European country, with 1027 exported players, of which 74% participate in first division leagues. The main destinations of the French are England (91), Belgíca (75) and Luxembourg (71).

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3. Argentina

It should come as no surprise to many that Argentina is the third country that exports the most footballers, considering that the caliber of football in this nation is well known. 927 soccer players were those who played abroad in this case and their most frequent destinations were Chile (92), Mexico (62), and Spain (59). 75.5% of these players play in first division leagues.

4. England

Another country with a strong soccer tradition, England, exported 565 players in 2019, of which 77.9% play in first division leagues. The English seem to want to be close to their homeland as the two main destinations for players leaving the country are Scotland (103) and Wales (77). Interestingly, the United States, which is not a very strong country in this sport, left (41) English players, being the third most popular destination for them. Also, UK players have a betting freedom: discover top non-Gamstop bookmakers.

5. Spain

Finally, Spain exported 559 players, of which 78.5% of them play in the first division. Of all the above countries this is the one with the strangest distribution of its players, whose main destinations are England (50), India (38) and Greece (32).

The list of the ten that export the most is complemented by Serbia with 521, Germany with 480, Colombia with 467, Croatia with 446 and Nigeria with 399.

As a curious fact, there are a handful of countries that only exported 1 professional footballer and this one is not even in first division leagues. This dishonor is held by Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Curacao, Guyana, New Caledonia and Gibraltar.