Brazilian, Argentinian and French players are the most represented in the world in 2019 (CIES)

With 2,742 footballers aligned in a professional league in 2019, Brazil is the most represented country of the 132 main first or second division football leagues in the world, followed by Argentina (2,330 players) and France (1,740 players), according to the weekly letter from the CIES Football Observatory, published on 13/05/2020.

"If we limit the analysis to footballers playing outside of the countries where they grew up, Brazil retains its top place (1,535 expatriates). There are more French (948) abroad than Argentinians (913), but the latter have played a greater number of minutes. Numerous in other United Kingdom associations, the English are in fourth place. Four African countries are in the top 20 (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Ivory Coast)," added the CIES.

"The five European countries with the world’s most competitive competitions - the big-5 - are all ranked in the top ten. The second biggest 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…