CIES: 13,664 expat players worldwide, including 1,287 Brazilians, 946 French and 780 Argentines

With 1,287 expatriate players playing in the 145 leagues of the 96 countries studied, Brazil tops the list of countries exporting football players in 2021, ahead of France (946) and Argentina (780), according to the CIES Football Observatory in its monthly report entitled "Expatriate footballers worldwide: global 2021 study" published on 14/04/2021. More than a fifth of the total number of expatriate players in the world come from Brazil, France or Argentina.

"On the 01/05/2021, despite the pandemic, the number of expatriates increased by 639 in comparison to the same date in 2020: from 13,025 to 13,664. This increase in difficult circumstances confirms that the internationalisation of the footballers' labour market is a well-established process. Expatriates represented 21.3% of players surveyed. This percentage varies between 26.4% in the domestic leagues of UEFA member associations and 8.9% in those of the CONMEBOL," explained CIES.

"In comparison to 2020, the biggest increase in the number of expatriate players was recorded for France: +124 expatriates. The lack of employment…