According to research conducted by the CIES Football Observatory group, Brazil have the largest number of footballers playing overseas. According to the CIES Football Observatory (Center for International Sport Studies) in Switzerland, Brazil is the world’s top exporter of football players. On May 9, the research went online.

There are 1,219 players playing away from home in the nation. What is the most popular destination for them? Portugal has a 19 percent share of the market. With 978 sportsmen playing abroad, France won the silver medal, followed by Argentina with 815 players. The primary destinations in the second and third positions in the list, respectively, are Luxembourg (12.6 percent) and Chile (15.6%).

1 Brazil 1.219 Portugal (19%) Increase of 4%
2 Françe 978 Luxembourg (12.6%) Increase of 27%
3 Argentina 815 Chile (15.6%) Increase of 6%
4 England 525 Scotland (27.8%) Increase of 25%
5 Germany 441 Turkey (18.8%) Increase of 31%
6 Colombia 425 Mexico (8.9%) Increase of 41%
7 Spain 409 England (9.3%) Increase of 14%
8 Croatia 400 Slovenia (25.5%) Increase of 25%
9 Serbia 379 Hungary (6.9%) Increase of 15%
10 Netherlands 367 England (10.1%) Increase of 60%
11 Uruguay 340 Argentina (15.9%) Increase of 13%
12 Nigeria 339 Turkey (6.8%) Increase of 21%
13 Portugal 300 England (10.3%) Increase of 28%
14 Ghana 293 USA (7.9%) Increase of 30%
15 Belgium 267 Netherlands (29.6%) Increase of 26%
16 Denmark 215 Norway (14.9%) Increase of 43%
17 Costa do Marfim 208 Belgium (8.7%) Increase of 29%
18 Sweden 205 Denmark (14.2%) Increase of 25%
19 Senegal 192 Françe (25.5%) Increase of 10%
20 Ukraine 186 Hungary (12.9%) Increase of 1%
Surprisingly, Serbia, which has 379 athletes outside their nation and a 15% loss in “exports” compared to the previous survey, were the only nation to have a decrease among the top 20 countries that most export players overseas as compared to 2017.