Football is widely played professionally across the globe by nationals of various countries.
Players from various nations are playing football week in and week out in various football leagues across the world.
Some countries tend to produce a higher number of professional footballers than others, due to their high population and love for the game.
There are certain countries that have the highest number of professional players.
This article provides you with the top 5 countries with the most footballers.
However, please note that this list is based on the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory report of May 2020.
Also, the report was based on the 2019 calendar year, and focused on only professional footballers.
Nonetheless, I believe the report is an accurate marker to determine the possible countries with the most footballers.
1. Brazil
Brazilians undoubtedly have a special love for the beautiful game, and this reflects in the number of players who are involved in the sport professionally.
According to a 2019 study by CIES Football Observatory, the land of the Samba was said to have over 2742 players playing professionally in various leagues around the world.
Out of this number, roughly 1535 footballers play outside the country in places like India, Portugal, China, etc.
Apart from having professional players all over the world, Brazil is one of the countries with the most football fans
2. Argentina
The South American country is another place where football is followed almost like a religion.
Argentina produces quite a number of talented soccer players who ply their trade not just in their native land but all over the world.
Loads of Argentine players can be found in Spain, Italy, England playing to the top European clubs.
According to the same 2019 study, Argentinian players tracked across the globe were over 2330.
Out of this number, 913 played overseas.
The South American nation is also one of the countries with the most football trophies in history.
3. France
The land of the 2018 World Cup champions is another country where there is a sizeable number of professional footballers.
The same CIES study tracked about 1740 French-born players across the globe.
A lot of these players are of African origin drawn from countries in West and North Africa. Out of this number, 792 played domestically while 948 played abroad.
Interestingly though, most of the best French soccer players are of African descent.
4. Colombia
This is yet another South American nation that is very passionate about football.
This is reflected in the number of people who take up the sport professionally.
According to the Football Observatory study, about 1536 Colombians were involved in the game globally for 2019.
Out of this number, 1079 played in the domestic league while the remaining 457 played abroad.
5. Spain
The Spaniards are another group of people who are quite adept at the game of soccer, which is probably the reason why such a huge number of them are involved in the sport professionally.
The CIES study listed them as having 1349 footballers playing the game in 2019. 824 Spanish players played in Spain that year.
Spain are one of the few countries that are good at football, and have won several titles in the past few decades.
