December 13 – With FIFA looking to expand the number of teams at World Cups and UEFA having already expanded its regional national competition to 24 teams from 16, the pressure on players, and subsequently on the clubs who pay them, is only likely to increase further.
With greater opportunities to qualify for the biggest competitions, so national team managers will insist on all their top players competing at their peaks to maximize the national opportunity. The club vs country battle is set for a new round of fierce debate.
Data released this week by the CIES Football Observatory this week brings hard fact to a tough argument. The data clearly shows the burden on the top teams who supply multiple players to international football.
The data covers players who have played the most minutes in national A-team matches in 2016 and finds that Juventus supply the most players to international football – 21 players took part in 157 matches completing a total of 12,454 minutes played.
The burden is not surprisingly highest in the Big 5 European leagues with English Premier League clubs in particular. Six clubs are in the top ten positions with Tottenham (2nd), Arsenal (4th), Manchester United (6th), Manchester City (8th), Southampton (9th) and Chelsea (10th).
Barcelona (3rd), Real Madrid (5th) and Bayern Munich (7th) make up the top 10. Atletico Madrid at 11th. For the top players it can be as many as eight extra matches a year.
The supply of players from a concentration of top clubs to international teams is not confined to Europe. In Asia the pattern appears to be similar. Thai club Muang Thong United holds the highest position for a team outside UEFA member countries: 17th (10 players, 84 matches, 6,611 minutes). Lao Toyota from Laos are 22nd, while Lekhwiya from Qatar are 36th. There are six Asian club in the top 50.
The highest CONCACAF team is the Vancouver Whitecaps at 62nd, while Bolivar from Bolivia are the highest CONMEBOL team at 90th.
There are teams from 42 national associations in the top 100.
National A-team minutes played in 2016, per employer club
Source: CIES Football Observatory
To see the full top 100 list go to http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2016/169/en/
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