By the Numbers: 2023 MLS players hail from 81 countries
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, May 24, 2023
Major League Soccer released its report on the backgrounds of the players on its 29 teams' rosters. They hail from 81 nations across six continents with an average an age of 26 years and 129 days.
That makes MLS's player pool younger than those of the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball.
The number of countries represented is also greater than those leagues, as well as Italy's Serie A, England's Premier League, France's Ligue 1, Germany's Bundesliga and Spain's LaLiga.
Countries with more than 10 players represented
348 USA
46 Canada
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37 Argentina
36 Brazil
32 Colombia
20 France
17 Germany
15 England
15 Mexico
13 Spain
13 Venezuela
12 Ghana
11 Uruguay
Note: The number domestic (U.S. and Canadian) has increased by nearly 20 percent over the past five years.
Top 5: Most Players by U.S. states
61 California
28 New York
22 Florida
19 Illinois
18 Pennsylvania
Note: 39 of the 50 states and the Washington, D.C., are represented on MLS rosters.
Countries represented in North American men's leagues
81 MLS
45 NBA
31 NFL
25 NHL
21 Major League Baseball
Average age of player pool
26 years, 129 days MLS
26, 167 NBA
26, 320 NFL
27, 155 NHL
29, 38 Major League Baseball
Very Interesting...
I wonder about ""STARTERS" vs "SUBS". vs ""Cannon Fooder""
What about Minutes per Country.????
That would Really Tell it All.!!!
The raw data on nationality is relatively meaningless without the context of league rules limiting foreign players and distinguishing between types of roster slots. Also how are multi-nationals counted? The last would indicate the honesty of the data.
I'd like to see the full list. Maybe a link to the source report? 81 countries is a lot and this is really cool.