Football, asked
Nine million events across 1,243 competitions, back to 2008. These are answers you cannot get from one league, because they only appear when every league is counted the same way.
Goals
- Where do goals arrive latest?
K League 1 (Korea Selatan) decides more matches late than anywhere else: 16,4% of its goals arrive from the 85th minute on.
- Which leagues start fastest?
Liga Super Swiss (Swiss) starts fastest: 13,9% of its goals come in the opening fifteen minutes.
- Where is stoppage time most dangerous?
K League 1 (Korea Selatan) scores most after the ninety are up: 10,8% of its goals land in the 90th minute.
- First half or second?
Super Liga (Serbia) leans earliest of all: 45,6% of its goals arrive in the first half.
- Which leagues come out hardest after the break?
Liga Champions Elit AFC (Internasional) comes out hardest: 17,1% of its goals arrive between the 46th and 60th minute.
- Where are most goals scored from the spot?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) scores most from the spot: 12% of its goals are penalties.
- Where do defenders score most against themselves?
Liga Utama Inggris (Inggris) sees the most: 3,5% of its goals are own goals.
- Which leagues build their goals?
Fußball-Bundesliga (Jerman) builds most of its goals: 70,5% arrive with an assist.
- How much football happens in added time?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) plays the most consequential added time: 15,3% of its goals land in it.
- How fast does a side hit back?
Liga Utama Sepak Bola Amerika Serikat (Amerika Serikat) hits back fastest: 12,3% of its goals answer the opponent inside ten minutes.
- Where do hat-tricks happen?
DFB Pokal (Jerman) sees them most: a hat-trick in 0,064 of its matches.
- When are goals scored?
The 55th minute, more than any other.
- Where is the spot-kick most common?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) sees most: 0,372 penalties converted a match.
Discipline
- Which leagues send players off most?
Liga MX (Meksiko) sends players off more often than any other: 0,343 red cards a match.
- Which leagues book most?
Liga Super Yunani (Yunani) books more than anyone: 5,27 yellow cards a match.
- Where do referees reach for a card earliest?
K League 1 (Korea Selatan) reaches for a card earliest: 6,5% of its cards come in the first fifteen minutes.
- Where do tempers go last?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) loses its head latest: 23,4% of its cards come after the 85th minute.
- How many cards fall in added time?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) sees most of it after the whistle should have gone: 21,7% of its cards fall in added time.
- When does a sending-off happen?
Serie A (Brasil) sends players off latest of all: on average in the 69th minute.
- How many cards does a goal cost?
Liga Profesional Argentina (Argentina) is the most attritional: 2,39 cards for every goal it scores.
- When are cards shown?
The 89th minute, more than any other.
- What does a sending-off cost?
A red card is most expensive in Liga Utama Norwegia (Norwegia): the side reduced to ten loses 61,2% of the time.
- How often does a match end with eleven against ten?
Liga MX (Meksiko) loses a player most often: 28,4% of its matches see a red card.
- Do cards come before or after the break?
Championship (Inggris) saves it for the second half more than anyone: 68,6% of its cards come after the break.
Video review
- Where does video review rule out most goals?
Liga Utama Inggris (Inggris) rules out more goals than anywhere else: 0,57 a match.
- Where does review award most penalties?
Liga Utama Inggris (Skotlandia) sees review point to the spot most: 0,439 penalties a match.
- Which leagues stop for review most?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) stops for review most: 1,43 decisions a match.
Results
- How wide is the average result?
Eredivisie (Belanda) is the least competitive: an average margin of 1,57 goals.
- Where is football highest-scoring?
Eredivisie (Belanda) is the highest-scoring of the lot: 3,12 goals a match.
- Where do matches end goalless most?
Liga Profesional Argentina (Argentina) ends goalless most often: 12% of its matches finish 0:0.
- Where do matches produce four goals or more?
Eredivisie (Belanda) delivers most often: 38,6% of its matches carry four goals or more.
- Where are matches most one-sided?
Eredivisie (Belanda) is the most one-sided: 9,1% of its matches end by four goals or more.
- Which leagues draw most?
Seri B (Italia) ends level most often: 32,2% of its matches are drawn.
- Where does home advantage still count?
Home is worth most in Liga Utama Sepak Bola Amerika Serikat (Amerika Serikat): 49,4% of matches go to the side playing there.
- Does the first goal decide the match?
In Super Liga (Serbia) the opening goal is worth most: the side that scores first wins 73,1% of the time.
- Does a half-time lead hold?
A half-time lead is safest in Super Liga (Serbia): it holds 79,7% of the time.
- Where is a half-time deficit survivable?
Nowhere is a half-time deficit less final than in Seri B (Italia): the trailing side avoids defeat 30,3% of the time.
- How often do both sides score?
Liga Super Swiss (Swiss) leaves fewest clean sheets: both sides score in 61,5% of its matches.
- Where are clean sheets most common?
Liga Super Yunani (Yunani) shuts the door most: at least one side keeps a clean sheet in 57,1% of matches.
- Which leagues are decided by a single goal?
Divisi Satu J. League (Jepang) is the tightest: 43,3% of its matches are settled by a single goal.
- Where is it easiest to win away?
The trip is least daunting in Divisi Satu J. League (Jepang): visitors win 34,4% of the time.
- What share of goals is scored at home?
Serie A (Brasil) tilts hardest towards home: 59,5% of its goals are scored by the side playing there.
- How often is it still level and goalless at the break?
K League 1 (Korea Selatan) makes you wait longest: 37,5% of its matches are still goalless at half-time.
- Who opens the scoring, home or away?
The home side takes the initiative most in Serie A (Brasil): it opens the scoring 61,2% of the time.
- What is the most common score in each league?
Seri B (Italia) is the most predictable in football: 1:1 accounts for 16,1% of its matches.
- Where is football played in front of the most seats?
Super League (Tiongkok) plays in the largest grounds: 45,106 seats on average.
- Which competitions cannot settle it in ninety minutes?
DFB Pokal (Jerman) settles fewest inside the ninety: 21,2% of its ties run on.
Shape and bench
- When does the first substitution come?
Liga Utama Inggris (Inggris) waits longest: its first change comes on average in the 59th minute.
- Which leagues use their bench hardest?
Segunda División (Spanyol) uses its bench hardest: 8,01 changes a match.
- Who plays three at the back?
Serie A (Italia) commits hardest: 45,3% of its line-ups start with three defenders.
- Where does 4-4-2 survive?
Piala Raja Spanyol (Spanyol) keeps the faith: 28,5% of its line-ups are still 4-4-2.
- Where is 4-2-3-1 the default?
Liga Super Yunani (Yunani) is the most uniform: 56,1% of its line-ups are 4-2-3-1.
- When are substitutions made?
The 46th minute, more than any other.
- What shape does each league default to?
Liga Super Yunani (Yunani) is the most uniform: 56,1% of its line-ups are 4-2-3-1.
- How much do substitutes score?
Piala Raja Spanyol (Spanyol) gets most from its bench: 26,5% of its goals come from a player who started the match sitting down.
Comebacks
- Where are matches turned around most?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) turns matches around most: 1,9% of its results were rescued from two goals down or worse.
- Who came back from furthest behind?
Gangwon FC, from 4 goals down.
- How often is a two-goal lead thrown away?
A two-goal lead is worth least in Liga Utama Sepak Bola Amerika Serikat (Amerika Serikat): it fails to bring a win 9,6% of the time.
How the ball is played
- Which leagues shoot most?
A-League (Australia) shoots most: 13,71 attempts per side per match.
- Who hits the target most?
Liga Utama Ukraina (Ukraina) is the most accurate: 43,2% of its shots are on target.
- Where do they shoot from distance?
Serie A (Brasil) tries its luck most: 44,1% of its shots come from outside the box.
- Which leagues win the most corners?
A-League (Australia) forces the most: 5,45 corners per side per match.
- Where is the game stopped most?
Liga Super Yunani (Yunani) stops most often: 15,71 fouls per side per match.
- Which defences hold the highest line?
LaLiga (Spanyol) catches most: 2,21 offsides per side per match.
- Which goalkeepers are busiest?
Goalkeeping is hardest work in Eredivisie (Belanda): 3,32 saves a match.
- Where is the passing cleanest?
Serie A (Italia) keeps the ball best: 82,1% of its passes find a teammate.
- Where is possession most one-sided?
Liga Utama Inggris (Skotlandia) is the most lopsided: on average a side finishes 10,79 points away from half the ball.
- Who gets into the box?
Liga Utama Inggris (Skotlandia) works closest: 65,4% of its shots come from inside the box.
- Where do defenders throw themselves in front of most?
Liga Utama Inggris (Skotlandia) blocks most: 28,9% of shots at its goal are stopped before they arrive.
- Which leagues finish above their chances?
Primeira Liga (Portugal) finishes best: 1,07 goals for every one its chances were worth.
Squads
- Which leagues field the youngest players?
Super League (Tiongkok) is the youngest of the lot: 28,73 years on average.
- Where are the tallest teams?
Fußball-Bundesliga (Jerman) stands tallest: 184,35 centimetres on average.
- Which leagues are most foreign?
Liga Profesional Saudi (Arab Saudi) leans hardest on players from elsewhere: 100% of its squads are foreign.
- Where do a league’s players come from?
Liga Profesional Argentina (Argentina) is the most homogeneous: 87,1% of it is Argentina.
Players
- Which league leans hardest on one man?
L. Messi has scored 2,4% of every goal LaLiga (Spanyol) has produced since 2008 — 360 of them.
- Who scores latest?
L. Messi has 48 goals from the 85th minute on in LaLiga (Spanyol), more than anyone else there.
- Who collects the most cards?
Dominik Kohr has collected 110 cards in Fußball-Bundesliga (Jerman) — more than anyone in the archive.
- Who has laid on the most goals?
T. Müller has set up 151 goals in Fußball-Bundesliga (Jerman) — more than anyone in the archive.
- Who is a year older today?
C. Piper turns 24 today.
Runs and records
- What is the longest a side has gone unbeaten?
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 55 matches.
- What is the longest winning run?
FC Shakhtar Donetsk, 23 matches.
- How long can a side keep scoring?
Al-Hilal SFC, 93 matches.
- How long can a defence go untouched?
Burnley F.C., 13 matches.
- What is the longest a side has gone without winning?
Veracruz, 41 matches.
- What is the heaviest defeat on record?
Piala Perancis (Prancis) holds the heaviest: 14:0, a margin of 14.
What has changed
- Are draws disappearing?
Draws have gone from 27,1% of matches in 2010 to 26,3% in 2025.
- Is home advantage fading?
Home sides won 46,7% of matches in 2010 and 43,5% in 2025.
- Is football getting higher-scoring?
2,64 goals a match in 2010, 2,72 in 2025.
- Are referees booking more?
4,29 bookings a match in 2015, 4,28 in 2025.
- The death of 4-4-2
4-4-2 accounted for 17,3% of line-ups in 2016 and 11,1% in 2025.
- The rise of three at the back
Three at the back went from 9% of line-ups in 2016 to 26% in 2025.
- What five substitutions did to football
5,49 changes a match in 2010, 9,01 in 2025.
- Are matches decided later than they used to be?
12,7% of goals arrived after the 85th minute in 2010, 14% in 2025.
- Is the game being stopped more?
4,79 fouls a side in 2015, 12,4 in 2025.
- Are defences still holding a line?
2,16 offsides a side in 2015, 1,76 in 2025.
- Are there more corners than there used to be?
5,05 corners a side in 2015, 4,84 in 2025.
- Are fewer players being sent off?
0,261 red cards a match in 2015, 0,208 in 2025.
- Is football becoming more foreign?
44,6% of appearances were made by foreigners in 2024, 46,1% in 2025.
- Is football getting younger?
26,23 years old on average in 2024, 28,26 in 2026.
- Are footballers getting taller?
181,45 centimetres on average in 2024, 177,56 in 2026.
- Are teams shooting more or less?
11,62 shots a side in 2015, 12,72 in 2025.