Summary · Question 3 of 14

English players in the top-9 leagues by position group and age cohort, 2025/26

The largest cohort gap is midfielders aged 30+: 9 English players against a peer median of 23.

GroupCohortENGPeer median
Midfielders 30+ 9 23
Defenders 23-25 11 23
Midfielders 23-25 17 26
Midfielders U22 15 22
Defenders 26-29 20 24

How to read it: each row is one position group and age cohort, sorted by the size of the gap; the ENG column counts English players with at least 450 minutes in a top-9 league, the bar the median count across the peer countries. Cells are counts of players, not estimates.

How we know

As an analytics question In numbers: English player count against the peer-country median, by age cohort and position group, ≥ 450 minutes, 2025/26 season.

What we did We split players into position groups and age bands, counted how many the home nation had in each one, and compared that count with the middle value among the other countries.

Sources Age at season start; cohorts U22 / 23–25 / 26–29 / 30+; ≥ 450 minutes; outfield players only (goalkeepers are counted on the goalkeeper page), and a player with rows in two position groups counts in each.

What this means

England’s shortfall against the peer median is largest for midfielders aged 30+. The cells are single-digit counts with no interval: a difference of one or two players can come from a single transfer, loan or injury. The table shows where the counts differ, not how certain or how lasting the difference is.

What this does not show

Goalkeepers, who are counted separately; players below 450 minutes; players outside the nine leagues; and anything about the players in a cell beyond their number.

Data snapshot: FBref tables fetched 14 September 2026, snapshot commit ef7dbd4 · code: src/international_benchmark.py · status: exploratory, not pre-registered · all limitations

Explore the data

Benchmark vs peer countries

Structural benchmark vs peer countries

The tables below count English players in the top-9 leagues by position group and age cohort against the peer countries, from the same season tables as every other count in the atlas.

Cohort gaps — forwards

Cohort U2223-2526-2930+
England 2 4 6 7
France 10 9 15 6
Germany 5 5 8 8
Spain 6 10 12 10
Italy 3 7 8 4

Cohort gaps — midfielders

Cohort U2223-2526-2930+
England 15 17 25 9
France 27 48 35 27
Germany 15 24 19 26
Spain 17 55 44 39
Italy 8 18 22 16

Cohort gaps — defenders

Cohort U2223-2526-2930+
England 6 11 20 15
France 15 23 25 15
Germany 9 6 22 27
Spain 17 29 34 38
Italy 7 12 14 15

* Count and median npG+A per 90 of players with the country's nationality in a top-9 league, 2025/26, at least 450 minutes; cohort by age at the season's calendar turn (start year + 1 − birth year). 5 of the 8 countries are shown; the heatmap above carries all of them. Largest English shortfalls against the peer median count: midfielders 30+ (9 vs 23), defenders 23-25 (11 vs 23), midfielders 23-25 (17 vs 26).

The full picture, all nine peer countries at once, as a heatmap:

Heatmap of the international cohort benchmark: 8 countries by position group and age cohort, 2025/26 season; the English row is outlined.
Median non-penalty goals + assists per 90 by country, position group and age cohort, 2025/26; the outlined row is England.

Observations

Per capita: rank 6 of 8 · The largest cohort gap: midfielders 30+ · Trajectories 2024/25 → 2025/26: mixed

Per capita: rank 6 of 8

208 English players on 2025/26 rosters of the nine strongest leagues give 3.60 per million inhabitants, rank 6 of 8. Portugal leads with 25.19, 7.0 times the English density; France sits one place above with 5.79 from 395 players and a population 1.2 times larger. Below England: Italy, Germany.

The largest cohort gap: midfielders 30+

Counting 2025/26 top-9 players by position group and age cohort and comparing the English count with the median of the other seven peers, the three largest shortfalls are midfielders 30+ — 9 English against a peer median of 23; defenders 23-25 — 11 English against a peer median of 23; midfielders 23-25 — 17 English against a peer median of 26. The cohort tables above show the medians behind the counts.

Trajectories 2024/25 → 2025/26: mixed

73 English-eligible players had at least 900 minutes in both 2024/25 and 2025/26: forwards 16 (3 up, 2 stable, 11 down); midfielders 28 (7 up, 9 stable, 12 down); defenders 29 (5 up, 20 stable, 4 down). A move counts as up or down when league-adjusted goals + assists per 90 changed by more than 0.05; 31 of 73 stayed within that band. These are season-over-season deltas, not projections.