Summary · Question 3 of 14

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

The largest cohort gap is midfielders aged 23-25: 2 Czech players against a peer median of 6.

GroupCohortCZEPeer median
Midfielders 23-25 2 6
Midfielders 26-29 3 6
Midfielders 30+ 1 3.5
Defenders 26-29 3 4.5
Defenders U22 0 1.5

How to read it: each row is one position group and age cohort, sorted by the size of the gap; the CZE column counts Czech 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: Czech 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

Czechia’s shortfall against the peer median is largest for midfielders aged 23-25. 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 Czech 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+
Czechia — 1 2 2
Denmark 1 7 2 —
Croatia — 3 — 2
Austria 1 2 — 1
Switzerland — 1 3 —

Cohort gaps — midfielders

Cohort U2223-2526-2930+
Czechia 1 2 3 1
Denmark 6 6 13 6
Croatia — 4 8 6
Austria 2 6 4 7
Switzerland 4 6 10 3

Cohort gaps — defenders

Cohort U2223-2526-2930+
Czechia — 1 3 3
Denmark 2 5 7 2
Croatia 1 1 6 1
Austria 1 3 5 1
Switzerland 2 5 4 6

* 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 9 countries are shown; the heatmap above carries all of them. Largest Czech shortfalls against the peer median count: midfielders 23-25 (2 vs 6), midfielders 26-29 (3 vs 6), midfielders 30+ (1 vs 3.5).

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

Heatmap of the international cohort benchmark: 9 countries by position group and age cohort, 2025/26 season; the Czech row is outlined.
Median non-penalty goals + assists per 90 by country, position group and age cohort, 2025/26; the outlined row is Czechia.

Observations

Per capita: rank 7 of 9 · The largest cohort gap: midfielders 23-25 · Trajectories 2024/25 → 2025/26: mostly stable

Per capita: rank 7 of 9

26 Czech players on 2025/26 rosters of the nine strongest leagues give 2.39 per million inhabitants, rank 7 of 9. Denmark leads with 12.58, 5.3 times the Czech density; Slovakia sits one place above with 3.14 from 17 players and a population 2.0 times smaller. Below Czechia: Hungary, Poland.

The largest cohort gap: midfielders 23-25

Counting 2025/26 top-9 players by position group and age cohort and comparing the Czech count with the median of the other eight peers, the three largest shortfalls are midfielders 23-25 — 2 Czech against a peer median of 6; midfielders 26-29 — 3 Czech against a peer median of 6; midfielders 30+ — 1 Czech against a peer median of 3.5. The cohort tables above show the medians behind the counts.

Trajectories 2024/25 → 2025/26: mostly stable

92 Czech-eligible players had at least 900 minutes in both 2024/25 and 2025/26: forwards 13 (5 up, 6 stable, 2 down); midfielders 43 (3 up, 31 stable, 9 down); defenders 36 (1 up, 34 stable, 1 down). A move counts as up or down when league-adjusted goals + assists per 90 changed by more than 0.05; 71 of 92 stayed within that band. These are season-over-season deltas, not projections.