The World Cup & Globalization

For many of the billion spectators who watched the football World Cup opening in Rustenburg, South Africa, the word "globalization" may have come to mind. From advertisers to spectators, football embodies globalization like no other sport. And for players, football embodies globalization like no other profession.

The market for professional football players is, by far, the most globalized labor market. A Nigerian or Brazilian football player can get a job more easily in Europe or Japan than a skilled surgeon or engineer. Out of some 2,600 professional players in the five top European leagues – England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – almost 800 are expatriates, defined as those born and recruited in a county different from the one where they play, according to data published by Professional Football Players Observatory for the last football season