Many parents around the globe spend thousands of dollars each year on club sports with the hope their child will someday play at an elite level, but a new report shows just how scant the chance of that happening really are.
Global Odds Index has released a report on the chances of a male or female playing at an elite level in the world’s most popular sport: soccer.
According to the report, male soccer players in the United States make up just 1.42 percent of the top tier players globally. Meanwhile, female soccer players in the United States make up just 8.7 percent of the top tier players globally. The odds that an american male soccer player will become a top tier player are just 1 in 55,393, while the odds of an american female soccer player becoming a top tier player are just 1 in 93,913.
Broken out by country, China produces 11.72 percent of top tier female soccer players, the highest percentage in the index. Japan (11.19%) and the USA (8.70%) rank second and third. Brazil produces the highest percentage of top tier male footballers globally (5.14%), followed by Argentina (4.38%) and Nigeria (3.44%).
Women in Iceland have the lowest odds of being a top tier soccer player (1:1142), ahead of Norway (1:1521) and Sweden (1:3343). Men in Iceland have the lowest odds of being a top tier soccer player (1:82), ahead of Montenegro (1:258) and Uruguay (1:451).
In its investigation of tennis players, Global Odds found that 11.15 percent of top level female tennis players are from the USA. Russia (7.93%) and France (5.84%) produce the next highest shares. Most male tennis players are from the USA (9.59%), then Italy (7.13%) and France (6.53%).
