FIFA has published its Professional Football Report 2023 that provides a comprehensive overview of men’s professional football across all 211 FIFA Member Associations (MAs) and launched an encyclopaedic online database to encourage clubs to seek out best practice from around the world. The report, which is based on a survey conducted by FIFA, is split into four key areas: players, clubs, competitions (with specific focus on each country’s top-tier competition), and transfers. It gives a detailed picture of men's club football in each member association, and in a new approach adopted this year, provides various comparative statistics both at global and confederation level. The data is also presented in the Professional Football Landscape, the first digital database of its kind, which also includes a countdown of the different transfer windows around the globe, providing more clarity on the dates surrounding the international movement of players.

Based on the report, there were 128,694 professional male footballers at 3,986 clubs in 135 countries around the world. Mexico had both the most professional players (9,464) - with Spain (8,560) and England (5,582) next - and the most clubs (244), followed by Türkiye (136) and Argentina (118). All member associations had made significant progress in club licensing with 88% reporting they have some form of regulations in place. “The Professional Football Report 2023 as well as our digital platform – the Professional Football Landscape – will serve as a benchmarking tool for professional clubs, leagues, and federations around the world,” said Ornella Bellia, FIFA’s Director of Professional Football Relations & Development. “This report gives a clear picture of not only the overall state of the game in their country but can also serve as a catalyst for future development as they draw inspiration from best practice around the world.”