How the value of football players influences a team's chances of victory - a Euro 2020 example

• Published in: Journal of Physical Education and Sport 2022-01, Vol.22 (1), p.167-173
• Main Authors: Metelski, Adam, Kornakov, Konstantin, Sharda, Rijul, Chłapowski, Jan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clubs; Coronaviruses; Correlation; COVID-19; Economic development; Money Management; Per capita; Population; Professional football; Soccer; Statistical Analysis; Team Sports; Tournaments & championships
• ISSN: 2247-8051; 2247-806X
• DOI: 10.7752/jpes.2022.01021

Problem Statement: one of the things that ignites the interest of football fans all over the world is the financial value of players. The proper valuation of players is also an important issue that influences the management process of football clubs. It is believed that a player's value should be related to his productivity. Consequently, it seems that a team with a greater overall combined player value should usually be more successful than a team with a lesser value. Therefore, an examination of this assumption was performed on the results of the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2020). Approach: In the beginning, the value of all 620 players registered at this tournament was collected. The next step was a calculation of the total value of each national teams squad and an examination of the final teams achievements in this tournament. Purpose: The article aims to analyse if a squads value was a reliable indicator of its results during Euro 2020. The article also presents which players at Euro 2020 were the most valuable and describes some of the factors that may affect their performances. Additionally, the article presents an analysis of other factors that may be associated with a team's achievements, such as origin-country population, GDP per capita, as well as UEFA and FIFA ranking. Results: The average value of players at the tournament was 16.84 million EUR and England was the most valuable team. The study showed that the team's value strongly negatively correlates with its final position, while there is no significant correlation in the case of the country's population and GDP per capita. In turn, taking into account the official rankings of national teams, a higher significant correlation was noted in the case of its FIFA ranking. Conclusions: The results show that the value of a team is an important factor that partly explains its results, but there are also other factors that may lead to victory or defeat.