Soccer Analytics Resources

Everything you need to master football data analysis

Data Sources Python R Books Podcasts Courses Communities Careers

Setup Guides

Python Environment Setup

Complete guide to setting up Python for soccer analytics, including Anaconda installation, virtual environments, and essential packages.

Quick Install (Recommended):
pip install pandas numpy matplotlib seaborn
pip install mplsoccer statsbombpy soccerdata
pip install scikit-learn scipy
With Conda:
conda create -n soccer python=3.11
conda activate soccer
pip install mplsoccer statsbombpy
R Environment Setup

Complete guide to setting up R and RStudio for soccer analytics, including package management and tidyverse configuration.

Essential Packages:
# Core packages
install.packages(c("tidyverse", "ggplot2", "dplyr"))

# Football-specific
install.packages("worldfootballR")
install.packages("ggsoccer")
devtools::install_github("statsbomb/StatsBombR")

Free Data Sources

Event Data
StatsBomb Open Data

The gold standard for learning. Free event-level data for FIFA World Cups (2018, 2022), FA Women's Super League, La Liga (Messi seasons), and more. Includes freeze frames.

Event Data Freeze Frames Free
View on GitHub
Wyscout Open Data

Event data for the 2017/18 season across five major European leagues, plus World Cup 2018. Published via Figshare for academic research.

Event Data Academic Free
View on Figshare
Metrica Sports Sample

Three complete matches with synchronized tracking data (25fps) and event data. Perfect for learning pitch control and off-ball analysis.

Tracking Data Event Data Free
View on GitHub
Aggregate Statistics
FBref

Comprehensive statistics for 100+ leagues worldwide, powered by StatsBomb data. Includes xG, progressive passes, pressures, and detailed per-90 stats.

Aggregate Stats xG Data Free
Visit FBref
Understat

Shot-level xG data for top 6 European leagues since 2014/15. Includes xG timelines, shot maps, and player season histories.

xG Data Shot-Level Free
Visit Understat
Fotmob

Match statistics, lineups, and live data for leagues worldwide. Great API for real-time data and match previews.

Match Stats Live Data Free
Visit Fotmob
Transfermarkt

Player market values, transfer history, contract information, injury history, and detailed squad data for leagues worldwide.

Market Values Transfer Data Free
Visit Transfermarkt
WhoScored

Match statistics, player ratings, and tactical data powered by Opta. Includes heat maps, pass maps, and detailed match statistics.

Match Stats Ratings Free
Visit WhoScored
SofaScore

Live scores, statistics, and player ratings for football and other sports. Includes heat maps and shot maps for individual matches.

Live Scores Ratings Free
Visit SofaScore
Historical & Results Data
Football-Data.co.uk

Historical match results and betting odds for 25+ leagues dating back to 1990s. Essential for prediction models and betting analytics.

Betting Odds Historical Free
Visit Football-Data
European Football Database

25,000+ matches from 11 European countries (2008-2016) with betting odds, team attributes from FIFA video games, and player attributes.

Historical FIFA Attributes Free
View on Kaggle
Open Football Data

Open data project with match results, standings, and fixtures for leagues worldwide. Available in JSON, CSV, and SQL formats.

Results Multiple Formats Free
View on GitHub
APIs
API-Football

RESTful API covering 900+ leagues with live scores, fixtures, standings, and statistics. Free tier available with rate limits.

REST API Freemium
View API
Football-Data.org

Free football data API for major competitions. Covers Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and more.

REST API Free
View API
OpenLigaDB

Community-driven database with German football focus. Free API with match results, standings, and team information.

REST API Free
View API

Python Libraries

Football-Specific
Library Purpose Install
mplsoccer Comprehensive soccer visualization library. Pitch plots, shot maps, pass networks, heat maps, Voronoi diagrams, and more. pip install mplsoccer
statsbombpy Official StatsBomb library for accessing their open data and API. Event data with freeze frames. pip install statsbombpy
soccerdata Scrape data from FBref, Understat, WhoScored, SoFIFA, ESPN, and ClubElo. pip install soccerdata
socceraction VAEP and xT implementations. Convert event streams to SPADL format. pip install socceraction
kloppy Unified interface for loading event and tracking data from multiple providers (StatsBomb, Wyscout, Metrica, etc.) pip install kloppy
codeball Football analytics and machine learning tools. Includes expected goals models. pip install codeball
matplotsoccer Alternative soccer pitch visualization library with different pitch types. pip install matplotsoccer
floodlight High-level tracking data analysis. Includes pitch control and movement analysis. pip install floodlight
Data Science Essentials
Library Purpose Install
pandas Data manipulation and analysis. DataFrames, data cleaning, groupby operations. pip install pandas
numpy Numerical computing. Arrays, linear algebra, mathematical functions. pip install numpy
matplotlib Base plotting library. Foundation for mplsoccer and most visualizations. pip install matplotlib
seaborn Statistical data visualization. Heatmaps, distributions, regression plots. pip install seaborn
scikit-learn Machine learning. Classification, regression, clustering, model evaluation. pip install scikit-learn
scipy Scientific computing. Statistics, optimization, signal processing. pip install scipy
plotly Interactive visualizations. Web-ready charts and dashboards. pip install plotly
xgboost Gradient boosting. Often used for xG models and match prediction. pip install xgboost

R Packages

Football-Specific
Package Purpose Install
worldfootballR Comprehensive scraping for FBref, Transfermarkt, Understat, and Fotmob. The most complete R football data package. install.packages("worldfootballR")
StatsBombR Official StatsBomb package for accessing open data and API. Event data with advanced statistics. devtools::install_github("statsbomb/StatsBombR")
ggsoccer Soccer pitch visualizations with ggplot2. Includes multiple pitch types and annotation layers. install.packages("ggsoccer")
ggshakeR Advanced football visualizations. Pizza charts, radar plots, bump charts, and shot maps. devtools::install_github("abhiamishra/ggshakeR")
soccerAnimate Create animated visualizations of tracking data and event sequences. devtools::install_github("Dato-Futbol/soccerAnimate")
understatr Access Understat data directly. Shot-level xG data for top European leagues. devtools::install_github("ewenme/understatr")
Data Science Essentials
Package Purpose Install
tidyverse Collection of essential packages: dplyr, ggplot2, tidyr, readr, purrr, stringr. install.packages("tidyverse")
ggplot2 Grammar of graphics visualization. Foundation for all R football visualizations. install.packages("ggplot2")
dplyr Data manipulation verbs: filter, select, mutate, summarize, group_by. install.packages("dplyr")
tidymodels Machine learning framework. Unified interface for modeling and evaluation. install.packages("tidymodels")
gt Grammar of tables. Create publication-ready tables for reports. install.packages("gt")
gganimate Animation extension for ggplot2. Create animated match sequences. install.packages("gganimate")

Books

Foundational Reading
The Numbers Game

Chris Anderson & David Sally

The foundational book on soccer analytics. Explains why analytics matters and challenges conventional wisdom about football.

Essential Beginner
Soccermatics

David Sumpter

Mathematical modeling of football. Covers probability, geometry, and physics applied to the beautiful game.

Essential Intermediate
Expected Goals

Rory Smith

The story of how data conquered football. Chronicles the rise of analytics from outsiders to the heart of major clubs.

Essential Beginner
Football Hackers

Christoph Biermann

Inside the revolution of data and football. Features interviews with pioneers like Ralf Rangnick and Ted Knutson.

Essential Beginner
Zonal Marking

Michael Cox

Tactical history of European football. Essential context for understanding how analytics fits into tactical evolution.

Tactical Beginner
The Mixer

Michael Cox

The story of Premier League tactics. Traces tactical evolution from 1992 to 2017.

Tactical Beginner
Technical & Statistical
Soccernomics

Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski

Economics and statistics of football. Transfer markets, wage optimization, and data-driven decision making.

Economics Intermediate
Moneyball

Michael Lewis

The classic sports analytics story. While about baseball, the principles apply directly to football analytics.

Classic Beginner
Python for Data Analysis

Wes McKinney

Definitive guide to pandas and data manipulation. Essential for any Python-based analytics work.

Technical Intermediate
R for Data Science

Hadley Wickham

The tidyverse bible. Essential for R-based analytics. Available free online.

Technical Intermediate
An Introduction to Statistical Learning

James, Witten, Hastie, Tibshirani

Machine learning fundamentals. Covers regression, classification, and clustering used in xG models.

Technical Advanced
Analyzing Baseball Data with R

Max Marchi & Jim Albert

While baseball-focused, demonstrates analytical techniques directly applicable to football.

Technical Intermediate

Podcasts

The Double Pivot

Hosted by Grace Robertson and Yves Kalume. Weekly tactical and analytical discussions on football trends.

Tactical Active
Fanalytics

Analytics-focused podcast discussing data and football. Features industry professionals and academics.

Analytics Active
Tifo Football Podcast

Tactical and analytical discussions from the Tifo team. Accessible explanations of complex concepts.

Tactical Active
StatsBomb Podcast

Official StatsBomb podcast. Deep dives into analytics topics and interviews with industry leaders.

Analytics Occasional
Expected Value

American Soccer Analysis podcast. MLS-focused but covers universal analytics concepts.

Analytics MLS
The Analyst

Opta's official podcast. Features their analysts discussing trends and statistics.

Analytics Active

YouTube Channels

Tifo Football

Excellent tactical and analytical explainers. Great visualizations and accessible content.

Tactical 2M+ Subs
Watch
McKay Johns

Python tutorials for soccer analytics. Shot maps, radar charts, and data visualization guides.

Tutorials Python
Watch
Friends of Tracking

Academic tracking data tutorials. Lectures from leading researchers on pitch control and analysis.

Advanced Tracking Data
Watch
The Analyst

Opta's official channel. Match analysis, player profiles, and statistical breakdowns.

Analytics Official
Watch
MRKT Insights

Player scouting and performance analysis. Detailed breakdowns of player styles.

Scouting Players
Watch
Soccermatics (David Sumpter)

The author of Soccermatics shares mathematical football analysis and tutorials.

Advanced Mathematical
Watch

Online Courses

Mathematical Modeling of Football

Uppsala University (Free)

David Sumpter's course based on Soccermatics. Covers probability, expected goals, network analysis, and more. Python and R code provided.

Free Intermediate
Start Course
Friends of Tracking Course

Friends of Tracking (Free)

Comprehensive tracking data course. Pitch control, off-ball analysis, and expected possession value. Taught by leading researchers.

Free Advanced
View Materials
FC Python Courses

FC Python

Python tutorials specifically for football analytics. From basics to advanced visualizations and machine learning.

Free Beginner
Start Learning
DataCamp Sports Analytics

DataCamp (Paid)

Professional courses on sports analytics using Python and R. Includes football-specific projects and case studies.

Paid Intermediate
View Course

Blogs & Websites

StatsBomb Articles

Industry-leading analysis and research. Introduces new metrics and methodologies.

Read
American Soccer Analysis

MLS-focused but universally applicable methodology. Excellent explanations of metrics.

Read
The Athletic - Analytics

Premium analysis combining data with tactical insight. Worth the subscription.

Read
Karun Singh's Blog

Creator of expected threat (xT). Technical deep-dives into advanced concepts.

Read
Differentgame

Mark Thompson's visualizations and analysis. Beautiful charts and insightful commentary.

Read
Soccerment Blog

Football analytics and data visualization tutorials with practical examples.

Read

Communities

Football Analytics Twitter/X

The primary hub for soccer analytics discussion. Follow @StatsBomb, @OptaAnalyst, @Soccermatics, and #FootballAnalytics.

Browse
Football Analytics Slack

Active community for discussions, Q&A, and networking. Channels for Python, R, tracking data, and career advice.

Join
Soccer Analytics Discord

Growing Discord community for real-time discussions, project sharing, and feedback.

Join
r/SoccerAnalytics

Reddit community for soccer analytics discussions, questions, and sharing work.

Browse
GitHub

Explore open-source projects, contribute to libraries, and share your own work.

Explore
LinkedIn Groups

Professional networking groups for football analytics. Great for career connections.

Connect

Conferences & Events

StatsBomb Conference

Annual conference featuring cutting-edge research and industry presentations. The premier event in football analytics.

Annual Industry
Opta Forum

Stats Perform's annual event showcasing research and applications of football data.

Annual Industry
MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

Premier sports analytics conference. Football research papers and presentations alongside other sports.

Annual Academic
ECML Sports Analytics Workshop

Academic workshop at the European Conference on Machine Learning. Peer-reviewed research papers.

Annual Academic
Football Data International Forum

Industry event focusing on practical applications of data in football operations.

Annual Industry
Barça Sports Analytics Summit

FC Barcelona's annual summit featuring research from their Innovation Hub.

Annual Industry

Career Resources

Types of Roles
  • Data Analyst - Match analysis, reporting, visualizations
  • Data Scientist - Model building, xG, player prediction
  • Video Analyst - Match coding, opponent scouting
  • Scout/Recruitment Analyst - Player identification, profiling
  • Performance Analyst - Physical data, GPS tracking
  • Research Scientist - R&D, new methodologies
Key Skills
  • Programming - Python, R, SQL
  • Statistics - Regression, probability, ML
  • Domain Knowledge - Football understanding
  • Visualization - Clear communication of insights
  • Communication - Explain data to non-technical staff
  • Video Analysis - Coding, annotation tools
Job Boards & Resources
Global Sports Jobs

Dedicated sports industry job board with analytics positions at clubs and organizations.

Browse Jobs
LinkedIn Jobs

Search "football analytics", "soccer data", or "sports data scientist" for current openings.

Search
Club Careers Pages

Many clubs post directly to their websites. Check your target clubs regularly.

Pro Tips for Breaking In
  • Build a portfolio - Share analysis on Twitter, GitHub, or a personal blog
  • Contribute to open source - Help improve libraries like mplsoccer or worldfootballR
  • Enter competitions - Kaggle, StatsBomb challenges, academic paper contests
  • Network actively - Engage on Twitter, attend conferences, join Slack communities
  • Start local - Volunteer with local clubs, amateur teams, or youth academies
  • Learn the game - Watch matches analytically, understand tactics and context

Key Academic Papers

Paper Authors Topic Year
Actions Speak Louder Than Goals Decroos et al. VAEP framework introduction 2019
Wide Open Spaces Fernandez & Bornn Pitch control and off-ball value 2018
A Framework for the Fine-Grained Evaluation of the Instantaneous Expected Value of Soccer Possessions Fernandez, Bornn, Cervone EPV model 2021
Decomposing the Immeasurable Sport Cervone et al. Expected possession value (basketball, applicable concepts) 2016
Large-Scale Analysis of Soccer Matches Using Spatiotemporal Tracking Data Gyarmati et al. Pass network analysis 2014
Beyond Expected Goals Spearman Off-ball scoring opportunity model 2018
Physics-Based Modeling of Pass Probabilities in Soccer Spearman et al. Pass probability models 2017

Most papers are available on arXiv, Google Scholar, or the authors' personal websites.

Tools & Software

Tableau

Industry-standard visualization tool. Free Public version available. Used by many clubs for dashboards.

Visualization Freemium
Power BI

Microsoft's visualization tool. Strong integration with Excel. Free desktop version.

Visualization Freemium
Jupyter Notebooks

Interactive Python environment. Standard for data analysis and sharing work.

Python Free
RStudio

IDE for R programming. Essential for R-based analysis. Free desktop version.

R Free
VS Code

Modern code editor with excellent Python and R extensions. Great for larger projects.

Editor Free
Google Colab

Free cloud notebooks with GPU access. Great for learning without local setup.

Python Free