The 485th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 20 outfield footballers in 66 leagues around the world who played the most official game minutes in 2024, either for clubs (at senior level only) or national teams (A, U23 or U21). Up to December 15, the most-used outfield player in absolute terms is FC Barcelona's French international Jules Koundé: 5,872 minutes spread over 69 matches.
Fluminense's Colombian Jhon Arias and Real Madrid's Uruguayan Federico Valverde complete the podium. The next three places are occupied by players over the age of 30: Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (33.4), Argentina's Nicolás Otamendi (36.8) and Switzerland's Granit Xhaka (32.2). Reading FC's New Zealander Tyler Bindon is the only footballer under the age of 20 in the top 100, demonstrating the sensitivity of coaches when it comes to balancing the efforts of younger players.
Also with respect to the top 100 outfield players overall, a clear majority of minutes were played in domestic club competitions: 73.2% of the total. The remaining playing time spread almost equally between international club competitions and national teams: 15.1% for the former and 13.4% for the latter (including the Olympic Games). These reports provide more exclusive analysis on the hot topics of match calendar and player workload.
Highest number of minutes played in 2024
Official matches until 15/12/2024.
* [Cl-Dom]: Club (domestic leagues) / [Cl-Int]: Club (international competitions) / [Nation]: National teams