The 503rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 65 leagues around the world according to the percentage of domestic league minutes in the current season played by footballers aged 21 or under at the time of the matches. Among the seven teams having fielded U21 players for a majority of minutes notably are RC Strasbourg (4th, 59.4%) and RB Salzburg (5th, 55.3%).
Across all leagues, not including B-teams, the highest value was recorded for the Belgian side Lommel SK (69.4%), a club owned by City Group. The top three in the European big-5 are RC Strasbourg, FC Barcelona and Stade de Reims. Outside Europe, the three teams putting the most faith in young players are Uruguay’s River Plate, Colombia’s Envigado and Uzbekistan’s Sogdiana.
The Post also presents the percentage of minutes for the 22-25, 26-29 and 30 or over age categories. With 98.8% of league minutes played by footballers aged 25 or under at the time of the matches, BlueCo’s RC Strasbourg holds the world record for youth. The Demographic Atlas presents more data exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory for clubs from 50 leagues around the world.
Percentage of minutes per age categories
Domestic league matches, current season until 06/05/2025