World Cup 2018: England players play less than Spain & France

England’s World Cup players played less club football this season than their Spain, France and Brazil counterparts.

Received wisdom suggests players in the Premier League play more than other major leagues, but Gareth Southgate’s squad have played the fourth most minutes of all the nations to qualify for the finals in Russia.

Spain’s squad have played almost a combined 10,000 minutes more than England’s, with France about 5,000 and Brazil 4,000 ahead of England.

The data, provided by independent research group CIES Football Observatory, encompasses domestic and continental competitions between 1 July 2017 and 31 May 2018.

It shows that:

• England’s 23-man squad have featured in 994 competitive games between them since last July
• Each player has played an average of 43 matches
• The 76,476 minutes played by England’s players equates to an average of 3,325 minutes or 37 full matches per player