A comparative examination of World Cup Champions of European and American origin of national football players in terms of "relative age effect"

Abstract

This study aimed to analysis the birth date distributions of the champion players between the years 1930-2022 to determine whether the FIFA World Cup champion national team football players between the years 1930-2022 were affected by the "Relative Age Effect" phenomenon. The universe of the research consisted of the national teams that were champions in the 1930-2022 FIFA World Cup Finals. The samples consisted of the football player group of the national teams that won the championship. The model of the research was determined as "Basic Qualitative Research". The data collection technique in the research was determined as "Document Analysis". The data analysis was made according to the Miles & Huberman model, which is a descriptive analysis form. In the study, the information of the athletes was detailed by looking at the squad structure for the FIFA World Cup champion national team football players between the years 1930-2022. In the highest level of professional football, it has been seen that the champion national team football players are numerically close to each other in terms of "relative age effect". As a result, it has been observed that the relative age effect in senior football decreases with increasing age. It was shown that the relative age effect in professional elite national teams changed negatively due to the high number of football players born in the second half of the year. In this case, it was not a negative situation for football players who transition to professionalism and reach the elite level, being born in the last months of the year. Looking at the intercontinental comparison, even considering the different football culture and structure, it has been revealed that late-born athletes have caught up with their peers at a professional level and even left them behind.