Soccernomics (2026 World Cup Edition)

“[Kuper and Szymanski] do for soccer what Moneyball did for baseball—put the game under an analytical microscope using statistics, economics, psychology, and intuition to try to transform a dogmatic sport.” 

“Since the publication of the first edition of Soccernomics there have been several attempts to copy its content. Yet few authors in the world of soccer writing can tell a human story like Simon Kuper, and even fewer academics can write an understandable narrative with numbers like Stefan Szymanski. Together the two men raise the bar again, bringing new insights to an already great body of work that is accessible and interesting to the quant and casual reader alike. . . . I highly recommend you pick it up for yourself, even if you have already read the first edition. You will not be disappointed.”

“Fascinating.”

“With Soccernomics, the FT’s indispensable Simon Kuper and top‑flight sports economist Stefan Szymanski bring scrupulous economic analysis and statistical rigor to a sport long dependent on hoary—and, it seems, unfounded—assumptions. . . . Gripping and essential.”

“[Szymanski and Kuper] entertainingly demolish soccer shibboleths. . . . Well argued and clear‑headed.”

“Soccernomics is the most intelligent book ever written about soccer.”

“Using data analysis, history and psychology, [Soccernomics] punctures dozens of clichés about what it takes to win, and who makes money in soccer—and in sports in general.”

“[Soccernomics] is a sporting tale in the Freakonomics mode of inquiry, using statistics to come up with fascinating conclusions.”

“If you're a football fan, I'll save you some time: read this book ... compulsive reading ... thoroughly convincing.”

“Szymanksi has recently published the best introduction to sports economics... while Kuper is probably the smartest of the new generation of super‑smart sportswriters... fascinating stories.”

“[Kuper and Szymanski] basically trash every cliché about football you ever held to be true. It's bravura stuff… the study of managers buying players and building a club is one you’ll feel like photocopying and sending to your team's chairman.”

“Soccernomics [is] a sharply written and provocative examination of the world’s game seen through the prism of economics and statistical data. It demolishes almost everything that most soccer fans believe about the game and how professional soccer teams should operate.”

“Quite an entertaining read.”

“Wonderful book.”

“Soccernomics . . . remains essential reading for anyone seeking an analytical take on the game.”

“The authors take what ‘everybody’ knows about success and failure in soccer and subject it to rigorous empirical analysis embedded in good stories that carry the narrative along. . . . Highly recommended.”

“Many explanations [of England’s poor form] can be found in the book Soccernomics in a segment entitled ‘Why England Loses.’ (This is well worth a read for any English football fan; essentially, you overvalue your football heritage and undervalue the benefits of innovation.)”
 

“Oh, Rooney’s the best. [My son] Ben thinks that England might be in the top four, but that’s it. He knows the starting line up of every European team. We’re reading this very interesting book about football together, you know Soccernomics.”