UAE League Among the Best Competitions for Developing Local Young Players
Adnoc Pro League ranks 50th globally in developing young players under 21 years old.
SUMMARY
The Adnoc Pro League ranks 50th globally in developing local young players under 21 for 2025, with the Australian league leading the list at 17.7% of playing minutes, and varying percentages among the major European leagues.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Adnoc Pro League ranks 50th in developing players under 21 years old.
- Australian league tops the list with 17.7% of playing minutes.
- Variation in young players' playing minutes among the five major European leagues.
- Argentina leads the world in the number of eligible under-21 players.
CORE SUBJECT
Adnoc Pro League ranking in developing young players under 21 years old
The Adnoc Pro League is ranked 50th in the list of the best leagues for developing local young players worldwide, based on the percentage of playing minutes spent by football players under 21 years old who are eligible to represent the national team of the league's country in 2025, during the period from January 1 to November 19, 2026.
The participation rate of under-21 players in the Adnoc Pro League reached 0.3% of match minutes, totaling 1,089 minutes, with an average of 0.6 players per club, 10 players in total, and an accumulated experience of 240 minutes calculated by weighting the total number of minutes by the average sporting level of the matches played.
The Football Observatory, affiliated with the International and Sports Studies Center, revealed in this study that the Australian league topped this list with 17.7% of match minutes, followed by the Serbian league in second place with 15.8%, and the Danish league in third place with 11.7%, among the leagues where under-21 eligible football players played the highest percentage of minutes in 2025.
Among the five major European leagues, the figures range from 7.8% for the French Ligue 1, which ranked 17th, to 1.9% for the Italian Serie A, the second lowest figure, with a noticeable decrease in the English Premier League rate to 2.4%.
Regarding the number of under-21 eligible players in the fifty countries included in the analysis who participated in one of these competitions in 2025, Argentina leads with 213 eligible players, totaling 112,455 minutes and an accumulated experience of 74,236 minutes, ahead of Colombia with 185 players, totaling 88,706 minutes and 50,047 minutes, Brazil with 173 players, totaling 73,325 minutes and 44,558 minutes. France ranks fourth in terms of number of players and minutes, and third in accumulated experience.
KEYWORDS
MENTIONED ENTITIES 7
Adnoc Pro League
🏛️ OrganizationUAE football league ranked 50th globally in developing young players
Football Observatory
🏛️ OrganizationAffiliated with the International and Sports Studies Center, conducted the study on young player development
Australian league
🏛️ OrganizationLeague that topped the best leagues for developing young players list with 17.7%
Argentina
📍 Location_CountryLeads the list of countries by number of eligible under-21 players
Colombia
📍 Location_CountryRanks second in number of eligible under-21 players
Brazil
📍 Location_CountryRanks third in number of eligible under-21 players
France
📍 Location_CountryRanks fourth in number of players and minutes