The beautiful game of soccer is played all over the world. As one of the most popular sports in the world, there are just over three billion fans spread across the globe.
Soccer is played in different forms and patterns depending on which country it is, so the amount of games varies from country to country.
The question then is, how many games are in a soccer season? What factors affect the number of games teams play in a season?
The league plays a massive role in determining how many games a team would play in a season, so the number of games played in a soccer season varies from league to league.
How Many Games Are in a Soccer Season?
The average soccer team will play just over thirty games in a season. The season in Europe takes place for about nine months, and these teams are mandated to play every team in the league at least twice in a season.
Factors Affecting the Total Number of Games in a Season
There are different factors that influence and affect the total number of games a team plays in a season, including;
The Number of Teams in the League
The number of teams in the league plays an important role in determining how many games a team would play in a season.
The usual pattern of leagues requires teams to play each opponent twice in the season. This directly indicates how many games are going to be played in a season.
For example, the English Premier League has twenty teams competing in the league, which means every team would play thirty-eight games for the season.
However, the German Bundesliga has eighteen teams competing in the league, so then each team would need to play thirty-four games in a season.
Cup Games
Many leagues have other tournaments that take place over the course of the season. These tournaments are often referred to as cup games. These tournaments are usually knock-out games; when a team loses, they are out of the tournament.
If a team does well in the cup games and goes all the way to the finals, the number of games that team would play in that season would be considerably higher than other teams.
For example, the English Premier League has the FA Cup and the Carabao League Cup as additional tournaments for teams to compete in.
Additionally, many leagues in Europe have teams who would compete in European Cup Competitions depending on their league position the previous season.
The European competitions include the +UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Conference League. All of these would contribute to the amount of games a team would play in a season.
League Format
Not all leagues have the same format for their competition. Whatever format the league chooses to adopt will determine how many games are played in the league.
For example, Major League Soccer (MLS) has twenty-nine teams competing in the league. Each team plays every opponent twice, and when the regular season is done, the eighteen highest-ranked teams compete in the MLS Cup playoffs to determine the champion of the MLS season.
The Number of Games in a Soccer Season for Different Soccer Leagues
Let’s take a look at the number of games played in each season in different leagues.
1. English Premier League
The English Premier League has twenty teams competing in the league. Each team plays every opponent twice, home and away.
This brings the total number played by individual teams in the English Premier League to thirty-eight. The league has a total of three hundred and eighty matches.
When the league season ends, the three clubs who are found at the end of the table are relegated to the Championship, and the top two from the EFL championship, with the addition of the winner of the Championship tournament, are promoted to the English Premier League. The top four gain automatic qualification to the UEFA Champions League.
2. La Liga
La Liga Santander has twenty teams competing in the league. The league usually runs from August to May.
The league format follows a round-robin format. Each team plays every opponent twice, home and away. Bringing the total number of matches available in La Liga to three hundred and eighty.
The bottom three teams are automatically relegated from the league to a lower league, and three teams are promoted into La Liga from the second division, La Liga 2.
3. Serie A
Serie A is the top-ranking league in Italy. The league follows a round-robin format.
There are twenty teams competing in Serie A every season, and each team plays every opponent twice, which translates to thirty-eight matches for each team every season. The top four teams qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and the bottom three are relegated to Serie B.
4. Bundesliga
The Bundesliga is the top-ranking league in the German professional league system. This league was founded in 1963. It has eighteen teams competing in the league. Each team plays every opponent twice, and all teams play a total of thirty-four games.
The top four teams qualify automatically for the UEFA Champions League, and the bottom two are automatically relegated.
However, the 16th position in the Bundesliga and the 3rd position in Bundesliga 2 would have a playoff match to determine who would play in the Bundesliga the next season.
5. Ligue 1
Ligue 1 is the top-ranking league in the French professional league system. Eighteen teams compete in the league.
Each team plays every opponent twice, making up a total of thirty-four games for each team for the whole season. Three points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss.
The top two teams automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and the third-placed team would have to go through the qualifying rounds starting from the third round. The bottom two teams would automatically be relegated from the league.
6. Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer represents the highest level of soccer in the United States of America. There are twenty-nine teams in the league, twenty-six from the U.S. and three from Canada. MLS has a calendar that isn’t like the other popular leagues, it runs usually from February to October.
Teams are geographically divided into two conferences, Eastern and Western. Each team plays every opponent in its conference twice and plays all but four or five opponents in the other conference twice.
The team with the highest points at the end of the season in each conference is awarded the Supporters Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The top eighteen teams from both conferences would participate in the playoff tournament, which would determine the overall champion of the MLS season.
7. Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A is Brazil’s top professional soccer league. This is not to be confused with the Italia Serie A. They are two different leagues.
This league is contested by twenty teams, and they compete in a round-robin format where each team plays every opponent twice. This means that every team plays a total of thirty-eight games every season.
The bottom four teams are relegated to Série B at the end of the season, and the top four teams from Série B are promoted to the Serie A.
8. Argentine Super League
The Argentine Primera division is the top professional soccer league in Argentina and is organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA).
The league in 2023 has 28 teams competing for the title. Each team plays every opponent twice, which translates to fifty-four games for each team for the whole season.
9. Dutch Eredivisie – Netherlands
This is the highest-ranked soccer league in the Netherlands. The league consists of 18 teams, and each team plays every opponent twice. Each team would play a total of thirty-four games for the season.
The bottom two teams are relegated to the second league of the Dutch league system (Eerste Divisie), and the top two teams from the Eerste Divisie would be promoted to the Eredivisie.
The 16th-placed team would play in a playoff tournament with six high-placed teams from the Eerste Divisie.
Number of Teams Within the League
The most common number of teams within a league is usually twenty.
The number of teams that compete in the league is usually decided by the governing body of the league. Sometimes, the number might change, like in the case of the French Ligue 1, but more often than not, the number of teams that play within the league remains the same for a while.
Typical Format of a Season
The most typical competition format for a league season is usually the Round-robin format. In this format, all participating teams are required to play each opponent twice in the season, home and away from home.
The teams in the league have their home stadiums, and when they play in their home stadiums, it is referred to as a home game, but when they go to another team’s home stadium, it is referred to as an away game.
Three points are usually awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Whichever team garners the most points in the season is crowned Champion of the league.
The bottom-placed teams, depending on the governing body’s rules, are relegated to the lower division of the league system.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the number of games played in a soccer season differs significantly depending on various factors, including the format the league adopts, the level of play, and the number of cup games in the league.
Regardless of the number of games played in a soccer season, the sheer joy and drama that come from the beautiful game keeps us glued to our TV sets all season long.
