How International Football Has Changed

Over 150 years and 49,520 matches, three shifts stand out: goals per game have fallen from a peak of 4.34 (the 1940s) to 2.72 today; friendlies have shrunk from the majority of all fixtures to just 25.9%; and the game has gone global, from about 76 national teams in the 1920s to 265 now.

Football by the decade

Decade	Matches	Active teams	Goals/game	Friendlies	Home win%^*
1900s	138	23	4.16	40.6%	44.4%
1910s	330	36	4.22	58.8%	51.2%
1920s	831	76	3.88	63.3%	49.7%
1930s	1,079	83	4.32	56.4%	52.3%
1940s	833	106	4.34	58%	54.4%
1950s	1,651	136	4	54.5%	49.3%
1960s	2,971	161	3.48	44.1%	52.2%
1970s	4,133	199	2.97	36.7%	51.5%
1980s	5,025	194	2.53	38.5%	49.1%
1990s	6,944	241	2.78	34.3%	50.6%
2000s	9,529	268	2.8	35.4%	50.9%
2010s	9,787	303	2.74	35.5%	50.5%
2020s	6,142	265	2.72	25.9%	51.1%

^* Home win rate counts non-neutral matches only.

1. Goals are down — football got tactical

The high-scoring early game (4.34 goals per match in the 1940s) gave way to organised, defensive modern football — bottoming out around the 1980s–90s and settling near 2.72 today. Better coaching, fitness and tactical discipline made goals harder to come by.

2. The friendly is dying out

For most of the 20th century, friendlies were the majority of international football. They are now just 25.9% of fixtures: confederation competitions, expanded qualifiers and the UEFA Nations League have filled the calendar with games that matter.

3. The game went global

From a largely European and South American affair of around 76 teams in the 1920s, international football now spans roughly 265 active national sides — one of sport's great globalisation stories.

Who ruled each era

Dominance has passed around the world — by win rate, decade by decade:

Decade	Most dominant	Win rate
1950s	Hungary	68.2% (88 games)
1960s	Brazil	67.5% (114 games)
1970s	Brazil	66.3% (101 games)
1980s	Brazil	62.6% (115 games)
1990s	Brazil	65.4% (159 games)
2000s	Spain	70.8% (130 games)
2010s	Spain	70.5% (132 games)
2020s	Argentina	77.1% (83 games)

Football's neutral stages

Some countries host far more football than they play. By matches staged as a neutral venue (neither side being the host nation):

#	Country	Matches hosted
1	United States	1,110
2	Malaysia	510
3	Qatar	471
4	France	427
5	South Africa	370
6	Thailand	366
7	United Arab Emirates	348
8	England	248
9	Morocco	237
10	Germany	221

The United States leads by a distance — a hub for the Gold Cup, lucrative friendlies and neutral Copa América editions, long before it co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.

Method & caveats

Built from the open martj42/international_results dataset (CC0; 49,520 matches since 1872). Early decades are sparser and skew European, so read the oldest rows as indicative. Era dominance uses win rate among teams with at least 40 games in the decade, so it favours sides that both played often and won.

FAQ

Are there fewer goals in football now than in the past?

Yes. International matches averaged 4.34 goals per game in the 1940s, falling to about 2.72 in the 2020s as the game became more tactical and defensively organised.

Why are there fewer international friendlies?

Friendlies made up well over half of all internationals for much of the 20th century; they are now about 25.9% of games, squeezed out by an ever-fuller calendar of competitive fixtures like the Nations League.

How much has international football grown?

Hugely: from roughly 76 active national teams in the 1920s to about 265 today.

Which country hosts the most football matches it does not play in?

United States, which has staged 1,110 internationals as a neutral host — more than any other nation.

Updated 2026-08-07 · data: martj42/international_results (CC0). See also the best team of all time and biggest rivalries.