Soccernomics (2026 World Cup Edition)
Why European Men and American Women Usually Win—and American Men Don’t (Yet)

Quotes

“[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.” —New York Times

“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.”—Forbes

“Fascinating.”—Vanity Fair

“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.”—Slate, Best Books of the Year

“[Szymanski and Kuper] entertainingly demolish soccer shibboleths. . . . Well argued and clear‑headed.”—Financial Times, Best Books of the Year

“Entertaining.”—Economist

“Soccernomics is the most intelligent book ever written about soccer.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“It's quite a book....Soccernomics explains how the lessons of Moneyball (sports teams are not completely rational) apply to the world's favorite sport.”—Huffington Post

“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.”—Associated Press

“[Kuper and Szymanski] have created a blend of Freakonomics and Fever Pitch, bringing surprising economic analysis to bear on the world's most popular sport...This mix of economic analysis and anecdote makes for a thought-provoking, often amusing read. Here, at last, is a British answer to Michael Lewis's baseball-meets-cash bestseller Moneyball.”—Bloomberg News