Numerous case studies such as the relative age effect suggest that children born earlier in the academic year have an advantage in sports and an increased physical ability.
Intrigued by this, experts at TicketGum.com analysed the date of births of 200 of the most successful footballers, to discover if certain birth months could make you a successful player.
Key findings:
- 56% (113/200) of successful players studied were born in the first half of the year
- December is the most common month for successful footballers to be born such as Victor Osimhen and Kylian Mbappé (24/200 players)
- September is the most uncommon month for successful footballers to be born (4/200 players)
Birth months of successful footballers:
| Ranking | Birth month | Number of successful footballers born (/200) |
Notable players |
| 1 | December | 24 | Kylian Mbappé |
| 2 | January | 23 | Aurélien Tchouameni |
| 3 | February | 22 | Jamal Musiala |
| =4 | May | 21 | Phil Foden |
| =4 | June | 21 | Jude Bellingham |
| 6 | November | 19 | Pedri |
| 7 | March | 17 | Ivo Rodrigues |
| 8 | July | 14 | Erling Haaland |
| =9 | October | 13 | Trent Alexander-Arnold |
| =9 | August | 13 | Páez Gavira |
| 11 | April | 9 | Harvey Elliott |
| 12 | September | 4 | Niklas Süle |
Full data set here
Please see available graphic here
December is the most common month for successful footballers to be born
TicketGum.com found that the most successful footballers’ birthdays fall in December (24 out of 200). Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling, Arsenal’s attacking midfielder Martin Ødegaard and Nigerian star player Victor Osimhen are just a few of the stars born in December, alongside Kylian Mbappé, who won Best International Men’s Soccer Player in 2022, as well as being the highest earning player in the study, with a market value of £180 million.
Close behind is January and February, with 22.5% of all footballers analysed born in these early months (45 of the 200). January comes 2nd (23/200) with stars such as Real Madrid’s Aurélien Tchouameni and Atletico Madrid’s goalie Jan Oblak.
February comes third and includes highly acclaimed midfielder Jamal Musiala, who completed 13 dribbles in one game – the second most ever recorded in a World Cup match.
September ranks last on the list with only 2% of all footballers analysed being born in this month (4/200) – including Jack Grealish and Alexander Isak. Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic is also among the players born in September, who has one of the lowest market value figures in the study (£38 million), 78% lower than December born Kylian Mbappé.
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Methodology:
- TicketGum.com sought to discover the luckiest month to be born in to become a successful football star.
- To do so, TicketGum.com firstly collated a seed list from Transfermarkt of the top 200 most successful footballers globally, past and current.
- The most ‘successful’ was determined by the footballer’s market value.
- TicketGum.com then analysed each footballer’s birth month to discover which month is the most common, revealing the luckiest month to be born to become a professional footballer.