Democracy vs football: 1:1

Is democracy good for football? The link between a country’s economic growth and athletic achievement is well known, but what about political systems and the “beautiful game”? There is actually a significant correlation between a country’s level of democracy and the performance of its national football team – along with a bunch of other factors. This is a tale of miscellaneous correlations with national football team ratings.  National sporting achievements are linked to economic development. This was well-studied regarding the Olympics. But what about the relationship between a country’s economy, its reservoir of football players, its level of democracy and its football performance? All of these factors are packed in the graphic below. There is a statistically significant correlation between countries’ national football ratings and their levels of democracy, i.e. more democratic nations tend to be better at football. No causality is hereby seriously suggested though.