With just a few days until the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, there’s no better time to take a look at the international players playing NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football in the United States this season.
Ninety-seven of the 131 total participating FBS programs (74 percent) have at least one international player on their rosters for the 2022 season. Of the players who hail from outside the 50 U.S. states, 32 different countries are represented. Eighteen of these countries represented (including China, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Japan) have multiple players on FBS rosters this year.
Due to its prolific punters coming from programs like Prokick, Australia actually tops the list of international contributors to American college football this year with 61 total players. Fifty-four of these Australians are punters. U.S. neighbor Canada, which features its own competitive professional football league (the CFL), is a close second with 60 players overall.
Germany, the third-highest ranked country with 27 FBS players this year, has deep cultural ties to the United States that were greatly strengthened in the aftermath of World War II, both economically and politically with tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel being stationed in the country. The European League of Football is presently reviving the memory NFL Europe, and the NFL is actually playing its first-ever regular season game in Germany (in Munich) later this fall.
This year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar is unique for several reasons. It will be the first FIFA World Cup to happen during the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn season, and it’s the first such event to take place in a Middle Eastern country. It will also be the last World Cup competition to feature just 32 teams, as the 2026 event will feature 48 teams playing in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
For fans of both American football and international soccer, this year’s World Cup may also present some tough viewing choices during Thanksgiving week and the start of college bowl season. Group play for the World Cup will begin with the hosts Qatar facing off against Ecuador on Nov. 20, and the championship match will take place on Dec. 18.
To relate to both topics, there are several interesting trends to note among international players playing FBS football in 2022. Since tracking this international FBS player data from 2019, the number of players from Germany has nearly tripled, for example. Other significant increases include Nigeria (four players in 2019 to nine in 2022) and the United Kingdom (zero to five).
Several foreign countries with players on FBS rosters are, perhaps unsurprisingly, traditional powers in rugby. Though completely different sports, American football, and rugby share many similarities, and I noted earlier this year that three rugby-loving countries, in particular, could become talent pipelines for NCAA football coaches ahead of the United States getting to host the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Tonga, Japan, Ireland, South Africa, and France are all countries with competitive rugby squads that have multiple players playing FBS football Stateside this year.
The surprising 2022 Connecticut Huskies are threatening for their first bowl berth in seven years with the help eight international players — the most of any FBS program. Besides fielding five players from Canada (including three from Quebec), UConn features players from Austria, Switzerland, and Nigeria.
Syracuse and Arizona are tied with the second-most foreign players with six apiece.