Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Spain, Germany, and Brazil Win, and Why the Us, Japan, Australia, Turkey-And Even Iraq-Are Dest

Why doesn't the United States dominate soccer internationally...and how can it?

Which is the best soccer nation on Earth?

Who has the most passionate fans?

What impact does soccer have on suicide rates?

Which sport will dominate the Earth? NFL or the English Premier League?

Why are the people who run soccer clubs so dumb?

These are some of the questions that every soccer fanatic has asked. Soccernomics answers them. Written with an economist's brain and a sports writer's skill, it applies high-powered analytical tools to everyday soccer topics, looking at data in new ways, revealing counterintuitive truths about the world's most loved game. It all adds up to a revolutionary way of looking at soccer that could affect the way the game is played internationally.

Just in time for the worlds most anticipated and watched sporting event—the World Cup—two award-winning journalists reveal the secrets, mysteries, and oddities of the beautiful game

“[Kuper and Szymanksi] 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.” —The New York Times

Why do England lose? Why does Scotland suck? Why doesnt America dominate the sport internationally...and why do the Germans play with such an efficient but robotic style?

These are questions every soccer aficionado has asked. Soccernomics answers them.

Using insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology, and business to cast a new and entertaining light on how the game works, Soccernomics reveals the often surprisingly counterintuitive truths about soccer. An essential guide for the 2010 World Cup, Soccernomics is a new way of looking at the worlds most popular game.

Simon Kuper is one of the worlds leading writers on soccer. His book Soccer Against the Enemy won the William Hill Prize for sports book of the year in Britain. He writes a weekly sports column in the Financial Times. He lives in Paris.

Stefan Szymanski is professor of economics and MBA Dean at Cass Business School in London. Tim Harford has called him “one of the worlds leading sports economists.” Szymanski lives in London.