Study names São Paulo and Corinthians as Brazil’s top youth academies

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Gazeta Esportiva.com

·22 octobre 2025

Study names São Paulo and Corinthians as Brazil’s top youth academies

The CIES Football Observatory, a Swiss sports research organization, identified São Paulo and Corinthians as the most productive youth academies in Brazil, based on the number of players trained and their respective minutes played around the world. Flamengo, Palmeiras, and Santos complete the national top 5.

Brazil also had six more clubs among the top 100 youth academies worldwide: Grêmio, Cruzeiro, Internacional, Fluminense, Athletico-PR, and Atlético-MG.

Vidéos OneFootball

The team with the most players spread across the world is São Paulo, with 65 players. However, the most minutes belong to Cruzeiro, totaling 3,063 minutes on the field, distributed among 43 players.

Best academies as per @CIES_Football Training Index 📊 🥇 #SLBenfica 🇵🇹 (9⃣3⃣ players trained now in 49 top divisions, av. club level 0.81 & on av. 2,582' last year) 🥈 #FCBarcelona 🇪🇸 (7⃣6⃣, 0.87, 2,773') 🥉 #RiverPlate 🇦🇷 (9⃣7⃣, 0.81, 2,305') #Ajax 🇳🇱 #BocaJrs 🇦🇷 #SportingCP 🇵🇹
– mercredi 22 octobre 2025

Around the World

The survey analyzed 49 leagues around the globe and accounted for the training teams according to three criteria:

number of players;
total minutes;
and estimated quality level of the players.

Despite the strong Brazilian presence, the Boca Juniors academy was identified as the best in South America and the fifth most productive in the world.

In the global ranking, Benfica appears in the first position, with 93 players playing in different leagues, 2,582 minutes accumulated, and a quality index of 0.807, according to the CIES criteria.