With so many sports and so many different leagues, it’s difficult to keep up with how many games there are in each season. It also varies across the level of sports, so we’ve provided a quick breakdown of how long a typical soccer season lasts.
How many soccer games can you find in a single season? High school soccer has between 10 and 15 games per season, college has 18 to 20, and professional leagues have 38.
Here’s a breakdown of how many games there are in each league:
| League | Teams | Total Games in a Season |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 20 | 38 |
| La Liga | 22 | 42 |
| Serie A | 20 | 38 |
| Ligue 1 | 20 | 38 |
| Bundesliga | 18 | 34 |
| MLS | 34 (2 leagues) | 34 + 13 Playoff games |
| NWSL | 12 | 22 + 3 Playoff games |
High School Season (Average).
Most high school soccer seasons in the US take place during the fall because of the pleasant weather. While there isn’t a standard calendar across the United States, you can generally expect the soccer season to take place from August to October.
High school teams will typically play between 10-12 regular season games. Teams that make it into post-season play a few more games. Usually, this is around 15 games in three months.
Some states have a spring soccer league. Some states have a spring soccer season for girls and a fall season for boys. In some states, players can build their skills during the spring season by playing friendly games.
Average College Season
The NCAA soccer league is packed. In the regular season, there will be 18-20 games played by teams over 10 weeks.
The vote was being considered as a possibility since players are often injured more than once a week. The vote was scheduled to take place in April 2020. However, it was delayed due to the global economic downturn. Rumours suggest that the vote will be rescheduled for 2022.
Pro Leagues In Europe
Here, we’ll go through how many games there are in the European top leagues and break down their popular league schedule and discuss why they’re so similar.
Premier League
All 20 Premier League teams are English, but this is not to confuse with Britain (which comprises Scotland and Wales) or Great Britain, which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Those countries have leagues of their own that don’t necessarily follow the same schedule. The Scottish Premiership has only 12 teams but all of them still play 38 games.
The English Football League hosts 24 teams, and the three lowest-ranked teams at the season’s conclusion are subject to being relegated. The 24 teams that play in round-robin formats in August to May also play 48 games within the same time frame.
The Premier League will be decided by the two top teams. In a play-off, the third through sixth teams of the EFL will play each other. To earn the privilege of moving up to the Premier League, the winner of the Championship playoff will have played another two games.
Find out more about the Premier League schedule.
La Liga
Spanish La Liga hosts 20 teams, which play 38 games. Soccer fans around the globe will be familiar with reigning champions Real Madrid. Real Madrid has a record 35 championship titles. The Segunda Division, also known by La Liga 2, is their system of relegation. They relegate the three lowest teams to La Liga 2.
In this division, 22 teams play 42 games during their season. The top two teams get an automatic bid for La Liga. Third through sixth place teams will play in a playoff to advance. The third team promoted will have played 45 games during their season.
You can find out more information about the La Liga schedule by clicking here.
Serie A
From August to May, the Italian Serie A team plays 38 games. AC Milan and Juventus are the home teams in this league, while AC Milan holds a record 36 Serie A titles.
There are also 20 teams in the Italian Serie B league, which plays 38 games. Like the other leagues, the promotion to Serie A is automatic for the top two teams.
If the third-placed team is 10 or more points ahead of the 4th place team, they’re also given automatic promotion. If not, there is a playoff round that changes depending on each year’s table, meaning the number of games played by the winning team varies.
Ligue 1
The French league has currently 20 teams and 38 games. There will be 18 teams in the 2023-2024 seasons.
This means that four teams in the Ligue 2 will be relegated, and only the top two teams will be promoted. The Ligue 1 teams play 34 games per year from 2023. Ligue 2 teams play 38 games. However, this number will drop in 2024 as Ligue 2 will have 18 teams.
Bundesliga
The German league has 18 teams and plays from August through May. Each team plays every other team twice: once at home and once away. This gives each team a total of 34 games.
Their corresponding 2. Bundesliga League hosts 18 teams and plays 38 games. The third-placed 2. To determine who will play in the Bundesliga next season, the Bundesliga team plays another game against the 16th (third from last).
This means that each league’s team will play 39 games during their season.
Why Are The European Leagues So Similar to Each Other?
All leagues listed above are eligible to participate in UEFA Champions League. The UEFA was established in 1954 to organize the tournaments.
The Champions League, which was established in 1992, is the most prestigious. The top four teams in the Premier League, La Liga and Ligue 1 Bundesliga are automatically eligible for the Champions League group stage.
Each league’s top four teams play six more games. The knockout round is decided by the two top teams from each of these eight groups. The tournament will see four additional games between the champion and runner-up of Champions League.
The winner of the UEFA Champions League’s 38 regular-season games will be played from August through June. Six in the group stage and four are in the knockout rounds. With very little downtime in the off-season, this is 48 games in a year.
You can find out more about the soccer seasons here.
MLS/NWSL
- MLS: 33 regular season games and 13 play-offs
- NWSL: 22 regular-season games + 3 playoff games
Even though soccer isn’t anywhere near as popular in the US as it is in the rest of the world, the States does host a professional men’s and professional women’s soccer league.
They play on more or less the same schedule from March (men’s) and April (women’s) until October. The post-season starts in December.
Each MLS team will play 34 regular season games. 17 of these will be at home, 17 away. For a total of 47, teams who make it to the post-season can play an additional 13 matches.
The NWSL teams participate in 22 regular-season matches, 11 at home, and 11 away. For a total 25 teams, the teams that make it to the post-season will play an additional three games.
Find out more about the MLS schedule.
Conclusion
Soccer is loved all over the world. However, there isn’t a consistent schedule throughout the entire world. The leagues will follow a similar schedule because most teams are divided into federations.
Many leagues are organized as a round-robin format, where each team plays every other twice. The league will grow in size as more teams join it.