A market that keeps growing
FIFA data for 2025 confirm what many in the industry are anticipating: the international transfer market for amateur and semi-professional players reached a new historical record. More than 59,000 cross-border movements recorded in the first half of the year, with Latin America as a region of origin in about one third of the cases.
To understand why this matters, it is important to separate the headlines from the actual trends.
What boosted growth in 2025
The increase was not accidental. Several factors converged to create the conditions of an exceptionally active market:
The digitalisation of scouting was consolidated
What in 2020 was an incipient practice—evaluating players through digital platforms before displacing a scout—became the standard in 2025.Second and third division clubs in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Poland incorporated digital search tools into their usual processes. That dramatically expanded the search radius and allowed players to identify in markets that were previously virtually invisible.
The normalization of second-window football
The concept of "second window"—incorporations outside traditional transfer periods—gained legitimacy among middle clubs.When a club in the fourth Portuguese division needs a right side in March, it no longer waits for summer: it searches, evaluates and closes in weeks. That increases the total number of movements recorded in the year.
The Copa América 2024 effect
The months after the Copa América 2024 generated a renewed interest in South American talent. Not only in the players who participated, but in the entire ecosystem of leagues and regional tournaments. That resulted in more active searches and eventually more transfers realized during 2025.
The numbers behind the record
According to FIFA's TMS (Transfer Matching System), which records international transfers of amateur and professional players, the 2025 data show clear patterns:
- Argentina was consolidated as the main exporter of players from South America, with an increase of 22% compared to 2024 in movements towards Europe.
- Colombia showed the region's highest relative growth, with an increase of 38% in international transfers, driven mainly by the interest of Spanish and Portuguese second division clubs.
- Uruguay maintained its historic position as the continent's highest per capita export rate.
- Mexico There was a marked increase in movements towards MLS and leagues in Central America and the Caribbean.
These numbers represent movements formally registered. The actual number of players who change clubs in informal or local terms is significantly higher.
The problem of visibility remains the bottleneck
The growth of the market did not solve the most important structural problem: information asymmetry. Clubs looking for players have access to limited information about the real universe of talent available. Players who want to be found depend on networks of contacts that in many cases do not have.
This gap has a concrete cost. It is estimated that a considerable proportion of the transfers that are made are not necessarily the optimal for either party: the club gets the player who could find, not the best player available for their need. The player accepts the first offer that arrives, not the most convenient one for their development.
Why Informality Stops the Market
An important part of player searches in the amateur and semi-professional segment continues to operate through informal channels: WhatsApp messages between technicians, recommendations from agents with limited portfolios, videos sent by mail without any additional context. That model has a very low ceiling.
The well-functioning markets have infrastructure: comparable data, standardized profiles, verification mechanisms. The amateur transfer market is still building that infrastructure.
What does this mean for a player today?
If you are trying to advance your career, the context of 2025 and 2026 is more favorable than it was at any time before. The market is bigger, more active and more willing to search outside traditional channels.
But it is also more competitive. The same scanning process that opened doors for you also opened them for thousands of other players with the same goal. The difference will be made by who is best prepared when the search arrives.
Preparing means having a professional profile, updated, with real statistics and quality audiovisual material. It means being able to be found by a viewer who did not know you existed.
In Soccer CV We built the platform that makes that exactly possible. If you want to be part of the first litter of players with access to tools designed for this market, create your profile for freeThe market is ready. The question is whether you are, too.