The 2026 World Cup has brought football into sharp focus, but for investors, the game’s financial side is less appealing. Over 104 matches and 48 teams will draw billions of viewers, yet for those considering football stocks as an investment, the numbers tell a different story. Aegon Asset Management’s “Pelé Index,” which tracks European football clubs with public shares, shows a stark contrast to broader markets.
Related: Europe’s longest and shortest working weeks revealed
Named after the legendary Pelé, the index tests a simple idea: what if a fan’s passion for football were turned into an investment? The answer, according to data from the 2025/26 season, is underwhelming. The Pelé Index returned just 0.4%, while global equities surged 27% and European shares rose 17%. Over 28 years, from 1998 to 2026, the index lost 11% in total, compared to a 678% gain for global stocks.
Imagine investing €1,000 in football clubs in 1998. Today, that would be worth roughly €892. The same money in a global equity fund would have grown to about €7,784—a nearly ninefold difference. The index includes 18 clubs across nine leagues, weighted by market value. Manchester United holds 25%, followed by Juventus and Fenerbahçe SK, but no Spanish clubs are listed, despite LaLiga’s global fame. The index’s composition spans a wide range of clubs, from household names like Celtic FC, SL Benfica, FC Porto, and Borussia Dortmund to smaller teams such as Brøndby IF and Silkeborg IF, with the combined market value of these clubs reaching approximately €7.1 billion. Notably, Spain’s absence is due to the fact that no clubs in LaLiga are publicly traded, a structural gap that highlights the uneven distribution of financial transparency across European leagues.
Related: Top Vitamins To Tackle This Winter
Jordy Hermanns, an investment strategist at Aegon, explains the gap between football clubs and traditional companies. “A club exists to win matches, not to maximize returns,” he said. Decisions on transfers, wages, and stadium investments prioritize trophies over financial discipline. This structural conflict, he argues, explains the long-term underperformance. The nature of football clubs, Hermanns notes, is inherently different from corporations, where financial goals are central to operations. In football, decisions are driven by the pursuit of success on the pitch, often at the expense of profitability.
Even top clubs struggle. Juventus, once buoyed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2018 arrival, saw shares drop from €10 to below €2. This season, the club finished sixth in Serie A, and shares are down 35%. High-profile transfers, Hermanns notes, rarely translate to lasting gains for shareholders. The case of Juventus shows a broader pattern: the fleeting impact of star signings on financial performance. While such events may generate short-term media attention, they often fail to produce sustained shareholder value, as evidenced by the club’s ongoing struggles in both on-field and financial metrics.
Related: Advantages of International Quality Cake Business
Could some clubs break the pattern? Hermanns doubts it. The index includes clubs from across Europe, from global giants like Manchester United to smaller teams like Brøndby IF. Scale, brand, or geography don’t consistently explain returns. “The beautiful game deserves your heart, but your portfolio deserves your reason,” he said. The data reveals that even clubs with significant market capitalization or international recognition, such as Borussia Dortmund or Olympique Lyonnais, do not consistently outperform the index’s long-term trends. This suggests that factors beyond scale, such as the structural misalignment between football’s cultural goals and financial outcomes, play a dominant role in shaping returns.