footyapps
Guide

FBRef Alternatives

Where to get advanced football data after FBRef lost Opta

Published 22 February 2026|Updated 22 February 2026

Get weekly football analytics insights

One in-depth article on football apps and tools, every week.

What happened

On 17 January 2026, Stats Perform sent Sports Reference a letter terminating FBRef's access to Opta data feeds. By 20 January, all advanced metrics had been stripped from the site.

The timing was not coincidental. Days earlier, Stats Perform had been announced as FIFA's exclusive worldwide betting data and streaming rights distributor for the 2026 World Cup. Having that same data freely available on FBRef would undermine the commercial value of the deal.

Sports Reference called it "a sad day for all of us" and noted they were "especially upset by the massive step back this creates in access for women's advanced soccer data."

What was lost

FBRef was the single most important free resource for football analytics. Everything beyond basic goals, assists, and appearances was Opta-sourced and is now gone:

Expected Goals (xG) and Expected Assists (xA)
Progressive passes and carries
Shot-creating actions (SCA) and goal-creating actions (GCA)
Pressing statistics (pressures, regains)
Advanced passing metrics and networks
Defensive actions (tackles, interceptions, blocks)
Possession data (touches in zones, carries, take-ons)
Advanced goalkeeping (PSxG, crosses stopped, sweeping)

Impact on women's football

This is the most devastating aspect. When FBRef added Opta data in 2022, it brought advanced stats to 10 new women's competitions. Across the alternatives listed below, women's competitions receive xG coverage at only 19% the rate of men's competitions — a 3.5x disparity.

FotMob is currently the only free platform with xG for more than one of the top five women's leagues. StatsBomb's open data includes FA WSL and the 2023 Women's World Cup for deeper analysis.

Source comparison

Every alternative to FBRef advanced data, compared side by side

UnderstatFree

Quick xG lookups on Big 5 leagues

Price:Free
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:6 leagues (Big 5 + Russian Premier League)
Access:scraping
StatsBomb Open DataFree

Learning, portfolios, and research projects

Price:Free
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:Yes
Coverage:Selected competitions only (historical)
Access:download
FotMobFree

Women's football data and quick match-level xG

Price:Free (Pro removes ads)
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:500+ leagues worldwide
Access:website
WhoScoredFree

Accessing Opta event data for free (with coding skills)

Price:Free (browser)
xG:No
Advanced metrics:Yes
Coverage:~20 leagues including Big 5
Access:scraping
SofaScoreFree

Browsing xG and match stats in the browser

Price:Free
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:Comprehensive men's leagues + 7 women's competitions
Access:website
The AnalystFree

Browsing official Opta stats without scraping

Price:Free
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:Big 5, Champions League, selected internationals
Access:website
TransfermarktFree

Transfer data, market values, and squad information

Price:Free
xG:No
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:Hundreds of leagues, men's and women's
Access:scraping
API-FootballPaid

Building apps with standard football data (not analytics)

Price:$19-39/mo
xG:No
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:1,200+ competitions
Access:api
Pricing details

Free: 100 req/day (limited). Pro: $19/mo (7,500 req/day). Ultra: $29/mo (75,000 req/day). Mega: $39/mo (150,000 req/day).

football-data.orgPaid

Hobby projects and learning API development

Price:Free to EUR199/mo
xG:No
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:12-100 competitions (by tier)
Access:api
Pricing details

Free: 12 competitions, 10 calls/min. EUR12/mo: + livescores. EUR29/mo: + deep data or ML pack. EUR49/mo: 25 competitions. EUR99/mo: 50 competitions. EUR199/mo: 100 competitions.

SportmonksPaid

Cheapest API with xG data (if you can stomach the add-on pricing)

Price:From EUR78/mo (with xG)
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:No
Coverage:27-2,200+ leagues (by plan)
Access:api
Pricing details

Base European plan: EUR39/mo (basic), EUR59/mo (standard), EUR69/mo (advanced). xG is a SEPARATE add-on: xG Basic EUR39/mo (xG per fixture, 12hr delay), xG Standard EUR129/mo (xG + xGoT, post-match), xG Advanced EUR269/mo (all metrics live — xG, xGoT, npxG, xGOP, xGSP, xGC, xGFK, xGP, xPTS, xGA, xGD, SP). Minimum with xG: EUR39 base + EUR39 xG Basic = EUR78/mo.

WyscoutPaid

Video scouting and player evaluation

Price:EUR299-399/yr
xG:No
Advanced metrics:Yes
Coverage:Comprehensive global coverage
Access:video
Pricing details

Copper: EUR299/yr (70 min video/mo, 2 PDFs). Mercury: EUR399/yr (170 min video/mo). Gold/Diamond: quote required. Organisational: EUR3,000-10,000+/yr.

Hudl StatsBombEnterprise

Professional clubs, media companies, and serious analytics firms

Price:~$5,000+/yr
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:Yes
Coverage:200+ competitions, 200,000+ players
Access:api
Pricing details

Enterprise only, custom quotes. 3,400+ events/match, 190+ competitions, xG, xA, OBV, possession sequences, freeze frames, StatsBomb 360, physical data.

Stats Perform / OptaEnterprise

Broadcasters, betting companies, and top-tier analytics

Price:~$10,000+/yr
xG:Yes
Advanced metrics:Yes
Coverage:1,000+ competitions globally
Access:api
Pricing details

Enterprise only, custom quotes. The original source — real-time event data, xG, 1,000+ competitions, 30 years of history, AI predictions.

InStatEnterprise

Professional scouting and club-level analysis

Price:~EUR2,000+/yr
xG:No
Advanced metrics:Yes
Coverage:Global, 6,000+ matches/month
Access:video
Pricing details

Professional scouting tools. Video analysis, 70+ player parameters, 95+ team parameters, 960,000+ players.

Free sources

No single free source replaces FBRef. The best approach is combining several:

UnderstatFree
Free xG, xA, xGChain, xGBuildup for every shotEasy to scrape (Python libraries available)Data from 2014/15 onwards
StatsBomb Open DataFree
Gold-standard event-level data (3,400+ events/match)Full xG, freeze frames, some 360 dataIncludes FA WSL, 2023 Women's World Cup
FotMobFree (Pro removes ads)
Best free source for women's football xG500+ leagues coveredClean, well-designed app and website
WhoScoredFree (browser)
Real Opta event data underneathPasses, shots, tackles, interceptions, heatmapsData back to 2009/10 for some leagues
SofaScoreFree
Opta-powered xG per shotPlayer ratings, heatmaps, match momentumSome women's competition coverage
The AnalystFree
Official Opta data (same source FBRef used)xG maps, player stats, chalkboardsCurated editorial content
TransfermarktFree
Unmatched transfer and market value dataContract details, injury histories, squad dataMultiple scraping tools available

Enterprise

For professional clubs, media companies, and betting operators. Contact sales required for all of these.

Hudl StatsBomb~$5,000+/yr

Enterprise only, custom quotes. 3,400+ events/match, 190+ competitions, xG, xA, OBV, possession sequences, freeze frames, StatsBomb 360, physical data.

Best-in-class data quality (3,400+ events/match)Full xG suite, on-ball value, 360 dataUsed by 500+ professional clubs
Stats Perform / Opta~$10,000+/yr

Enterprise only, custom quotes. The original source — real-time event data, xG, 1,000+ competitions, 30 years of history, AI predictions.

The gold standard — the original data source1,000+ competitions, 30 years of historyReal-time feeds, widgets, data dumps
InStat~EUR2,000+/yr

Professional scouting tools. Video analysis, 70+ player parameters, 95+ team parameters, 960,000+ players.

Huge player database (960,000+)Video analysis with action summaries6,000+ matches uploaded monthly

Recommendations

What to use, based on your situation

Casual analyst

You made FPL radars and pizza charts from FBRef. You want xG and basic advanced stats for the Big 5 leagues without paying.

Recommended sources
UnderstatFotMobThe Analyst

Use Understat for xG/xA data (scrapable with Python). Check FotMob for match-level stats. Browse The Analyst for Opta visuals.

Developer building an app

You need a football data API for your project. Standard stats are fine, but xG would be a bonus.

Recommended sources
API-Footballfootball-data.orgSportmonks

Start with football-data.org's free tier for prototyping. Upgrade to API-Football ($19/mo) for coverage. Add Sportmonks only if you specifically need xG (EUR78/mo minimum).

Professional scout or coach

You need comprehensive player data, video clips, and advanced metrics for recruitment or tactical analysis.

Recommended sources
WyscoutHudl StatsBomb

Wyscout Copper (EUR299/yr) for individual video scouting. For full event data and analytics, your club needs a StatsBomb or Opta contract.

Women's football analyst

You analyse women's football and FBRef was your primary source. Coverage elsewhere is severely limited.

Recommended sources
FotMobStatsBomb Open DataWyscout

FotMob is the best free option for women's xG (WSL, NWSL, D1 Feminine). StatsBomb open data includes FA WSL and 2023 Women's World Cup for deeper analysis. Wyscout has women's coverage at organisational tier.

Key takeaway

There is no single free replacement for what FBRef offered. The football analytics community has lost its commons.

The closest free approximation requires combining multiple sources: Understat for xG on the Big 5, WhoScored for Opta event data (scraping required), FotMob for women's football, and StatsBomb open data for deep historical analysis.

If you need xG via an API, Sportmonks is the cheapest option at EUR78/mo — but that only gets you basic xG per fixture with a 12-hour delay. Live access to the full xG suite costs EUR269/mo on top of the base plan.

Subscribe to the footyapps weekly

A weekly deep-dive into football apps, tools, and data — from new product launches to analytics tutorials.

No spam. Unsubscribe any time.

Know a football data source we've missed? We want this guide to be comprehensive.

Submit a data source