In a small university town in Belgium, there is a research center that has changed the way we understand football. At the Catholic University of Leuven, one of the oldest in the world, the Sports Analytics Lab has made significant advances in the use of artificial intelligence and data mining applied to the world’s most popular sport. Under the leadership of Professor Jesse Davis, the team has helped transform a game historically resistant to statistical analysis into fertile ground for science and innovation.
The lab’s work has not only shattered myths about the impossibility of quantifying football but has also driven collaborations with elite European clubs and national federations. Through open-access research, academic publications, and open-source analytics tools, the team has had a tangible impact on how match actions are valued — from ball possession to shot efficiency. This progress also serves as a strong argument for public investment in academic research.
A Silent Revolution from the Classroom
The arrival of Jesse Davis in Leuven in 2010 marked a turning point. What began as a late interest in football, following the 2002 World Cup, eventually became a career dedicated to applying artificial intelligence to sports analytics. Over time, the lab attracted enthusiastic graduate students keen to explore the complexity of football data. This led to research tackling everything from optimal shooting zones to Bayesian models for predicting outcomes, challenging the notion that football was too fluid to be scientifically modeled.
Although most major clubs now have dedicated data departments, much of the pioneering work still happens within institutions like this one. While professional teams prioritize immediate results and keep their findings confidential, academia is free to experiment, fail, and try again without the pressure of urgency. This freedom has allowed the lab to address more complex challenges, such as tracking data analysis or accurately evaluating a player’s individual contribution. At a time when science faces funding cuts and skepticism, the Leuven lab proves that university research is not only relevant but essential to the advancement of modern sports.
