The Chilean Primera División (the country's top football division) is the competition with the lowest average height among 50 national leagues analyzed by the CIES Football Observatory, according to La Tercera. Its players measure on average 177.9 centimeters (1.78 meters).
The CIES (International Centre for Sports Studies) is a research center based in Switzerland. Its Football Observatory regularly publishes statistical studies on squads and professional leagues around the world.
The figure comes after the defeat of la Roja (Chile's national team) against the United States in the most recent FIFA window. In that match Chile struggled with set pieces and the opponent's aerial game. "We don't have the height that other countries have, you know that", said Nicolás Córdova, interim head coach of the national team.
La Tercera adds that, based on the latest call-ups, la Roja has the lowest average height among center-backs of the 10 South American national teams.
The trend is regional. Of the 10 shortest championships, seven belong to Conmebol, the South American confederation. Behind Chile come Peru's Liga 1 (178.7), the Venezuelan league (178.8), Ecuador's Liga Pro (179.2), the Paraguayan league (179.3) and the leagues of Colombia and Argentina, both at 179.7.
Rounding out the group are the Costa Rican league (178.8) and Mexico's Liga MX (178.9). The only competition outside the Americas in that top 10 is Japan's J1 League, second in the ranking at 178.5 centimeters.
The Chilean league sits 3.8 centimeters below the overall average of the study, which is 181.7. At the other end, Europe dominates: Italy's Serie A leads with 184.7 centimeters, followed by Germany's Bundesliga at 184.4.
Four of the 10 tallest leagues are Scandinavian: Denmark (184.2), Norway (183.6), Finland (183.3) and Sweden (183.3).
The analysis also measures clubs, and there Chile stands out again. Half of the six shortest teams in the study play in the Liga de Primera. Deportes Limache is the shortest club across the 50 leagues, at 176.2 centimeters. Palestino averages 176.3 and Universidad de Concepción, 176.5.
Colo Colo is the Chilean squad with the highest average height, at 179.8 centimeters. La Tercera also notes that the shortest player at the last World Cup in North America plays in Chile: Panamanian César Yanis, of Cobresal, at 1.60 meters.
