{"slug": "football-data-sources-historical-results-live-scores-ml-features-xg-etc-compiled", "title": "Football data sources — historical results, live scores & ML features (xG etc.) — compiled June 2026", "summary": "A developer compiled a June 2026 guide to football data sources for building match-prediction models, covering historical results, live scores, and modeling features like expected goals (xG). The guide highlights free-first options such as football-data.org, ESPN's hidden API, StatsBomb Open Data, and the soccerdata Python package, with practical tips on rate limits and data verification.", "body_md": "A concise, current (June 2026) map of where to get **historical results**, **live results**, and\n**modelling data like expected goals (xG)** for football — aimed at anyone building a match-prediction\nmodel/agent. Free-first; every row notes whether you need an API key.\n\nNote: a few datasets ship historical bookmaker-odds columns — listed here purely as\n\nmodel features, not for betting. Always read each provider's Terms & rate limits and cache aggressively.\n\n| Source | What you get | Key? | Notes / best for |\n|---|---|---|---|\n|\n\n[football-data.org](https://www.football-data.org/)**free forever**[API-Football](https://www.api-football.com/)[TheSportsDB](https://www.thesportsdb.com/)[Football-Data.co.uk](https://www.football-data.co.uk/)[StatsBomb Open Data](https://github.com/statsbomb/open-data)| Source | What you get | Key? | Notes / best for |\n|---|---|---|---|\nESPN hidden API — `site.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/soccer/{league}/scoreboard` |\nLive scores + finished results, JSON | No | Free, no signup, fast; unofficial so endpoints can change. Solid for matchday polling. |\n|\n\n[football-data.org](https://www.football-data.org/)[SofaScore](https://www.sofascore.com/)[Live-Score API](https://live-score-api.com/)| Source | What you get | Key? | Notes / best for |\n|---|---|---|---|\n|\n\n[Understat](https://understat.com/)[StatsBomb Open Data](https://github.com/statsbomb/open-data)[Club Elo](http://clubelo.com/API)[soccerdata (Python)](https://github.com/probberechts/soccerdata)**Start here.**[worldfootballR (R)](https://jaseziv.github.io/worldfootballR/)** Fixtures & results:**[football-data.org](https://www.football-data.org/)(keyed, clean) — or[openfootball](https://github.com/openfootball)for zero-setup.**Live during matches:** ESPN hidden API (no key) +[API-Football](https://www.api-football.com/)free tier as backup. Confirm a final score from**two** sources before trusting it.**Model features:**[soccerdata](https://github.com/probberechts/soccerdata)→ FBref xG + Understat shot xG +[Club Elo](http://clubelo.com/API)ratings;[StatsBomb Open Data](https://github.com/statsbomb/open-data)when you want raw events.**Curated index of everything else:**[openfootball/awesome-football](https://github.com/openfootball/awesome-football).\n\n**Practical tips**\n\n- Cache results locally; most free tiers are rate-limited (and live feeds lag — verify FT from ≥2 outlets).\n- \"Hidden\"/unofficial endpoints (ESPN, SofaScore) are great but can change without notice — keep a fallback.\n- xG and form are\n*features*for your model, not requirements — even a clean results feed + Elo gets you far.\n\n*Compiled June 2026. Free tiers and endpoints change — double-check each provider's current docs.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/football-data-sources-historical-results-live-scores-ml-features-xg-etc-compiled", "canonical_source": "https://gist.github.com/hungson175/b804219579b3c3f6deb53dd0421d071a", "published_at": "2026-06-12 05:49:08+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-15 18:07:26.124721+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["machine-learning", "developer-tools", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["football-data.org", "ESPN", "StatsBomb", "soccerdata", "Understat", "Club Elo", "API-Football", "SofaScore"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/football-data-sources-historical-results-live-scores-ml-features-xg-etc-compiled", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/football-data-sources-historical-results-live-scores-ml-features-xg-etc-compiled.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/football-data-sources-historical-results-live-scores-ml-features-xg-etc-compiled.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/football-data-sources-historical-results-live-scores-ml-features-xg-etc-compiled.jsonld"}}