Becoming a FIFA football agent can sound like an exciting career choice.
You get to work in football, represent players, negotiate contracts and potentially be involved in major transfers. From the outside, it can look like a fast route into one of the biggest industries in the world.
However, the reality is much more demanding.
The 2025 FIFA agent exam breakdown shows that 16,117 people applied to become football agents, but only 1,406 passed the exam. That means fewer than one in ten applicants made it from application to passing. So, before deciding whether this career is right for you, it is important to understand what happens at each stage of the process.
Applying Does Not Mean You Will Sit the Exam
Many people assume that once they submit an application, they will automatically move forward to the exam. That is not always the case. Of the 16,117 applications submitted in 2025, only 9,148 candidates were scheduled to sit the exam. Some applicants withdrew, while thousands failed to pay the exam fee by the deadline. FIFA also opened hundreds of eligibility investigations once the applications had been submitted. You can read our article on the FIFA eligibility requirements to learn more about why many candidates may be denied an opportunity to sit the 2027 FIFA agent exam.
The Exam Is a Major Challenge
Before you can represent players or negotiate transfer deals, you must pass the mandatory FIFA agent exam. In 2025, of the 9,148 candidates who were scheduled, only 7,745 actually sat the exam, with 1,406 passing. That gives an attendance-to-pass rate of around 18.2% in 2025.
Why Is the FIFA Agent Exam That Hard?
The FIFA Football Agent Exam contains 20 multiple-choice questions, and candidates must answer at least 15 correctly within 60 minutes to pass. Although the exam is open-book, this does not make it easier. Candidates must still understand the regulations and apply the correct rules to practical scenarios under pressure, which is one of the key reasons so many candidates failed the 2026 FIFA Agent Exam. Read our full autopsy on why candidates fail the FIFA Agent Exam and how to guarantee a pass in the FIFA Agent Exam 2027.
What Next After the FIFA Agent Exam
Once you pass the FIFA Agent Exam, you will be issued a licence, qualifying you to offer football agent services, recommend players to clubs, and negotiate transfers. But before any of that comes the exam itself, which has consistently proved to be the Achilles heel of many aspiring candidates.
With BallBusiness, passing is more achievable than you think. Our FIFA Agent Exam preparation course walks you through the regulatory topics one by one, building the understanding and practical application skills needed on exam day. Alongside the course, our 400 Most Common Questions book is an extensive bank of past questions, modelled on the format of the FIFA Agent Exam.