The study found the typical Englishman watches live or televised football for two hours and 22 minutes every week. They also spend another three hours and 21 minutes chatting about the latest results, goals or transfer gossip with their mates.
Thailand were second, spending an average of three hours and 2 minutes debating the beautiful game and two hours and 15 minutes watching match action.
Surprisingly, the Dutch with their famously fervent Orange Army, spend just 92 minutes watching football each week – the equivalent of one UEFA Champions League match - relegating them to the bottom of the Football Mania table.
However, English fans perform less well when it comes to socialising with friends while watching a game, with 27 percent saying they get together with a group of five or more mates.
South Africa is the most social football-watching nation with 51 percent of men watching football in groups of five, closely followed by Mexicans.
According to the Heineken research, wives and girlfriends are secondary when it comes to the topics most discussed by men in England with their friends.
The study found a staggering 90 percent of the respondents talk tactics rather than ‘totty’ – installing football at the top of the league of subjects they discuss with friends, with wives and girlfriends second with 51 percent and work third with 34.
The research was carried out with 5,300 men aged between 25 and 40 in 15 countries.
The top 10 topics discussed by men in the survey are as follows:
Football (88%)
Women (45%)
Work (34%)
Money (24%)
Cars (19%)
Night out (18%)
Family (16%)
Food (14%)
Holidays (12%)
Film (10%)
Rick Lawrence, Marketing Manager at Heineken UK said: “It might not be the news women wanted to hear but it appears men really do only think about one thing when they get together with their mates – and that’s football.
"With the UEFA Champions League final taking place this Saturday it is a huge weekend for football and gives men an excuse, if they ever needed one, to talk about their favourite subject.
“I don’t have the data but would not be surprised if women spent more time talking about football than their husbands and boyfriends when they get together with their friends as well!”
As Inter Milan and Bayern Munich prepare to go head-to-head in the Madrid final this weekend, the UEFA Champions League was placed top of the football entertainment league among the fans polled globally.
Fifty-seven percent stated they are more excited by Europe’s premier club competition than the World Cup, European Championships or any domestic league.
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