fastverse VS engsoccerdata

For writing faster code, the first thing you want to try is making sure it's properly vectorised. See The R Inferno for this. Some problems are more difficult than others to vectorise. When vectorisation is impossible, you probably want to interface with C++. First, check if there's already a fast package that serves your needs. If your problem is too specific, consider writing your own C++ code with Rcpp.

I understand the sentiment and I'm not trying to convince you to start writing optimised code to save ~2ms. There's a ton of optimised tools that I don't use myself because the time benefit is immaterial for what I do.

"The forecasts are based on a substantially revised version of ESPN’s Soccer Power Index (SPI), a rating system originally devised by FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver in 2009 for rating international soccer teams. We have updated and adapted SPI to incorporate club soccer data going back to 1888 (from more than 550,000 matches in all) that we’ve collected from ESPN’s database and the Engsoccerdata GitHub repository, as well as from play-by-play data produced by Opta that has been available since 2010."