What makes an athlete? Well, there’s speed, size, strength, stamina and endurance. However, let’s all admit it, there’s something else that we look at: attractiveness.

You may notice that while scrolling through comment sections or looking on online forums, there are girls fawning over certain athletes, saying that they are hot or attractive. One quote I heard once was, “Hockey players are naturally sexy. It’s proven by science.”

Well, that is in fact true. “Hotness of athletes” actually has fundamental scientific research behind it.

Evolutionary biologist Erik Postma is a research scientist at the University of Zurich’s Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies. He wrote a study on this topic, as to why women find athletes more attractive than other men who work in different occupations, and his findings were posted in a Today article in June 2014.

“It is quite likely that elite soccer players are more attractive than the general population… they are young men who work out a lot, spend a lot of time outside and are generally healthy,” he wrote. “Fame, wealth and success make you more attractive.”

This is just one of the reasons why athletes, such as soccer players, are seen as attractive by young girls around the globe. You will see how many accounts are out there that celebrate an athlete’s body, size or “hotness.” They flood the Internet.

Postma also adds that forwards, or the athletes who play offense, are seen as more attractive than defensemen.

“Assuming that being a forward requires more athletic skill than being a defender, this provides further support for athleticism being a trait that is preferred” Postma said.

Attractive athletes are taking the world by storm. Cristiano Ronaldo is fawned after by many women and young girls. Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin did a photoshoot for ESPN’s Body Issue not too long ago, where he posed nude with nothing but a rubber duck. Girls screamed, and he became the center of controversy and many women’s affection.

Despite the attractiveness of other athletes, soccer players are apparently the “hottest” in accordance to scientific study. This is because they appear big and strong, with nice, healthy bodies. They take off their shirts in  games and do not wear helmets, and there is a connection with Greek mythology that may explain something else.

“If you look back at [sculptures] of Greek gods, soccer players’ boys look very similar,” Postma said. “[They’re] much more in line with our traditional impression of beauty and what an ideal body can look like.”