All-Time Club Rankings according to IFFHS
After the World’s Top Goalscorer of 2007, the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) has done the impossible: make yet another controversial ranking, and make some more thousand-something fans pissed off about it.
This time, it’s the All-Time Club Rankings.
So where’s the catch? They’re considering only results starting in 1991. Huh? WTF right? Here’s their explanation:
An All-time Club World Ranking can only be meaningful and useful if it can be determined by taking account all the results of the national championships, the national cup competitions, the club competitions of the six continental confederations and the FIFA. It is therefore only possible to determine an All-time Club World Ranking from January 1st, 1991 — when the Club World Ranking began taking all these details into consideration.
The period from 1872 to 1990 can only be asssessed subjectively, mostly by using national and international champions as a guide. It follows that teams placed in the individual competitions cannot be taken into consideration, even if their titles were won easily or in spite of many defeats. It is simply not possible to establish a basis for giving all participating clubs an equal opportunity for the period 1872 to 1990.
The IFFHS has therefore has decided, logically, that the All-time Club World Ranking should be determined from January 1st, 1991 using the annual Club World Ranking (the situation at 31st December annually). For this it will take into consideration the “Top 50 Clubs”, annually and award them points from 50 points for the top club down to 1 point for the club in 50th place. Adding the points from the individual years for each club will provide the All-time Club World Ranking.
So there goes.
The result? The “lucky winner” of the IFFHS All-Time Club Ranking is FC Barcelona with 670 points, who in the period from 1991 to 2007 won 8 La Liga titles, 2 Copa del Rey, 6 Supercopa de España, 2 Champions League, 1 Cup Winners’ Cup, and 2 European Super Cups. Completing the top trio, we find Juventus (7 [minus 2] Serie A titles, 1 Coppa Italia, 4 Supercoppa Italiana, 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 Intertoto Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup) and Manchester Utd (9 EPL titles, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 6 Charity Shields, 1 Champions League, 1 Cup Winners’ Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup).
One of the funny things about this year’s All-Time Ranking is that compared to 2006, AC Milan has actually dropped by 2 ranks to 5th spot (behind Real Madrid). Yeah, the same AC Milan which won the UEFA Champions League in May, the European SuperCup in September and the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the year. Man Utd and Real Madrid did win their respective national titles, but still weird I find.
Completing the Top 10 right behind AC Milan, we find Bayern Munich (6th), Inter Milan (7th), River Plate (8th), Arsenal (9th), and Porto (10th). Further down the list, Italian club Parma is incredibly ranked 12th, right behind Ajax Amsterdam and their huge cup gallery, but in front of clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool (13th and 14th). Huh? How did that happen?
By now most of you are probably screaming for murder, so in defense of the IFFHS ranking, let me just mention that it does accurately reflect the top world leagues of the past two decades, at least in terms of total number of clubs present. In the 191 ranked clubs, the Spanish Liga and Italian Serie A are the biggest providers, totalling 17 teams each. They are followed by the English Premier League (15), the Campeonato Brasileiro (15), the German Bundesliga (12), and the French Ligue 1 (12). Argentina totals 11 clubs and caps the ‘Big 7′ according to this ranking. Much further down the list are the Belgian, Czech and Dutch leagues (6).
In the end, despite IFFHS’s explanation for their selection criteria (see above), such a ranking is a fairly poor representation of an “All-Time” statistic. By only counting club history from 1991 onwards, IFFHS should effectively have forfeited the right to use “All-time” in their ranking terminology. Nevertheless what you are looking at here, should more or less accurately reflect the teams who have dominated the world of football from 1991 to 2007. That at least, we can admit.
For comparison, the UEFA ranking (last updated to May 25, 2007 i.e. before the Rossoneri European SuperCup and Club World Cup triumphs) puts AC Milan at nº1, followed by Barcelona, Liverpool, and Inter. Quoting Gazzetta dello Sport, the IFFHS “would be a much more respected institute if it took into consideration the entire world of football. That is, starting from the time someone in England had the great idea of inventing the sport. It was the year 1872″.
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Marco Pantanella writes for the mCalcio blog
Also see our football club lists.
Topics: AC Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Celtic, Chelsea, Everton, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lists, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Rangers, Real Madrid, Roma, Sevilla, Teams, Tottenham, Valencia
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i feel the team that should feel most robbed because of the 1991 time limit should be liverpool…..if the 80s were considered,it would have been an entirely different story for them…….
January 6th, 2008 @ 10:47Rangers, 19th!?!?! and worse Spurs at 85th.. Faarrk Off!!
January 6th, 2008 @ 11:31if it only considers from 1991 then it should be called the from 1991-2007 club rankings instead of the “All-Time Club Rankings”
January 6th, 2008 @ 12:57Amen to that, Liverpool_Fan. But I don’t make the rules at the IFFHS.
January 6th, 2008 @ 14:05HAHAHAHA! Quality! I guess they didn’t count the fact that we played in Serie B last term either did they =p
January 6th, 2008 @ 15:05I wouldn’t call it an all-time ranking. But yes, Barcelona is the best. Undoubtedly. They’ve won a lot. They’ve seen through two of their best periods(the Dream Team and the Ronaldinho era) and are heading towards a Maradona repeat now. Barca deserve the top rank…..
January 6th, 2008 @ 16:42why start at 1991? why not from the last 10 years to make it easier. liverpool fans this is what the rest of the world has been telling you for the last few years yes you won the champions league a few years ago (well done) but the rest is history now. come back into the top 10 teams in the world when you win the Premiership.
January 6th, 2008 @ 23:30..Reckon this is rigged. Anyway,
Dont think I did this but:-
HAPPY NEW YEAR FOOLS
never too late.
only a week
Out
January 7th, 2008 @ 06:35WEDNESDAY!!!! go on you owls we’ll be back in premiership in no time :p (i wish) Sheffield Wednesday till i die
January 7th, 2008 @ 14:06I think this takes into account the amount of:
-game won per season in any given competition
-goals scored and conceded
-player discipline
-amount of games played per season
-and difficulty of the competition
By these criteria it is only logical that AC Milan dropped 2 places, because they have had a horrendrous season last year (apart from a marvelous road in the CL, they were horrible everywhere else). It is also the only logical explanation for Man Utd to be third in these rankings. (Barca 21 trophies, Juventus 16-2, Man Utd 26).
So, as opposed to the UEFA rankings, which stil have AC Milan as the best club in the world despite them having had a disatrous year and a half, these make some sense.
NB the team which loses out most by the exclusion of the years prior to 1991 is not Liverpool, but Real Madrid. Ajax and Bayern fans should also be unhappy because of this
January 7th, 2008 @ 14:33im not blaming you marco
and yes Liverpool havent been great in recent years but for our success in europe i still think we have a right into the top 4 at least
January 7th, 2008 @ 16:01top four?based on what criteria…now thats what i would cal a real joke
January 8th, 2008 @ 09:08I do not much care for the rankings since such rankings rarely reflect the actual scenario.
For me, the top three clubs in the world (counting since club football gained legal status/came under some authority, howsoever you interpret that) are:
1. Real Madrid (anyone saying NO needs to go over football history)
2. Boca Juniors (not sure, but I suppose that they have the record of notching up the most number of silverwares. Could somebody second me?)
3. AC Milan (well, Juventus could come a close second)
Oh, maybe this is off the track….. Any time such club rankings are made, I notice that Manchester United are always somewhere near the top. For Christ’s sake, why don’t these people realise that Man United are not even the best ever club in England! Statistically, Liverpool are the best club in English history.
January 8th, 2008 @ 12:43are africans not part of the world
January 8th, 2008 @ 14:04What an absolute joke. Milan are the #1 side in the World over the past 2 decades :
6 Serie A Championships
1 Italian Cup
4 Italian Super Cups
3 EUROPEAN CUPS (SIX Finals)
3 European Super Cups
1 Intercontinental Cup
That’s considerably more impressive than anything Barca, Man United or Juve managed. Milan should be ranked #1 and Real Madrid #2. Between them they’ve played in more European Cup finals since 1991 than Barca, Juve and Man United have in their entire history! IFFHS clearly don’t allocate enough points to that competition.
January 9th, 2008 @ 15:07FC Porto is the best
we have:
2 champions league
1 uefa cup
2 intercontinental cups
1 european supercup
22 times portuguese champions
we also have vitor baia, the player who has the largest quantity of trophies in the world
January 17th, 2008 @ 20:38This can’t be true how in the world is Guadalajara six spots behind their biggest rival Club America? Get the facts straight America has lost the last five games in the league and Guadalajara is udefeated and Leader of the league table!
March 17th, 2008 @ 18:26why is galatasaray ahead of fenerbahce?
April 3rd, 2008 @ 23:10CUZ WE HAVE WON UEFA CUP AND SUPERCUP AND WE HOLD MOST TURKISH TITELS
May 7th, 2008 @ 22:20juventus has won 27 league championships not 16…and to porto it’s way easier to win the portuguese cup than the Serie A…
December 2nd, 2008 @ 11:30RED STAR BELGRADE FOREVER
March 21st, 2009 @ 13:58well i think it says it all.Barca currently is the best team ever to have surfaced on planet earth.All-time best,no doubt.there couldn’t have been a better ranking than this.it would be unfair if BARCA fails to win the champions league this year,looking at their performance.i hope messi won’t be robbed of world best title again b’cos he deserves it.
May 6th, 2009 @ 13:23There are some bizarre distortions on this ranking. Let’s begin by Argentina. By default, that country nowadays has only two real clubs: Boca Jrs and River Plate. Estudiantes may ask for the 3rd place. And the biggest winner of Libertadores da America Cup, Independiente, is a pale shadow of itself. About he brazilian teams: The presence of Sao Caetano ( in front of Fluminense )and Paysandu makes this list almost a joke. And there are lots of countries where a team has massive domain, but the same team means nothing outside its country’s boundaries. We can’t compare, for instance, the difficulty of the russian or belgian championship, with its members Spartak Moscow and Anderelecht, with the brazilian cahmpionship, where we have at the same time teams like Palmeiras, Corinthians, Sao Paulo, Santos, Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, Vasco, Internacional, Gremio, Atletico Mineiro, Cruzeiro, and sometimes other ones ( Atletico Paranaense, Coritiba, Bahia, Vitoria ) fighting against each other.
May 30th, 2009 @ 04:55Should it be the REAL all-time best club teams, Peñarol from Montevideo would’ve been in top 5 for sure. 5 Continental cups, 3 inter-continental cups, 36 national league cups, . Most of the cups they won were in the years when Uruguay was a powerhouse, like Brazil today.
June 4th, 2009 @ 19:57OK, My opinion is that Man United are the best team in england, so liverpool fans keep your traps shut. You have a better ‘history’ then UNITED, but give them one more season then they would have won more trophies then you. I agree with Spurs placement, their fans are so arrogant. Yes, you finished 5th ONCE, that doesnt make you a top 10 team!.;
I personally think that Lyon should be lower down, as their league basically is useless and the most uncompetitive league ever up too this season.
Barca deserve it, although i wold like too see also Corithinans from Brazil higher.
West Ham aren’t there, and as i support them, i think i should say, we shouldnt be there either. But mark my words, in the next Decade we will be!
June 6th, 2009 @ 10:05African clubs and the african continent is not on the list.
September 26th, 2009 @ 08:59The continent has produced great players. Eusebio,Weah,Eto,Zidane,Drogba,Okocha.Lots more that i cannot mention.
The problem is poor managment of the clubs.Poor managment of everything.
It will continue till eternity if change does not come on.The wrong people in right places(Nigerian football good example)
I HOPE MY DARING CLUB WILL BE ON TOP AFTER COMPLETING THIS SEASON
December 9th, 2009 @ 13:20MANCHESTER IS THE TEAM THE POINTS AHEAD ARE FEW WE CAN CATCH UP
My Top 5
1. Manchester United
2. Real Madrid
3. Barcelona
4. Chelsea
5. Arsenal
As You Have Noticed I Have Not Put Liverpool, They Are 98th On My List.
January 16th, 2010 @ 20:39In My Opinion English Clubs Are The Best In The World Otherwise We Wouldn’t Get To The Final Stages Of The Champions League Easily, But Liverpool Have Been Knocked Out Already.
São Paulo FC – Forever…. Wherever they be.
January 22nd, 2010 @ 08:43So two years on they’ve just released the latest update of their “all-time” ranking. I can’t disagree with Barcelona and United in 1st and 2nd over the period it actually covers, but by having River ahead of Boca (that’s 1 Copa Libertadores v 4 of them AND a couple of Intercontinental Cups for starters), the theory that consistency is more important than genuine success is proven. I’ve said it elsewhere, but HSV got 45 points for their rankings in 2009. Do what they did 20 years on the bounce (a deep run in the UEFA Cup and DFB Pokal and a decent title challenge, but ultimately winning nothing) and you’ll outscore even Barcelona over the 20 years.
January 22nd, 2010 @ 22:47it is fake….real is 1 real madrid.
March 2nd, 2010 @ 15:072 barca
3 milan
4 juve
5 munich…
Were are Blackburn Rovers on this list?? They should be ahead of the likes of Fulham, Bolton, Newcastle, Leeds even possibly Tottenham. In this period we have won The Premiership and the League Cup and also had a few runs in european competition just like Middlesbrough, Bolton, Fulham and Villa. Sort it out!!
March 10th, 2010 @ 16:47real 1
barcelona 2
man u 3
ac milan 4
arsenal 5
liverpool 6
merrikh sudan 10
March 28th, 2010 @ 17:431.A.C. MILAN
April 18th, 2010 @ 11:372.REAL MADRID
3.BAYERN MUNCHEN
4.MANCHESTER UNITED
5.CHELSEA LONDRA
6.JUVENTUS TORINO
7.FC BARCELONA
8.LIVERPOOL
9.ARSENAL
10.OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS
11.INTERNAZIONALE MILANO
12.FC PORTO
13.AJAX AMSTERDAM 14.BENFICA LISABONA
15.PSV EINDHOVEN
thebest clup fersi OPJ
May 11th, 2010 @ 03:481.inter milan
2.real madrid
3.MU
4.bayer munich
5.barcelona
6.persipro
7.arsenal
i consider the serie A to be the toughest competition in the world and taking into account the numerous trophies that As roma has achieved and the number of times they have been runners up during the past decade i am convinced that they should have been at least 10th in the ranking.Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence bar one season in the early 50s (1951–52). MY LIST:
1. AS ROMA( FOR THE ABOVE REASONS)
2. AC MILAN( FOR THEIR TREMENDOUS PERFORMANCES IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
3. INTER MILAN( FOR THEIR GREAT PERFORMANCES IN DOMESTIC COMPETITIONS)
4. BARCELONA( PERHAPS THE BEST TEAM TODAY)
5. REAL MADRID( AN INCREDIBLE 9 TIMES EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS)
6. CHELSEA( I CONSIDER THEM AS THE TEAM OF THE DECADE)
VIVA AS ROMA. I AM SURE THEY WILL WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE THIS SEASON.
July 16th, 2010 @ 08:511.Juventus (29 serie A , 2 european cup , 3 uefa , 9 coppa italia 5 supercoppa italia 1 seria B 1 inter toto cup ,-juve is the most trophied club in the world!
July 24th, 2010 @ 21:012.Real madrid
3.Man Utd
4.Arsenal
5.Bayern Munchen
Liverpool is the best on this planet .i dn’t know why you people just can’t accept it. We will never walk alone.
August 10th, 2010 @ 13:18River plate at f**king 8th they should be at most 30th you should consider that its easyer to win the brazilian league than english or whatever
August 20th, 2010 @ 02:31How can it be that River Plate (with 14 titles) is ahead of Boca Juniors (with 21 titles since 91)
August 31st, 2010 @ 01:26