The 9 Best Football Clubs in the World

Football is a universal game. While it’s best known as soccer in the U.S., its steeped and long-enduring history as football worldwide means both references make perfect sense. While many football clubs globally have rich histories and reputations, recent achievements have moved specific ones to the top of the current world soccer rankings.

The best football clubs in the world come from Europe, with international stars and upcoming starlets predominantly plying their trades in England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, where the sport’s ultimate riches lie. Unsurprisingly, the top soccer teams in the FIFA rankings come from these countries, with Portugal’s Sporting CP at 13th, the highest club from another league. The best club from a different continent is presently Botofogo FR from Brazil in position 21.

Here are the clubs that make up the nine best soccer teams according to the FIFA world rankings.

1. Liverpool F.C. — England

In the year that saw Liverpool part ways with its enigmatic manager, Jurgen Klopp, after the German maestro steered the team to fifth position last year, the Merseyside giants haven’t looked back. Now under the guidance of the quietly spoken but passionate Dutchman Arne Slot, Liverpool has surprised even its staunchest supporters by improving on the success Klopp built.

As the English Premier League (EPL) reaches its halfway point, Liverpool leads the chasing pack, four points ahead of its nearest rival, Chelsea, with a game in hand. Slot has improved the Anfield side defensively without changing Klopp’s squad by bringing in reinforcements. 

Furthermore, his playing style and managerial ability bring out the best of his captain, Virgil Van Dyk, and mercurial talisman, Mohamed Salah, as Liverpool strives to capture its first EPL title since 2019/20. Slot has also carried his charges forward in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), Europe’s premier continental competition, with six wins from six to top the log in its first season under a new format.

With 19 domestic top-division titles and six premier European ones, history ranks Liverpool as one of the world’s top football clubs. Its current form entrenches the American-owned world-beating Reds as the best football club in the world.

2. Inter Milan — Italy

Like Liverpool, Football Club Internazionale Milano has a rich and successful history, with 20 domestic Serie A titles and three premier European trophies. Inter, never relegated from Italy’s top division, trails the 2024/25 Serie A standings by six points from surprise leaders Atalanta and four from Napoli, but with two games in hand on each. With a superior goal difference, Inter will hope for another domestic crown next year. 

Manager Simone Inzaghi took over from Antonio Conte in 2021 when the latter left Inter after winning the Serie A title. With huge boots to fill, it took Inzaghi until the 2023/24 season to bring the title back to the San Siro, with Inter winning Serie A by a massive 19 points from its Milanese rivals AC Milan. 

Although a much closer finish looms this season, captain Lautaro Martínez and star players Nicolò Barella, Marcus Thuram and Hakan Çalhanoglu seem intent on retaining the Serie A championship this time. I Nerazzurri also sits safely in the automatic UCL qualifying positions with four wins and a draw from the opening six fixtures for sixth place overall.

According to FIFA, Inter Milan’s consistency has earned it the second position among the top football teams in the world.

3. Arsenal F.C. — England

Despite winning 13 English top-division titles over the years and holding the record for the nation’s Football Association (FA) Cup wins with 14, Arsenal has spent most of its history in the shadows of Man Utd., Liverpool and, most recently, Man City. Not since the legendary French manager led Arsenal to three EPL titles in the 1990s and 2000s has the club looked like challenging for the top spot again. That is, not until its current manager, Mikel Arteta, took over in late 2019.

After two eighth-place finishes, Arteta’s ability to build and maintain a squad took the flailing North London club first to fifth place and then to consecutive runner-up positions behind only a world-beating Man City team. As the Citizens fall down the league table this season, Arteta will hope that star players Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and William Saliba can help the Gunners go one better. 

Arsenal sits in third position in the EPL, trailing Liverpool by six points and having played a game more. Two points separate the Emirates-based club from London neighbor Chelsea in second, so the Arsenal squad will hope for an improved second half to the campaign. There’s also the UCL to look forward to, with Arteta’s boys only behind Liverpool and Barcelona at this stage. 

4. Real Madrid C.F. — Spain

Carlo Ancelotti’s record-holding Spanish champions can rightly claim to be the most successful football club in history. With 36 La Liga domestic titles and 15 top continental trophies through the years, no other soccer club has come close to these totals. If you’re a Real fan, following its progress, including the days of Cristiano Ronaldo’s prowess, has undoubtedly been fun, although the current season started slowly. 

Real Madrid has recovered lately, as its star signing, Kylian Mbappé, begins to find his feet. With last season’s midfield performer Jude Bellingham now back to fitness, Real has still had to cope with long-term layoffs to defenders Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão, which have blighted the defending champion’s progress. More recently, performances and league positions are looking up, with the Santiago Bernabéu galacticos up to second in La Liga.

Presently only a point behind local rivals Atlético Madrid, Los Blancos still has work to do in the UCL. With three wins and three losses in league play so far, Ancelotti’s defending continental champions lie in a lowly 20th position with two matches left to qualify. This unusual form sees Real Madrid slip two spots to fourth position in this year’s best football club list.

5. Bayer 04 Leverkusen — Germany

Since manager Xabi Alonso took over the reins in October 2022, Bayer Leverkusen has been on a meteoric rise. In his first managerial position at a top-flight club, the Spaniard led Die Werkself from last but one in the German Bundesliga to winning the title the following season. Even more impressive is that Bayer won its first major domestic league title by 17 points, going undefeated throughout the campaign. 

Alonso is showing this season that Leverkusen’s accomplishments are no fluke. After 15 games, the team trails mercurial title favorites Bayern Munich by four points, although it has lost a game this time — to RB Leipzig in Gameweek two. Leverkusen is also producing some stellar UCL performances this season, losing only to Liverpool at Anfield and occupying fourth place in the table with two games still to play. 

Names that were hardly household 18 months ago have helped Bayer Leverkusen climb 10 positions in the FIFA World Club rankings, as Florian Wirtz, Victor Boniface and Jeremie Frimpong continue to attract attention from the biggest clubs in Europe. Part of Alonso’s skill will be his ability to keep his best players in the upcoming transfer window to maintain a challenge for domestic and continental honors.

6. F.C. Barcelona — Spain

Barcelona has done reasonably well since the iconic Lionel Messi’s 2021 departure to Paris Saint-Germain. Without the player many rate as the best soccer player to grace the sport, the Spanish giants still managed to win the domestic La Liga title in 2022/23. The feat was more remarkable as Barça did so by 10 points over preseason favorites Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Messi has helped his current club, Inter Miami, gain 920 positions in the FIFA rankings as one of the best MLS teams in the world.

With ex-player and then-manager Xavi Hernández in the dugout, Barcelona could not replicate the achievement the following season, with Real Madrid turning the tables with a similar 10-point title win. Hansi Flick replaced Xavi, who had already announced he was standing down at the season’s end, and the current season began emphatically with seven consecutive wins to start the campaign.

Sadly, for Flick and Barça, a string of six games without a win has seen the club slip to third position in the La Liga table, although recently drubbing Mallorca 5-1 has lifted spirits. Despite the lapse, Barcelona has maintained strong UCL form. Its second place after six matches makes it a favorite for an automatic qualifying berth. With senior striker Robert Lewandowski now in form, Barcelona’s season is showing promise.

7. Atalanta B.C. — Italy

Many will raise eyebrows at the inclusion of the Lombardy-based club, but Atalanta is experiencing its most successful period in its 117-year history. After three successive Serie A third-place finishes between 2018 and 2021, last season’s fourth position has prompted an excellent start to the current campaign. This follows last season’s Europa League (UEL) continental triumph.

At 66 years old and in his ninth season with La Dea, Gian Piero Gasperini will look to add a Serie A title to the first managerial title he won with the recent UEL win over Bayer Leverkusen. With Charles De Ketelaere and Ademola Lookman scoring goals and loanee Nicolò Zaniolo making an impact in midfield, this could be Atalanta’s best chance of a debut Serie A title.

Currently leading the log, the Italian outsider is on an 11-match winning run, and you shouldn’t discount Atalanta from going all the way this season. Much may depend on the length of its UCL campaign, with the club in 13th position in the league and likely to qualify for the playoffs. Atalanta is a monumental riser in the FIFA world rankings this year, climbing an incredible 19 positions.

8. FC Bayern Munich — Germany

Undoubtedly, Bayern München is one of Europe’s most successful clubs and the German Bundesliga’s unchallenged success story. With 33 domestic league championship titles and six in Europe’s premier competition, the club synonymous with Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and scores of other German greats is iconic in soccer circles.

A disappointing third-place finish in last season’s Bundesliga after 11 straight titles and elimination by Real Madrid in the UCL semifinals contributed to Bayern ending the season trophyless for the first time since 2011/12. Thomas Tuchel, now the incoming English national team’s head coach, stepped down and Vincent Kompany replaced him. 

So far, Kompany, with the aid of Jamal Musiala, Harry Kane, and new signings Michael Olise and João Palhinha, tops the Bundesliga, while captain Manuel Neuer remains a fantastic goalkeeper for the team. Kompany and Neuer have also led Bayern to four wins in six during the UCL. After slipping five positions in FIFA’s list, the German giants hope to make up ground with an improved 2024/25 campaign.

9. Manchester City F.C. — England

How the mighty have fallen. From April of last year until this October, FIFA ranked Man City as the best football club in the world. Since then, Pep Guardiola’s team of superstars has faltered inexplicably. Yes, there have been injuries, including a bad one to 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, but nobody would have predicted a fall from grace as it has happened.

Until the last fixture in October, Man City was unbeaten for the season — a run of 14 matches — until losing to Tottenham Hotspur in England’s Carabao (EFL) Cup. Since then, the EPL champions in six of the past seven seasons have won only once in 11 fixtures in all competitions. As a result, the defending champions have slipped to seventh in the EPL and are in danger of not qualifying for the next round of the UCL.

You may recall that the result of Man City’s hearing into 115 alleged breaches of Premier League rules is pending, which could result in dire consequences for the club. Could this be affecting the club’s players and form? 

With the Etihad club’s midfield general Rodri out for the season with an injury, star striker Erling Haaland out of form and last season’s English Player of the Year Phil Foden also struggling, this prolonged loss of form has seen Man City slip to ninth position in the FIFA club world rankings. However, Haaland and Foden remain two fantastic players in the best PlayStation soccer games going into 2025.

The Best Football Clubs in the World Have a Different Look

Real Madrid and Man City are both experiencing difficulties in some shape or form, while Bayern Munich appears to be on its way back. Traditional inclusions Man Utd., Juventus, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are missing altogether, and the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta show that current form counts in the footballing world. What will next year reveal at this time?