The Best Football Clubs In The World
There are literally hundreds of thousands of clubs around that world that are all aspiring to be the best. It’s a pretty difficult thing to measure, to be the best you have to beat the best teams in the world, consistently.
I’m probably opening a huge can of worms by attempting to list the best football clubs in the world, everyone will have their own opinions. In this article, I’ll give my thoughts on why I’ve included the following five clubs in my list of the very best teams from across the globe. There are probably countless arguments going on right now across friendship groups, all over the world, of course they're arguing over who the best team is. Well here's my list:
- Barcelona
- Bayern Munich
- Liverpool
- Manchester United
- Real Madrid
These five teams will, hopefully not be a surprise to most of you that are reading this. These are all household names and have all won the best competitions at home and on foreign soil. I've added a table below under each heading, this shows how many trophies each team has won. I've added two sections, domestic or international. I'll try and keep the table updated - all numbers are correct as of February 2023.
So, what teams do I think are among the greatest in the world?
The Best Football Clubs In The World
These are in no particular order in terms of world ranking. They’re simply listed alphabetically. First up then, we have a team that had the pleasure of being the club that arguably the world’s best player played for, for 21 years. Yep – It’s Barcelona.
Barcelona
It's on the list in the number one spot due to it being in alphabetical order, but perhaps Barcelona deserves to be regarded as the number one football club in the world? I won't go on record as listing any one club as the best in the world, it's such a tough thing to say for certain who the greatest is.
But, regardless of where they should be on the list, you can't deny the fact that they are one of the best teams to ever step foot on the football pitch. With a whopping 76 domestic and 22 international trophies, they're just 2 shy of a massive 100 trophies won, that's an outrageous number.
Barcelona was the home to the greatest football player in the world for 21 years. Since Messi's departure, Barcelona have been in somewhat of a poor run of form of late. Some news outlets went as far as saying that without Messi they are a 'Europa league team at best', I think that's a bit silly, they're still a great team and one most other teams should fear.
When Pep was at the helm they're style of play emphasized keeping possesion. No other team in world football did it better. There tiki-taka style was outmatched and their transitions from defence to attack were simply breathtaking.
What also makes Barcelona a team to fear is their wide play under Xavi. It's the widest I've ever seen the team play since Guardiola's era. The players stretch the field and understand everyone's positioning like the back of their hands. It's impressive to see how much core Barcelona DNA this current team managed by Xavi really has.
It should have proper Barca DNA, Xavi spent a while under Pep so should have picked up alot of tactical nouse that can be taught to the current crop of players.
| Trophy Type | Trophies Won |
| Domestic: | 76 |
| International: | 22 |
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich is one of those legendary clubs that everyone respects. Growing up playing football I'd always want to be them and I'm sure thousands of kids across the globe are still looking up to them to this day.
How can you not love Bayern? Well, apart from when they play against the team you support. They have Manuel Neuer in goal, how much more legendary than that can you get? He single handedly changed a generations perception of what a goal keeper is all about. His trademark is to come flying out of his area to make a tackle, which delights crowds all around the world.
It's players like Neuer that make Bayern Munich up there as one of the best football clubs in the world. It's not only individual brilliance that make them a force to be reconed with. On a team level they gel together and win, they win alot.
They're the most succesful team in German football history. They have won the most championships and trophies out of any other German team. Not only are they the best domestic team in Germany, they are Germany's most successful team in international competitions. They've won a super impressive fourteen trophies.
Bayern Munich is the only club to have won all three major European competitions. Not only that, they've won three consecutive European Cups, won the treble twice. They have even won a "sextuple" once. Which means they've won 6 official competitions or trophies in a row.
| Trophy Type | Trophies Won |
| Domestic: | 32 |
| International: | 14 |
Liverpool
I shouldn't need to explain Liverpools place on the list! But, I will anyway. Having won the Champions League a whopping 6 times they've become specialists at winning the competition. They're joint 3rd for number of times a club has won the competition. Only AC Milan and Real Madrid have won more.
Liverpool are a club that are exceptionally well run, they've got the silverware to prove it. Internationally, they've won six European Cups, three UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups. If the numbers aren't impressive enough, they are all English records!
Jurgen Klopp led them to be crowned Premier League Champions in the 2019/2020 season, it was a sensational season, Liverpool where on fire all through the season. They won it by an incredible 22 point lead. Jurgen Klop also lead them to their most recent Champions League win against Liverpool in the 2019 season.
In 2005 they pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history by beating AC Milan 3-2 in Istanbul. The entire match is still on YouTube, it's well worth re-watching. It's one of the reasons they're on this list of the best football teams in the world. The atmosphere in that stadium was electric, it really was.
They're one of the most valuable and widely supported clubs in world football. They have a huge following in the UK, Europe, Asia and The Americas.
| Trophy Type | Trophies Won |
| Domestic: | 52 |
| International: | 14 |
Manchester United
Quite possibly the most famous club in the world, they're not quite as good as they used to be. But, they're still feared and respected by their peers. Most of their success comes from years upon years of dominating the domestic competitions.
They famously won a domestic treble in 1998 - 1999 season, they become the first and to date, the only English side to have won the famous 3 trophy run. The club were originally formed in 1878 but it wasn't until 1902 that they we're re-named to the Manchester United we know today.
Over the years they've had some super successful players, most notably 'the class of 92' which consisted of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers. Over the span of their impressive careers they did exceptional things and won loads of competitions.
Ofcourse, most of Manchester United's success is down to the one and only Sir Alex Ferguson. Some Football fans argue that he's possibly the greatest football manager ever, but thats up for debate. It’s worth noting though, that over his time at the helm of Manchester United, Sir Alex built and rebuilt his team multiple times. Very few managers, if any have had the ability to do so and continue to maintain the same levels of consistency and incredibly high standards Sir Alex demanded.
The 1999 Champions League Final vs Bayern Munich was absolutely amazing. I have always had a soft spot for Manchester United but never actually support them. That game still gives me chills to this day. As a football fan, that game was so impactful for anyone who watched it. What a class team and world class manager, a truly historic moment in time. At the time it also felt alot like it was England VS Germany.
| Trophy Type | Trophies Won |
| Domestic: | 58 |
| International: | 8 |
Real Madrid
Real Madrid is one of the biggest teams in the world, it's also one of the best. When you look at the numbers it's one of, if not the most widely supported teams internationally.
It's not just the number of fans that's impressive, it's also worth an estimated $5.1 billion as of 2022, which makes it world's most valuable football team. A crown that was held by United for many years. It was the second highest-earning football club in the world, with an annual revenue of €640.7 million, again in 2022.
So, it's got the fans and it's got the money, but has it got the trophies to prove it's one of the greatest clubs? For sure it has, it's got 89 trophies to it's name which is an incredible achievement.
Over the years Real Madrid has had some incredible players grace the Santiago Bernabeu stadium including David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. David Beckhams time at Real Madrid helped firmly cement they're reputation on the world stage. In his last season at the club he played an important part in winning La Liga.
At that time the Champions League competition started Real Madrid were really the only 'fully' professionalised football club in the world and one of the only sides in the world with foreign stars. This made it quite easy for them to win back to back competitions, 5 in a row to be exact, but that's not to take anything away from their incredible achievements.
They also have a trick up their sleeve, they are still fan owned. Which makes them one of the last major fan owned clubs in the world. They're not owned by any corporation, individual or conglomerate and I hope that continues!
| Trophy Type | Trophies Won |
| Domestic: | 68 |
| International: | 21 |
Final Thoughts
Real Madrid are one of the most successful clubs ever. I'd argue that teams like Barcelona, Man Utd, Liverpool, Bayern and especially AC Milan with their insane number of trophies have had to work a hell of a lot harder for their success in Europe compared to Real Madrid. I'd even argue that they are probably better clubs overall.
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