All-Time Club Rankings by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (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 5^th 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 (6^th), Inter Milan (7^th), River Plate (8^th), Arsenal (9^th), and Porto (10^th). Further down the list, Italian club Parma is incredibly ranked 12^th, right behind Ajax Amsterdam and their huge cup gallery, but in front of clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool (13^th and 14^th). 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).

By the way, 6 other Italian teams make the IFFHS ranking: Torino (57^th), Sampdoria (70^th), Fiorentina (80^th), Bologna (97^th), Genoa (105^th) and Vicenza (185^th).

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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Rank	Club		Nation	Points
1		Barcelona	Spain	670
2		Juventus	Italy	584
3		Manchester United	England	579
4		Real Madrid	Spain	570
5		AC Milan	Italy	547
6		Bayern Munich	Germany	509
7		Inter Milan	Italy	488
8		River Plate	Argentina	475
9		Arsenal	England	472
10		Porto	Portugal	405
11		Ajax Amsterdam	Netherlands	400
12		Parma	Italy	373
13		Chelsea	England	350
14		Liverpool	England	344
15		Lazio	Italy	342
16		Valencia	Spain	338
17		Boca Juniors	Argentina	329
18		AS Roma	Italy	319
19		Rangers	Scotland	308
20		São Paulo	Brazil	290
21	Borussia Dortmund		Germany	285
22	Paris Saint-Germain		France	284
23	Spartak Moscow		Russia	278
24	AS Monaco		France	277
25	Club Brugge		Belgium	260
	Lyon		France	260
27	Atletico Madrid		Spain	255
	Deportivo La Coruña		Spain	255
29	Celtic		Scotland	236
30	Feyenoord Rotterdam		Netherlands	227
31	Werder Bremen		Germany	226
32	CD América Cali		Colombia	225
33	Colo Colo		Chile	222
34	Benfica		Portugal	221
35	Grêmio		Brazil	212
36	AJ Auxerre		France	204
37	Newcastle United		England	197
38	Cruzeiro		Brazil	194
39	PSV Eindhoven		Netherlands	192
40	Olimpia Asunción		Paraguay	188
41	Galatasaray SK		Turkey	187
42	Anderlecht		Belgium	182
43	Marseille		France	181
44	Palmeiras		Brazil	162
45	Bayer Leverkusen		Germany	159
46	Vélez Sarsfield		Argentina	153
47	Universidad Católica		Chile	149
48	Nacional Montevideo		Uruguay	142
	Schalke 04		Germany	142
50	Bordeaux		France	139
	Zaragoza		Spain	139
52	Sparta Prague		Czech Republic	138
53	FC Nantes		France	136
54	Cerro Porteño		Paraguay	135
55	Nacional Medellín		Colombia	130
56	Vasco da Gama		Brazil	127
57	Torino		Italy	126
58	Dynamo Kiev		Ukraina	123
59	Panathinaikos		Greece	113
60	Flamengo		Brazil	112
61	Santos FC		Brazil	111
62	San Lorenzo		Argentina	107
	Slavia Prague		Czech Republic	107
64	Red Star Belgrade		Serbia	105
65	Mallorca		Spain	103
66	Corinthians		Brazil	95
67	Real Betis		Spain	93
68	Sevilla FC		Spain	91
69	Leeds United		England	87
70	Sampdoria		Italy	83
71	Eintracht Frankfurt		Germany	76
72	VfB Stuttgart		Germany	75
73	Villarreal CF		Spain	74
74	AEK Athens		Greece	73
	CSKA Moscow		Russia	73
76	Lokomotive Moscow		Russia	72
77	Olympiakos Piräus		Greece	69
78	Peñarol Montevideo		Uruguay	68
	Internacional Porto Alegre		Brazil	68
80	Fiorentina		Italy	64
81	Atletico Mineiro		Brazil	57
82	AZ Alkmaar		Netherlands	56
	Steaua Bucarest		Romania	56
	Lille		France	56
85	Tottenham		England	55
86	Rapid Bucarest		Romania	51
87	Independiente		Argentina	50
	Espanyol		Spain	50
89	São Caetano		Brazil	48
	Sporting Lisbon		Portugal	48
91	Hamburger SV		Germany	46
92	Kaiserslautern		Germany	43
	Beşiktaş SK		Turkey	43
94	Club América Mexico		Mexico	40
	RC Lens		France	40
	Borussia Mönchengladbach		Germany	40
97	Boavista		Portugal	39
	Bologna		Italy	39
	Cienciano del Cusco		Peru	39
	CD Guadalajara		Mexico	39
	Karlsruher SC		Germany	39
	Celta Vigo		Spain	39
103	Newell’s Old Boys		Argentina	38
104	Austria SV Salzburg		Austria	37
	Genoa		Italy	37
106	Everton		England	36
107	Universidad de Chile		Chile	35
108	Tenerife		Spain	34
	Strasbourg		France	34
110	Rosario Central		Argentina	33
	FC Basel		Switzerland	33
112	Shakhtar Donetsk		Ukraina	32
	SIGMA Olomouc		Czech Republic	32
	Palermo		Italy	32
115	CS Emelec Guayaquil		Ecuador	31
116	Atlético Morelia		Mexico	30
	RC Genk		Belgium	30
	Rosenborg BK		Norge	30
	Udinese		Italy	30
120	Bolívar La Paz		Bolivia	29
	Fluminense		Brazil	29
122	Fenerbahçe SK		Turkey	28
123	Banfield		Argentina	27
	Lanús		Argentina	27
	Once Caldas Manizales		Colombia	27
	Sporting Cristal Lima		Peru	27
127	Club Libertad Asunción		Paraguay	26
128	Deportivo Cali		Colombia	25
	Cagliari		Italy	25
	Rapid Wien		Austria	25
131	Nottingham Forest		England	24
	Standard Liège		Belgium	24
133	Perugia		Italy	23
	Barcelona SC Guayaquil		Ecuador	23
	Fulham		England	23
	LDA Alajuela		Costa Rica	23
	Napoli		Italy	23
138	MTK Budapest		Hungary	22
139	Universitario Lima		Peru	21
140	Bolton		England	20
141	Baník Ostrava		Czech Republic	19
	Santiago Wanderers		Chile	19
143	Atletico Paranaense		Brazil	18
	National SC Cairo		Egypt	18
145	Aberdeen		Scotland	17
146	Brøndby IF		Denmark	16
	LD Universitario de Quito		Ecuador	16
	RC Avellaneda		Argentina	16
149	Rayo Vallecano		Spain	15
	CPD Junior Barranquilla		Colombia	15
151	Estudiantes La Plata		Argentina	12
	Sochaux		France	12
	Legia Warsaw		Poland	12
	Málaga		Spain	12
	Roda JC		Netherlands	12
156	Paysandu SC Belem		Brazil	11
	Rotor Wolgograd		Russia	11
	Slovan Liberec		Czech Republic	11
159	AA Gent		Belgium	10
	Cruz Azul		Mexico	10
	Dynamo Bucarest		Romania	10
	Hertha Berlin		Germany	10
163	Antwerp FC		Belgium	9
	SK Hradek Králové		Czech Republic	9
165	CD Cobreloa Calama		Chile	8
	Sporting Gijon		Spain	8
167	Club Alianza Lima		Peru	7
	BK København		Denmark	7
	Hapoel Tel-Aviv		Israel	7
170	Slovan Bratislava		Slovenia	7
171	Aston Villa		England	6
	Norwich City		England	6
	Odense BK		Denmark	6
	Real Sociedad		Spain	6
	Trabzonspor		Turkey	6
176	Ferencvárosi TC		Hungary	5
	Levski Sofia		Bulgaria	5
	Hajduk Split		Croatia	5
	Sheffield Wednesday		England	5
180	Estudiantes de Merida		Venezuela	4
	FC Metz		France	4
	Goias		Brazil	4
	Maccabi Haifa		Israel	4
	Panionios		Greece	4
	Vicenza		Italy	4
	Vitesse Arnhem		Netherlands	4
187	Austria Wien		Austria	3
	Middlesbrough		England	3
189	Partizan Belgrade		Serbia	2
	GKS Katowice		Poland	2
191	PAOK Saloniki		Greece	1

Posted in English Premiership, Fiorentina, Genoa, German Bundesliga, Spanish Liga |

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm and is filed under English Premiership, Fiorentina, Genoa, German Bundesliga, Spanish Liga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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18 Responses to “All-Time Club Rankings by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS)”

1. karna says:

   January 6, 2008 at 5:46 am

   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…….
2. KyleAusGooner says:

   January 6, 2008 at 6:31 am

   Rangers, 19th!?!?! and worse Spurs at 85th.. Faarrk Off!!
3. Liverpool_Fan says:

   January 6, 2008 at 8:57 am

   if it only considers from 1991 then it should be called the from 1991-2007 club rankings instead of the “All-Time Club Rankings”
4. Marco Pantanella says:

   January 6, 2008 at 9:06 am

   Amen to that, Liverpool_Fan. But I don’t make the rules at the IFFHS.
5. Juv3ntus466 says:

   January 6, 2008 at 11:02 am

   HAHAHAHA! Quality! I guess they didn’t count the fact that we played in Serie B last term either did they =p
6. Jay Maniyar says:

   January 6, 2008 at 11:42 am

   I 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…..
7. UpeyKAKA says:

   January 6, 2008 at 6:30 pm

   why 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.
8. WiKeD says:

   January 7, 2008 at 1:35 am

   ..Reckon this is rigged. Anyway,

   Dont think I did this but:-

   HAPPY NEW YEAR FOOLS

   never too late. only a week

   Out
9. JamieOWLshaw says:

   January 7, 2008 at 9:06 am

   WEDNESDAY!!!! go on you owls we’ll be back in premiership in no time :p (i wish) Sheffield Wednesday till i die
10. Andrei says:

    January 7, 2008 at 9:33 am

    I 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
11. Liverpool_Fan says:

    January 7, 2008 at 11:01 am

    im 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
12. Johnny says:

    January 7, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    River Plate #8 and Boca Juniors #17 ? Are you sure ? WTF !
13. karna says:

    January 8, 2008 at 4:08 am

    top four?based on what criteria…now thats what i would cal a real joke
14. Subhankar Mondal says:

    January 8, 2008 at 7:43 am

    I 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.
15. lwe says:

    January 8, 2008 at 9:04 am

    are africans not part of the world
16. Mehdi says:

    January 9, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    What 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.
17. ze says:

    January 17, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    FC 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
18. liverpool_fan says:

    November 21, 2009 at 11:38 am

    ay
    liverpool
    4 champions league
    8 uefa cup
    2 intercontinental cup
    3 european supercup
    20 english