In brief
Opta’s Power Rankings have ranked the top 20 football leagues worldwide.
The English Championship barely makes it into the top 10, which is dominated by the main leagues in European football.
Because Serie B is ranked higher, the Saudi Pro League is left out.
What constitutes a good football league depends on many different things. Does the competition have the highest revenue? Is this division the most competitive? Which one is more likely to make an impression at continental events, or which one has the best players? It is nearly impossible to determine with certainty who should be ranked first because there are so many factors involved.
The term “almost” is crucial here because Opta’s professionals have succeeded in doing just that. The analysts have narrowed down all of the leagues in the globe to the top 20 using their exclusive Power Rankings formula. To get an idea of the relative strength of the competition, they calculate the average power ranking of each team in the corresponding division.
The Saudi Pro League is among the leagues that fall outside of the top 20 since its rankings are based on averages. The division is considered as the 33rd greatest league in the world, even with the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo and numerous other wealthy celebrities.
Top 20 Leagues Worldwide
Rank
League
Rankings
1.
Premier League of England
87.9
2.
Serie A in Italy
86.2
3.
Bundesliga in Germany
86.2
4.
La Liga in Spain
85.1
5.
Ligue 1 in France
85.1
6.
Serie A in Brazil
80.8
7.
Primeira Liga in Portugal
80.1
8.
The Belgian Professional League
79.2
9.
The US MLS
78.2
10.
The English Championship
77.6
11.
Argentina’s Professional Liga
77.5
12.
Superligaen in Denmark
77.4
13.
The Dutch Eredivisie
77.3
14.
Liga MX
77.6
15.
First League of the Czech Republic
76.5
16.
Ekstraklasa in Poland
76.4
17.
Bundesliga Zwei in Germany
76.3
18.
Super Lig in Turkey
76
19.
Serie B in Italy
76
20.
The Swiss Super League
75.9
Top League picture collection
20Swiss Super League
Switzerland
Even though they are playing in this season’s newly formed Champions League, the Swiss Super League, which is home to teams who are well-known to fans of European football like FC Basel and BSC Young Boys, barely made it into the top 20.
The Swiss Super League consists of 12 teams who compete against one another four times a season. Although they have won 27 trophies, Grasshopper is the most successful team in the division. However, Basel and other teams have been dominant in recent years, and they haven’t taken home a league trophy since 2003.
19 Italy’s Serie B
Serie B, the first of three divisions on this list that are not the top tier in their respective countries, comes after the Swiss League. Three teams in the division receive promotion annually, and certain historic teams have played in Serie B, such as Sampdoria, Palermo, and Sassuolo in the 2024–2025 season.
Palermo and Atalanta have each won the trophy five times, but no team has yet to surpass Genoa’s record of six Serie B championships. The latter’s most recent title win was in 2011, which only serves to highlight how much better they’ve gotten in the intervening years. They are now regular contenders for European football in Serie A.
18 Turkey Super Lig
Even if the national press has occasionally made fun of him, Jose Mourinho has had an impact on the Turkish Super Lig since joining Fenerbahce. They are ranked 18th in these rankings, and as all three teams are headquartered in Istanbul, matches between Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Besiktas are always exciting.
The division is already more than 60 years old, and it may come as no surprise that the clubs in the capital city have dominated it. Besiktas has won the Super Lig 16 times, although six other teams have taken home the championship. This is three fewer than Fenerbahce’s 19 victories, which are five fewer than Galatasaray’s 24 league trophies over the years.
17. 2. Germany’s Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga, Germany’s second football league, which English supporters commonly refer to as Bundesliga 2, is in 17th position. With teams like Hamburg, Kaiserslautern, Hannover 96, Hertha Berlin, and Schalke having all played in the league, the 2. Bundesliga has been a breeding ground for past titans, particularly in recent years.
The 2. Bundesliga has 18 teams, two of which are promoted automatically at the end of each season, much like the football league to which other clubs strive for advancement. Every season, the team that finishes third faces the team that ended 16th in the Bundesliga in a play-off match. The winner of the match either maintains their position or advances to the top flight.
16 Ekstraklasa
Poland
The 2.Bundesliga’s ranking drops the Polish Ekstraklasa, which has made some incredible strides in recent months, to 16th place. The home of teams like Lech Poznan and Legia Warszaw was as low as 30th in the same rankings at the beginning of the season, but their enhanced quality has caused them to soar up the table.
With all but four of the 15 titles won since the 1990s, Legia Warsaw is the most successful team in the league’s history. Although neither Gornik Zabrze nor Ruch Chorzow have won the league since the late 1980s, they both have 14 trophies between them. With their most recent 11 titles in 2011, Wisla Krakow is the only other team to have won the league more than ten times.
15Czech First League
Czech Republic
The Czech First League, where Slavia Prague, Viktoria Plzen, and Sparta Prague are vying for the top spot, is three quarters of the way down the top 20. Since the division’s inception in 1993, the Prague teams have dominated it; in the last 32 years, the trophy has been held in the city 21 times, with Slavia winning seven and Sparta 14.
The 2018–19 season saw a reformation of the division, with the top six teams forming a group at the end of the season to contend for the championship. Teams ranked 7th through 10th compete for a spot in the Europa League, while the remaining teams, ranging from 11th to 16th, try to avoid the drop, which three teams may have to deal with.
14 Liga MX Mexico
Liga MX, the first non-European league to emerge, comes after that. It is a modest dip from the pre-season position of 11th for Mexico’s top flight, but it still maintains an amazing standing, demonstrating the incredible advances that have occurred elsewhere in the world.
The Liga MX, which is composed of 18 teams, is divided into two competitions from July to December (the Apertura) and January to May (the Clausara), which correspond to the FIFA season schedule. With 16 titles, America is the most successful team in league history. Guadalajara and Toluca, with 12 and 10 trophies, respectively, are not far behind.
13 The Netherlands’ European Division
The fact that the Eredivisie is in 13th merely highlights its regrettable decline. Since the Eredivisie’s founding in 1956, the major three teams—Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, and Feyenoord—have controlled the competition and have never been demoted.
The league, which was formerly home to giants like Ajax in the 1980s that dominated European football, has seen a sharp collapse in recent years. For football historians, this is especially devastating because Dutch teams are unlikely to return to the top of the game very soon due to financial resources abroad.
12Superligaen
Denmark
Established in 1991 to replace the Danish top flight, the Superligaen, or simply the Superliga in English, is the top division of Danish football and consists of 12 teams. Since the mid-1990s, the league has operated according to its present structure, in which the top six teams advance to a championship play-off at the end of the regular season while the lowest six teams fight to escape the two relegation spots.
Since its inception, Copenhagen has dominated the Superliga, winning the championship 15 times, with only one of those victories occurring prior to the year 2000. AaB and defending champions Midtjylland have each won the trophy four times, while Brondy has won seven league titles, snapping a nearly 15-year hiatus in 2021.
11 Professional Argentine Liga
Ranked ahead of the Superligaen by just 0.1 power ranking points is the Liga Profesional, the home of top flight football in Argentina. The division has a rich history, stretching over 100 years since its founding in the 1890s. 30 teams compete in the league, with some of the most famous including River Plate, Newell’s Old Boys, Racing Club and of course, Boca Juniors.
River Plate have been the most successful side in the division to date, having won 38 league titles between 1920 and 2023. Just behind them, with 35 trophies, are Boca Juniors, with a massive 17-trophy deficit between themselves and Racing Club in third.
10Championship
England
With the Championship playing exceptionally well to earn such a high ranking, the top second league in international football makes an appearance at number ten. English powerhouses like Leicester City and Leeds United playing in the country’s second division during the last 12 months have greatly contributed to this accomplishment.
The Championship, which is frequently cited as one of the world’s most competitive leagues, promises incredibly tough seasons each year, with teams constantly fighting for promotion or avoiding relegation. The 2023–24 season saw Leicester win their ninth second-tier title, a record no other team has yet to surpass.
9 United States Major League Soccer
Unquestionably, the Lionel Messi effect has taken hold in the US, as the highest-paid player in the league has helped MLS rank in the top 10. Since coming to America, Messi has been the focus of innumerable eyes as he plays football in the top division alongside former Barcelona colleagues Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets.
Like many American football leagues, 30 teams are split into two conferences, the Western and the Eastern, and participate in a tournament at the end of the season to determine the overall victor. The LA Galaxy are the most successful team in MLS history to date, having won six MLS Cups.
Belgium’s eighth Belgian Pro League
The Belgian Pro League, which includes some European powerhouses like Club Brugge and Anderlecht, is ranked seventh on the power rankings list. Established in 1895, the league has been around for 130 years and has 16 teams per season. While the 14th-place club is vying for a play-off match against the third-place team in the second division, the two teams at the bottom of the table are instantly demoted.
With 34 trophies, Anderlecht is the only team with three stars on their badge. They receive one star for each ten league titles they win. Union Saint-Gilloise and Standard Liege are the only other two clubs to have won the league ten or more times, although Club Brugge has the second-most wins (19), still 15 behind the top winners.
7th Premier League of Portugal
Given its potential to place in the top five, the Portuguese Primeira Liga’s participation at number seven is unexpected. With teams like Porto, Benfica, and Sporting Lisbon that have amazing histories, this once-great league is about to make a comeback to the spotlight.
The league has been in existence for more than 90 years, and the three players described above are known as the “Big Three” in Portugal. Belenenses and Boavista are the only other winners in the league, which has been dominated by one of those three teams for all but two of its nearly 100-year existence.
6 Brazil’s Serie A
The highest-ranked league outside of Europe is the Brazilian Serie A, which moves up to sixth position. Memphis Depay is among the league’s most notable newcomers, and a recent surge of youthful talent, featuring players like Endrick and Estevao Willian, has reinvigorated the Samba nation’s reputation as a club football hotspot.
Naturally, Neymar’s return to his boyhood club Santos after ending his spell in Saudi Arabia made him the largest recent addition to Serie A. Despite not winning the league in more than two decades, Santos is really the second-most successful team in Serie A history with eight trophies. With 12 trophies to their name, Palmeiras is actually the top team in terms of trophy count.
5Ligue 1
France
We encounter the finest of the best as we move into the top five. Some of the world’s top football players compete in France’s Ligue 1, which ranks fifth. Even though PSG hasn’t won a Champions League title yet, they’re still a very good team, and the league is an excellent division with teams like OGC Nice, Lille, and Marseille all playing.
Ligue 1 has been played between 18 teams since the 2023–2024 season and is still regarded as a top football league. PSG has risen to the top of the domestic success ratings as a result of their recent domination. With 12 titles, they are ahead of teams like Saint-Etienne (10), Marseille (9), Monaco and Nantes (8), and Lyon (7).
4La Liga
Spain
La Liga comes in fourth place after Ligue 1, even though Real Madrid won the 2023–2024 Champions League. The two titans of the league, Madrid and Barcelona, are frequently regarded as the best teams in the world of football. On the other hand, teams like Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, and Villarreal ensure that every season is competitive.
With 36 and 27 trophies, respectively, Madrid and Barcelona are, predictably, the two teams with the most La Liga victories. Atletico, who won their 11th league title in the 2020–21 season, is in second place.
German Bundesliga 3
Germany’s Bundesliga, which is ranked third and on the podium but not quite in the top two, has benefited greatly by Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League final appearance and Xabi Alonso’s historic performance with Bayer Leverkusen. Even though this has made the division stronger overall, Bayern Munich supporters, who are accustomed to having a monopoly on domestic competitions, will not be pleased.
With an incredible 32 Bundesliga titles under their belt, Bayern has long been accustomed to winning domestic hardware. Eleven of those, from 2012 to 2023, broke the Big Five League record for the most consecutive league titles. Dortmund, in contrast, has only won five crowns, which puts them in second place for the most league wins.
2 Italy in Serie A
Serie A is in second position. Even if Juventus is no longer among the top teams on the continent, the league still finishes in third position. Rather, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Napoli—who advanced to the Champions League final in 22–23—have been at the top of the division in recent years. In the same season, Fiorentina lost the Europa Conference League final and AS Roma lost the Europa League final. Thus, there has been some success for the league in Europe.
Juventus has more league titles than any other Serie A team with 36, but they haven’t taken home the trophy since the 2019–20 campaign. The Milan teams rank behind them; Inter Milan has one more Serie A championship than their bitter rivals AC Milan, who have 20 and 19 titles, respectively.
1Premier League
England
Nobody is surprised to learn that the English Premier League is ranked as the world’s top league, and with good cause. The category has the most valuable clubs and players. England is home to players like Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, and Erling Haaland who can play for any side in the globe.
Three of the last seven Champions League winners were English clubs, demonstrating how English clubs have recently dominated Europe. The league is also very deep, with both the top teams and several of the lower-ranked teams having excellent players.
Perhaps the biggest sporting shock in history occurred in the Premier League when Leicester City won the 2015–16 championship. However, with eight Premier League titles won by Man City and thirteen by Manchester United under the renowned Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester is the city with the most trophies.
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