The Ten Greatest Soccer Nations

Soccer, Sports

The greatest soccer nations in the history of the sport, ranked by overall success on the world stage across generations. Rankings take into account World Cup, Confederation, Euro, Copa America, and Olympic finishes, as well as current FIFA ranking, famous countrymen, and national league prowess.

1) Brazil
Current FIFA Ranking: 2
Hardware: 5 World Cups (11 semifinal appearances), 4 Confederations Cups, 8 Copa Americas
Top Club League: Brasileirão

 

2) Germany
Current FIFA Ranking: 1
Hardware: 4 World Cups (13 semifinal appearances), 3 Euro Cups, 1 Olympic gold medal (East Germany)
Top Club League: Bundesliga

 

3)  Italy
Current FIFA Ranking: 20
Hardware: 4 World Cups (8 semifinal appearances), 1 Euro Cup, 1 Olympic gold medal
Top Club League: Serie A

 

4)  France
Current FIFA Ranking: 7
Hardware: 2 World Cup (6 semifinal appearances), 2 Confederations Cups, 2 Euro Cups, 1 Olympic gold medal
Top Club League: Ligue 1

 

5)  Argentina
Current FIFA Ranking: 5
Hardware: 2 World Cups (5 semifinal appearances), 1 Confederations Cup, 14 Copa Americas, 2 Olympic gold medals
Top Club League: Argentine Primera División

 

6)  Spain
Current FIFA Ranking: 8
Hardware: 1 World Cup (2 semifinal appearances), 3 Euro Cups, 1 Olympic gold medal
Top Club League: La Liga

Greatest Players: Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Emilio Butragueno, Telmo Zarra, Luis Suárez, Amancio, László Kubala, Francisco Gento, Iker Casillas, Ricardo Zamora, David Villa, Carlos Puyol

 

7)  England
Current FIFA Ranking: 13
Hardware: 1 World Cup (3 semifinal appearances), 3 Olympic gold medals
Top Club League: Premier League

 

8)  Uruguay
Current FIFA Ranking: 17
Hardware: 2 World Cups (5 semifinal appearances), 15 Copa Americas, 2 Olympic gold medals
Top Club League: Primera División Uruguaya

 

9)  Netherlands
Current FIFA Ranking: 19
Hardware: 1 Euro Cup, 5 World Cup semifinal appearances
Top Club League: Eredivisie

 

10)  Portugal
Current FIFA Ranking: 4
Hardware: 2 World Cup semifinal appearances, 2004 Euro Cup runner-up
Top Club League: Primiera Liga

5 Comments

  1. This is a list about title-wins right? How can it then be, that Uruguay is below Spain and England, when they have 1 World Cup more, alot more continental title-wins (15 times Copa America)and also more Olympic Gold medals than for example Spain????? I must ask – is this a list about victories in the last 25 years or is this a list about all titles, how the list is named? Only because Spain and England are bigger names in football today than Uruguay, doesn’t give them the right, to be on a higher position in this list. And how the heck can England even be on this list with only 1 World Cup and no Euro Cup? The time when England was a great nation in football is a long time ago, would be better, when even english-speaking people would have recognized that in the meantime.

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  3. Real and fair list, when titles count, must be this here:
    1) Brazil (most WM titles with 5)
    2) Germany (same number of WM titles than Italy but more Euro Titles)
    3) Italy
    4) Uruguay (2 WM titles but 15 Copas against 14 Copas of Argentina)
    5) Argentina (also 2 WM titles like France but 14 Copas against 2 Euros)
    6) France
    7) Spain (1 WM like England but 3 Euros)
    8) England (3 olympic gold medals don’t count much in this sport, sorry)
    9) Netherlands (all the time fantastic players, but have not won much)
    10) Portugal

    This and only THIS is the true list, when counting only things that are important in football (WM-title/Euro-title/Copa-Title). The olympic gold-medals are nice, but everybody knows that often the countries only play with B-teams there and NOT with the best possible team that they could sent there. Therefore olympic gold is not one of the most important awards here in soccer, unlike to most other sports where a gold-medal is the biggest thing ever that you can win in your kind of sport.

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