30 Best Football Teams in the World [Ranked]

What makes a team the best in the world? It’s a rather subjective question. Sure, the number of wins and trophies a club has won in recent times can be a good indicator, but in a sport where anyone could beat anyone, it feels like a tough task to pick just one team that trumps the rest. After all, comparing teams from different leagues requires pure guesswork.

As a prime example, Manchester United have never locked horns with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. And while many may think the former would easily come out on top, it’s practically impossible to know for sure. Admittedly, it’s opinionated and there is technically no right or wrong answer – but everyone could use some help from the folks over at Opta, who have calculated (and recently updated) their Power Rankings.

Using an Elo algorithm which analyses results from over 2.5 million games, a rating is then assigned to that team, which is comparable to other sides across the world. Points are determined by in-league ratings, the overall rating of a division, a country’s rating, among others, and the rating of the continent a team plays in. With all that in mind, here are the 30 best teams in world football as things stand, how well they’ve performed in competitions in seasons gone by and exactly why they are placed where they are.

World’s Best Teams: 30th-21st

Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen and Flamengo feature

REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Kicking off this list, in 30th, 29th, 28th, and 27th and within 0.4 points of each other are Nottingham Forest, Cesc Fabregas’ Como, Bodo/Glimt and Union Saint-Gilloise.

Flamengo – South America’s most followed football club – are the 26th best team in the world and the only side from outside of Europe to feature in the top 30. Roma and Club Brugge are ahead of the Brazilian giants in 25th and 24th respectively.

In 23rd is Tottenham, who feature despite only just avoiding relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the 2025/26 season. The new season hasn’t seen them start too well, either, but their rating of 91.7 is level with Newcastle United and just 0.1 points shy of Leeds United.Leeds enjoyed a decent campaign back in the Premier League as they finished 14th. Daniel Farke’s side will be looking to push for European qualification this time round after finding themselves in seventh after their first seven matches.

World’s Best Teams: 20th-11th

Man United, Newcastle, and Leeds included

Everton are ranked at number 20 following their failure to qualify for European football (which has become an expectation at their Hill Dickinson Stadium since the arrival of a promising new ownership), just behind Portuguese duo Sporting CP and Benfica.

Benfica are one of four teams that share a 92.2 rating, with the other three being Premier League outfit Bournemouth and Bundesliga duo Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen.

Brentford, who continue to pull off upset after upset with Keith Andrews at the helm, are currently the 14th best side in the world, according to data. Imagine saying that when they were languishing in League Two just two decades ago! Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side follow them in 13th.

Manchester United are barely clinging on to their place in 12th as, while a third-place finish in the Premier League was secured after an impressive 11 wins in 16 games under Michael Carrick last season, they have managed just two victories in nine this time around.

Inter Milan also just miss out on a top 10 spot.

World’s Best Teams: 10th-1st

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal beaten by Bayern Munich to top spot

REUTERS/Phil Noble via Action Images

The top 10 are made up of the crème de la crème of world football, though every team here – unsurprisingly – resides in Europe. Reigning Europa League champions Aston Villa kick things off. They are followed by Chelsea, with their happy-go-lucky spending seeing them start the season well under new manager Xabi Alonso.

Real Madrid sit in eighth, with a 95.3 rating, despite going trophyless for a second consecutive season. The returning Jose Mourinho will be hoping to guide Los Blancos to success in 2026/27, but early season form suggests even the Special One can’t work an overnight miracle on football’s most successful side.

REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo

Brighton are, statistically, a better side than Real Madrid. Fabian Hurzeler’s side have made a blistering start to their Premier League campaign, having picked up 16 points from their opening seven matches, scoring 23 goals along the way.

Premier League giants Liverpool are in 6th, with the Reds holding a 95.8 rating despite a poor campaign in which they went trophyless and also conceded a record amount of goals. But their squad is still strong, and they’ll be hoping to bounce back under Andoni Iraola this season.

Surprisingly, Paris Saint-Germain are ranked in fifth. Luis Enrique’s side were exceptional again last season as they were crowned French champions and also successfully retained their Champions League title with victory over Arsenal in Budapest.

Spanish champions Barcelona follow in front. Hansi Flick’s side claimed a second consecutive league title after a fine campaign, in which they scored an exceptional 95 goals, and won all 19 of their home games.

Man City come in at third in the rankings, with a rating of 98.6, after completing the domestic double by winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup last season. Enzo Maresca will be looking to establish City as the best team in the world once more after replacing Pep Guardiola at the helm, with the Cityzens comfortably holding top spot in England as things stand.

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich take second spot, with a 99.2 rating. Vincent Kompany’s side had a record-breaking 2025/26 campaign, with their incredible attacking unit of Harry Kane, Luis Diaz, Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, and Jamal Musiala putting teams to the sword throughout.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are statistically the best football team in the world, despite an agonising defeat to PSG in the Champions League final. The Gunners, who claimed their first Premier League title in 22 years, have one of the best defences in Europe, but also scored well over 100 goals in all competitions this season to reach a perfect score.