For more than the Century in history of World football, it has been created a lot of greatness to be memorized and football has still been the most popular sports in the World. The first official tournament of the World competition refers to the 1908 Olympic Games and the Olympic Games before World Cup era is considered as the highest football tournament in the World. The first ever FIFA World Cup was held in 1930. However, the standard of World Cup between 1930 and 1950 was not high as the later tournaments due to disappearance of many top nations.
“Lions of Teranga” Senegal is one of the most popular African teams in the modern era. It was affiliated to FIFA and CAF and played the first international match during the early 1960s. Senegal's first appearance in the African Nations Cup was in 1965 and was able to finish fourth place in the tournament. However, Senegal was not a regular member in African Cup of nation final tournament until the 1990s. In 2002, it is the greatest year in history of Senegal football after they reached their best achievement in continental level with African Cup of nation runner-up after lost on penalties as well as reaching quarter-final in the 2002 FIFA World Cup despite it is their first participation. All of this are the symbol of their golden era in the early 2000s. Senegal also holds the record most winners in Amilcar Cabral Cup.
Zone : West Africa
Stadium : Stade Felix Houphouet Boigny (35,000 Seats)
All-Time FIFA World Cup Table : 48th
All-Time African Cup of Nation Table : 5th
West Africa Zone I Championship : WN (3), RN (1)
African Cup of Nation : WN (2), RN (2), 3rd (4), 4th (2),
QF (9), R12 (3), R16 (3)
FIFA World Cup Qualifying : FN(3), QF(4), R12(2), R16(1)
FIFA World Cup : R20 (2), R24 (1)
All-Time Top Scorer : Didier Drogba (65 Goals)
The Greatest Player Ever : Didier Drogba
The Greatest Manager Ever : Henri Michel
Bolivia national team was first affiliated to FIFA and CONMEBOL
in 1926. In the same year, they entered to lay in South American Championship
as their first ever international match. It was one of the founding members of
FIFA World Cup final tournament in 1930. Bolivia withdrew to play in South
American champions for ten tournaments between 1929 and 1959. In their second
participation in the 1950 World Cup, it is still no point for them after lost
in all games. In 1963, Bolivia built the victory to win their only South
American Champion in the history. The real golden age of the team was during
the mid 1990s, Bolivia took advantage for their accustoming to play in very
high altitude above sea level to win many home games until qualified for the
1994 World Cup and it is the golden generation to play in the period. They
finally won one point in World Cup after draw a game. The golden age was ended
in 1997 when they finished second place in Copa America.
47. Turkey
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1923UEFA Euro : SF (1), QF (2), R16 (2), R20 (2), R24 (4)
The Highest Elo Rating : 9th (Nov 2002)
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The Highest Elo Rating : 11th (Mar 2013)
Ecuador national team is one of the successful South American
teams in the modern era. The affiliation to FIFA and CONMEBOL was created
during the mid 1920s. Ecuador played its first international match in 1938.They
first entered to play in South American championship in 1939. Their first
participation in a World Cup qualifying campaign was in the 1962 campaign. From
a historical viewpoint, Ecuador has been in the bottom level of the continental
standard. Their best place ever in Copa America is fourth place in 1959 and
1993. However, they finished third place in 1997 if consider result for only
South American nations. Their golden era came true in the 2000s, Ecuador has
become the top team in the continent and first qualified for World Cup of the
2002 tournament and could reach second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup as
their second participation. Ecuador won three games in the two final
tournaments.
The Highest Elo Rating : 8th (Dec 1981)
The Greatest Player Ever : Riyad Mahrez
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1876Stadium : Millennium (74,500 Seats)
"The Dragons" Wales played its first international
match with Scotland in 1876 and won the first international trophy at the 1907
British Home Championship. It became a member of FIFA in 1906 but withdrew from
FIFA matches since 1928 and re-affiliated in 1946. It also affiliated to UEFA
in 1954. Wales first played outside the British isles in 1933. Although Wales
never qualified for UEFA Euro final tournament until 2016, it would have
qualified for the model of 16 teams three times, achieving quarter-finalist in
1976. Wales achieved its longest winning streak at 6 game between 1980 and
1981. Between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, Wales declined to the bottom group
among European teams. In 2015, Wales Achieved its best ever FIFA Ranking at 8th
place as a result from performance in the 2016 UEFA Euro qualification, was
developed incrementally at 109 ranks from 117th in 2011.
QF(10), R12(4), R16(4)
The Highest Elo Rating : 24th (June 1978)
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2nd(1-A,1-B), SF(1), QF(4), R12(5), R16(1)
The Highest Elo Rating : 8th (Aug 2010)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Mahmoud El Gohary
“The Pharaohs” Egypt is the greatest African team of all-time in
history of African cup of nation as they hold the record most winners with
seven and place as number one in all-time African Cup of nation table. It
is also the only African nation to have ever achieved both top ten FIFA ranking
(2010) and Elo rating (2010). Egypt is the oldest team in Africa when it
first international match was held in 1920 and is the only African team to
affiliate to FIFA in the pre-war era in 1923. They first appeared to the
official match in the 1924 Olympic game. It is the first African team to
participate in World Cup final tournament in 1934. Egypt is one of the founding
members of CAF in 1957. It was a representative of the Africa in the 1954 FIFA
World Cup qualifying international play-off. Egypt won the first ever African
Cup of nation in 1957. They came back to enter in FIFA World Cup qualifying
round again in 1974 and they could qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup just
once time after the post-war era despite Egypt was known as “The King of
African Cup of Nation” . They hold the record most consecutive champions in
African Cup of nation with three between 2006 and 2010.
QF(4), R12(1), R16(3)
The Highest Elo Rating : 13th (June 1966)
The Greatest Player Ever : Osei Kofi
The Greatest Manager Ever : Milovan Rajevac
The Highest Elo Rating : 8th (Aug 2001, Mar 2002)
The Greatest Player Ever : Hidetoshi Nakata
The Greatest Manager Ever : Takeshi Okada
“Samurai” Japan national team is the only team in Asia & Oceania zone to ever achieve top
ten rank in both FIFA ranking (1998) and Elo Rating (2001). They played the first international match in 1917. It was
affiliated to FIFA in 1929 and was one of the founding members in AFC in 1954
before first participated in the FIFA World Cup qualification round in the same
year. The first major achievement in international football came in the 1968
Summer Olympics where the team won Bronze Medal as a record the only team for
the Asia to win medal. They also took part in AFC Asian Cup qualification for
the first time in the same year. However, the absence of a professional
domestic league hindered its growth and Japan did not enter to play in AFC
Asian Cup for many times until could qualify for the final tournament for the
first time in 1988 and won its first trophy in 1992 as host and finally became
the most champions in AFC Asian Cup. The professional J-League was formed in
1993 and this originated their greatness in the 2000s. Japan missed their first
appearance in World Cup final in the last minute in the same year before
finally won the first appearance in the 1998 tournament. Until the present,
Japan has become a regular member of FIFA World Cup final.
The Greatest Player Ever : Mehdi Madahvikia
The Highest Elo Rating : 9th (Nov 2001)
The Greatest Player Ever : Harry Kewell
Socceroos” The Australia national association football team is
the greatest Oceania team of all-time. Its first international match was he din
1922. It was first a membership of FIFA in 1963. For the 1966 FIFA World Cup
Final, It was the first time the team participated in qualification round and
placed together with Zone Asia. Australia always finished in the top-flight
ranking until they first appeared in the 1974 FIFA World Cup final and won one
point. Nevertheless, Australia was changed playing on their own zone in Oceania
and following by international play-off since 1983 and never qualified for
World Cup final even it was near missed several times until achieved the second
appearance in the 2006 tournament. Finally, they came back to Zone Asia again
in 2007 and first played in AFC Asian Cup in the same year. Their most top
footballers played in the famous clubs in the Europe. Australia currently holds
the world record for the largest win in an international match against American
Samoa with 31-0 in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying round.
Stadium : Windsor Park (24,374 Seats)
The Highest Elo Rating : 14th (May 1986)
QF(8), R12(8), R16(3)
The Highest Elo Rating : 10th (April 1998)
“Lions of the Atlas” Morocco is the greatest North African team of
all-time in history of FIFA World Cup qualification zone Africa. They played
the first international match in 1957. It was first affiliated to FIFA and CAF
in 1960. Morocco first participated in FIFA World Cup qualifying round of the
1962 tournament and the 1963 African Cup of nation but disqualified both. In
1970, Morocco was the first African team to appear in FIFA World Cup since the
post-war era. It is the first time for them to participate in African Cup of
nation final tournament in 1972 and finally success their only champion in the
history in 1976. Morocco became the first African team to qualify for FIFA
World Cup second round in 1986. They met their successful era again during the
middle 1990s, qualified for World Cup for two consecutive tournaments. There
were Moroccan-born players that achieved world-class performance in the Europe,
are Just Fontaine and Larbi benbarek.
The Highest Elo Rating : 13th (Mar 1960)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Marvin Rodriguez
The Highest Elo Rating : 8th (Apr, Jun 2002)
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1926The Highest Elo Rating : 7th (Aug 2004)
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The Highest Elo Rating : 12th (Jun 2003)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Valeri Nepomniachi
“The Indomitable Lions” Cameroon is the greatest African team of
all-time in overall history and history of World Cup final tournament, holds
the record most appearances in World Cup with six. They played the first international
match in 1960 and It was first a member of FIFA and CAF during the early 1960s.
They did not enter in the first five tournaments of African Cup of nation
before first participated in qualifying round and final tournament in 1968 and
1970, respectively. Cameroon first participated in FIFA World Cup
qualifying round in 1970. They became the best team in Africa in the 1980s.
Cameroon qualified for World Cup for the first time in 1982 and it was the
first African team to qualify for World Cup quarter-final and this achievement
positively effect to history of African football when FIFA increase African
teams in World Cup. Cameroon holds the record most consecutive appearances in
World Cup for African teams with four between 1990 and 2002. In 2003, Cameroon
became the only African team to reach FIFA confederation cup final match.
Football Association Year of Establishment
: 1945
Zone : West Africa, Stadium : Abuja
(60,491 Seats)
All-Time FIFA World Cup Table : 33th
All-Time African Cup of Nation Table :
2nd
African Cup of Nation : WN(3), 2nd(4),
3rd(8), 4th(1), QF(3), R12(2), R16(4)
All-Time Afro-Asian Cup of Nation : WN (1)
Olympic Games : 1st (1), 2nd (1)
FIFA World Cup Qualification : FN(1),
2nd(1), SF(6),
QF(4), R12(1),
R16(1)
FIFA World Cup : R12(2), R16(1), R24 (1),
R32(2)
The Highest Elo Rating
: 15th (May 2004)
All-Time Top Scorer : Rachidi Yekini (37
Goals)
The Greatest Player Ever : Nwanko Kanu
“Super Eagles” Nigeria is one of the strongest side of African football and is the greatest African team of all-time in history of World Cup qualifying round and Olympic games. Nigeria played its first official game in October 1949, while still a British colony. The Nigeria football association was first admitted to CAF in 1959 and FIFA in 1960. Nigeria first participated in FIFA World Cup qualifying round in 1962. They first entered to African Cup of nation in 1963 and could qualify for the final tournament. Nigeria started to be the top African team during the second half 1970s, finished third place of African Cup of nation twice before won their first champion in 1980. They came close to qualify for World Cup several times during the 1980s but missed all. In 1994, it is the best year in history of Nigerian football, they won their second African cup of nation and came close to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup quarter-final as their first participation and continued appearing in World Cup for three tournaments in row since then until 2002.
The Highest Elo Rating : 9th (June & Jul 2009)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Bob Bradley
The United States of America is one of the strongest sides from
the North America in the modern era of football and is the oldest national team
in the Americas when its first game was held in 1885. USA achieved winning
medals in the 1904 Olympic Games. USA was affiliated to FIFA in 1914 and turned
professional status in 1921 as the first nation in North Americas. It was one
of the members in the first edition of FIFA World Cup in 1930 and won third
place as highest place in their history of the tournament. In the post-war era,
USA still performed well in the 1950 FIFA World Cup and ended the first half
the 20th Century impressively. On the other hand, unpopularity in Soccer sport
for the USA citizen was the very strong factor to lead them disappearing in the
World stage between 1950s and 1980s, not qualified for World Cup and even
CONCACAF championship final tournament until 1989. The 1990s is regarded as the
rebirth of American soccer. They qualified for the 1990 World Cup for the firs
time in four decades and was selected as host in 1994. Since then, its football
has been much developed and reached their best achievement in the 2002 FIFA
World Cup quarter-finalist. USA has been catching from an eye around the World
to see their level in the prime.
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (May 1934)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Hugo Meisl
The Highest Elo Rating : 8th (1969)
Stadium : Seoul World Cup (68,476 Seats)
3rd(1-A,3-B), QF(3-B), R12(1-B)
The Highest Elo Rating : 15th (Sep 1980, June 2002)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Guus Hiddink
“Taegeuk Warriors” The Korea Republic national team is the
greatest and the most prestigious Asian national team of all-time. by far holds
the record most appearances in FIFA World Cup final, is the only Asian team to
ever reach FIFA World Cup semi-final and win the all-time greatest performance
in history of FIFA World Cup qualification zone Asia. They played its first
international match and was first admitted to FIFA in 1948 and was one of the
founding members of AFC in 1954 before took part and immediately qualified for
FIFA World Cup final in the same year. In 1956, South Korea was one of the
first members in AFC Asian Cup and could win its first victory trophy. The
greatness of South Korean football was started since 1986 when they could
qualify for World Cup for the second time and then they never missed the final
tournament until the present and holds the record most consecutive appearance
for the Asian team with seven. In 2002, South Korea won fourth place as host
among many criticisms to referees for the eyes around the World. However,
South Korea is not the best in AFC Asian Cup in both number of trophies and
place in the all-time table. They have been famous for their discipline and
uncompromising style. South Korea holds the Asia record as the most consecutive
unbeaten with 28 games between 1977 and 1979.
4th(3-B), 5th(3-B), 6th(3-B), QF(1)
World Cup Qualifying : FN(1),2nd(1),3rd(1),SF(2), 6th(3)
The Highest Elo Rating : 4th (6 Times in 2014 and 2015)
“The Coffee Growers” Colombia national team is the greatest side from the North of South America. It was first member of FIFA and CONMEBOL in 1936. Its irst international match was held in 1938. Alfredo Di Stefano appeared to play under Colombian shirt in 1949. As its professional league was started so lately in the Continent, they first entered to play in South American Championship in the 1945 tournament before participated in FIFA World Cup qualification round for the first time in 1957. Colombia withdrew to play in South American Championship for six times after then. They could qualify for FIFA World Cup for the first time in the 1962 tournament. The 1990s became their golden decade of Colombia when the golden generation was formed and they could qualify for World Cup for three consecutive tournaments and reached best result in the 1994 World Cup second round, and achieved the outstanding record consecutive unbeaten for 27 games between 1992 and 1994. In 2001, Colombia finally won their only Copa America title. In all-time World Cup record, Colombia won three games and drew twice.
Stadium : Puskas Ferenc(56,000 Seats)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (53 - 57, 58, 64, 65)
The Greatest Player Ever : Ferenc Puskas
The Greatest Manager Ever : Gusztav Sebes
“The Magical Magyars” Hungary national team is one of the
greatest primes ever during the first half 1950s and is best known for being
one of the most formidable and influential sides in football history. It
is the greatest team ever in history of Olympic Games, hold the record most
Gold medal with three. Hungary is the oldest team in Eastern Europe as its
first official international match was held in 1902. The affiliation to
FIFA was created in 1907. Hungary was introduced professionalism in
1924. They played the first international tournament in Central European
international Cup in 1927 and never played in Olympic Games before World Cup
era. They first entered to play the first World Cup in the 1934 tournament and
could win runner-up in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. It was one of the founding
members of UEFA in 1954. is best known for being one of the most formidable and
influential sides in football history, The side of that era has the all-time
highest Football Elo Ranking in the world, with 2166, and one of the longest
undefeated runs in football history, remaining unbeaten in 31 games, spanning
over more than 4 years. The post-golden age decades saw a gradually weakening
Hungary. They has become a normal team in Europe during the 1990s and the 2000s.
R12(1), R16(2),R24(2)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (Apr 1914, Apr 1920)
John Dahl Tomasson (52 Goals)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Richard Moller Nielsen
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (Oct 1975)
“The White Eagles” The Poland national football team is one of
the most prominent Eastern European teams during the first half 1970s. Poland
played its first international match in 1922 and was first a member of FIFA in
the next year. Poland played its first international tournament in the 1924
Olympic Games. They first entered to participate in the 1938 FIFA World Cup and
qualified for the final tournament at once. It was first affiliated to UEFA in
1955. They met the failure era through the 1950s and the 1960s until the golden
era was created when they won Gold Medal in the 1972 Olympic Games and went on
winning third place in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Poland qualified for World Cup
for five occasions in row between 1974 and 1986 before got flopping in the
1990s. It was the first appearance of Poland in European Championship final
tournament in 2008 before being a host in 2012.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1922The Highest Elo Rating : 12th (June 1978)
Peru national team is one of the most recognizable South
American team in the prime. It was first member to FIFA and CONMEBOL and played
the first international match during the mid 1920s. It first participated in
South American Championship in 1927. The 1930s is considered to be the first
golden era of Peruvian football. In 1930, It was one of the founding members in
FIFA World Cup first edition. Peru was the only South American football
representative in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the most outstanding point is
the 1939 South American Champion. Peru sustain their level in the top flight of
South America during the 1940s and 1950s before reached their prime as second
golden era again in the 1970s to the early 1980s. Peru finished
quarter-finalists twice in two World Cup appearances and won the first edition
of Copa America in 1975. Peru played the last World Cup in 1982 before got
decline. The 1987 Alianza Lima Air Disaster is still the symbol of the falling
down of Peruvian football in the later era.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1895The Highest Elo Rating : 8th (June 1924)
“Schweizer Nati” The Switzerland national team is known as one of the smallest football nations in the Europe. They first played international match in 1905 after joining with FIFA in 1904. Switzerland entered to play their first international tournament in the 1924 Olympic Games and won silver medal immediately. This achievement is perhaps the best in their history as the Olympic Games was the best football tournament in the World at that time. Switzerland got successful period during the 1930s in FIFA World Cup after they participated for the first time in 1934. It was one of the founding members of UEFA in 1954 and being host of World Cup in the same year and reached quarter-final round which is regarded as their best result ever in history of the tournament. They met the dark era during the 1970s and the 1980s, did not qualify for FIFA World Cup for six tournaments in row until 1994. They first qualified for European Championship final tournament in 1996.
4th (9-A,2-B), 5th (2-B), 6th (2-B), QF (1)
World Cup Qualification : 2nd(1), 3rd(1), 4th(1), SF(3),
5th(2), 6th(2)
The Highest Elo Rating : 3rd (Oct 2015)
The Highest Elo Rating : 5th (June 1990)
Romania national team is the considerably successful team from
Eastern Europe even it is the only one in this zone to have never achieved
concretely. Romania played the first international match in 1922 before
admitted to FIFA in the next year. Romania had the successful era during the
1930s, won the first ever Balkan Cup in 1931, participated in all three World
Cup tournaments and was one of the founding members in the first ever FIFA World
Cup. It was also one of the first members of UEFA in 1954. The dark era was
happened during the 1950s and the 1960s, did not qualify for major tournament
until 1970 and flopped disqualifying again through the 1970s until the first
appearance in the 1984 European Championship. Romania’s golden age is the 1990s
after they qualified for consecutive three World Cups and reached fifth place
in the 1994 tournament as their best place ever. Romania reached their best
result ever in history of European Championship in the 2000 quarter-finalist.
17. Paraguay
SF(2), 5th(1),6th(3) : Olympic Games : 2nd (1), QF (1)
The Highest Elo Rating : 4th (Feb 1954)
All-Time Copa America Table : 8th
The Highest Elo Rating : 5th (July 2011)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Juan Agiurre
Mexico is by far the greatest national team in the North America continent,
holds the record most winners in CONCACAF Gold Cup and is the first place in
its all-time table, and has dominated the FIFA World Cup qualifying zone
CONCACAF. The first international match was held in 1923, turned professional
status in 1927 and first joined FIFA in 1929. Mexico was one of the first
members in the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930. Mexico was one of the
founding members of CONCACAF in 1961 before first won its championship in 1965.
As being a dominance side of the CONCACAF zone, Mexico missed to qualify for
World Cup just three occasions since the post-war era, one of those was banned
in 1990 due to using players over the age limit in Olympic Games. Mexico ever
host FIFA World Cup twice and their closest occasion to reach semi-final as a
victory was created in the 1986 tournament when they lost on penalty in
quarter-final match. Since 1994, Mexico has qualified for every World Cup and
finish second round in all five. Mexico also holds the record most consecutive
champions in CONCACAF Gold Cup with three between 1993 and 1998. Mexico was
very successful in Copa America after they has been regularly invited to play
since 1993.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1904QF(3), R12(1), R16(4), R24 (1)
The Highest Elo Rating : 2nd (June 1950)
The Greatest Manager Ever : George Raynor
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1914The Highest Elo Rating : 2nd (June 2006)
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1895R16(2-A,1-B),R20(1), R24 (1) Olympic Games : 1st (1), 4th (1)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (2019)
The Greatest Player Ever : Jan Ceulemans
The Greatest Manager Ever : Guy Thys
“Red Devils of the Europe” Belgium national team is the oldest national team in West Europe. Its official first international match was held in 1904 and was admitted to FIFA in the same year. Belgium played its first official international tournament in the 1920 Olympic Games and won Gold medal in which is regarded the World Champion at that time. Belgium is one of the founding members in the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930 and played every World Cup during the 1930s. It was one of the first members of UEFA in 1954. They met the dark period between the middle 1950s and through the 1960s, disqualified for every major tournament. Belgium’s golden age came visit in the 1980s when they achieved runner-up in the 1980 European Championship and fourth place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, both results are their best place ever in history of the tournament. Belgium qualified for World Cup for six consecutive tournaments between 1982 and 2002. Belgium was ranked as the first place in FIFA Ranking in November 2015 as the only time in its history.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1889QF(2),R12(1),R16(4)
R12(1A,1B),R16(3),
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (4 Years 5 Months)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1912QF(3), R12(2), R6(2), R20(1)
The Greatest Player Ever : Lev Yashin
“Red Army” The Soviet Union National Football Team was one of
the strongest sides of the Europe during the 1960s. The All-Russian Football
Union was affiliated to FIFA in 1912 before changed to Soviet Union later and
Its first international match was held in 1924. Soviet Union was first admitted
to FIFA in 1946 and was one of the first members of UEFA in 1954. Soviet Union
entered to play in World Cup for the first time in the 1958 tournament as the
same period as their beginning of golden era. Between 1958 and 1972, Soviet
finished quarter-finalist for three times in World Cup and reached fourth place
as their best place ever in the World Cup of the 1966 tournament and they also
won the first ever European Championship in their home in 1960 and finished
runner-up twice in that period. After the failure in the middle to second half
1970s, they returned to show top-class performance again in the 1980s. Soviet
Union played the last tournament in the 1992 European Championship before the
big separation of nation. Since then, Russia was first appeared in the 1994
FIFA World Cup. Ukraine first participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and
reached quarter-final round as the best place in World Cup among former-Soviet
nations.
9. Uruguay
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1919The Greatest Manager Ever : Ivica Osim
“White Eagles” Yugoslavia national team is regarded as the most
beautiful style of play in the Europe as its players have been a naturally
technical gift. The national team was founded the Kingdom of Serbs in the first
international match in 1920. The affiliation to FIFA was created in 1923,
played its first international tournament in the 1924 Olympic games and it was
one of the founding members in the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930. The
greatest era of Yugoslavia was happened in the 1950s to the early 1960s when
its superstars formed the team until reaching semi-final round as their best
ever place in the FIFA World Cup of the 1962 tournament and additionally
finished runner-up in the first ever European Championship in 1960. Even they
disqualified for the 1966 and 1970 FIFA World Cup, it is surprising that the
team could finish second place again in the 1968 European Championship.
Yugoslavia met another prominent time in the late 1980s and played the last
tournament in the 1990 FIFA World Cup before the partition of nation and was
suspended in the 1992 European Championship and the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Afterwards, Croatia and Serbia-Montenegro made their first appearance for the
international tournament in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Croatia could win third
place.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1863R12(4), R16(1), R20(1)
R12(2) R16(1), R28(1)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
“Three Lions” England has long been considered as one of the most
prestigious team of all-time, is the greatest British team of all-time. It was
one of the greatest team in the World in the first half of the 20th Century.
England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside
Scotland that played together in the world's first international football match
in 1872. It was affiliated to FIFA in 1905. England played in international
tournament just only for British home championship. England didn’t
participate in pre-war World Cups due to disagreement with FIFA despite they
were the top team in the World at that time. They played their first ever World
Cup in 1950 and It was one of the founding members of UEFA in 1954. England’s
golden era was the 1960s, won their only World Cup champion in 1966 as host and
first qualified for European Championship of the 1968 tournament and won third
place. The 1970s became their dark era as they didn’t qualify for World Cup
twice from total three. The 1990 FIFA World Cup fourth place and the 1996
European Championship semi-finalist are their greatest achievement after its
golden age. They hold the record most winners in British home championship.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1919R16(2), R20(1), FIFA Confederation Cup : 1st (2)
Olympic Games : 1st(1), 2nd(1), 4th(1)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
France is the greatest team in the World during the late 2000s.
They first international match was held in 1904 and was first member of FIFA in
1907.France played its first international tournament in the 1908 Olympic
Games. It was one of the founding members of the first ever FIFA World Cup in
1930 and being a participant in all three pre-war World Cups. France was
introduced professionalism in 1932. It was one of the founding members of
UEFA in 1954. The 1958 FIFA World Cup third place is the symbol of their first
ever successful. France was one of the founding members in the first ever
European Championship in 1960. France is honorably record as the participant in
the first match ever in both FIFA World Cup and European Championship Final
Tournament. The 1970s is their darkest era, didn’t qualify for any major
tournament. The 1980s is regarded as their first golden age, France reached
semi-final in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup and won their first European
Championship in 1984 in the era of Platini. After disqualified for the 1994
FIFA World Cup in the last minute, France returned as the strongest team in the
Europe, won the record 30 unbeaten games. France won their only World Cup in
1998 as host and won its second European Championship in 2000. They also won
the record consecutive 14 game wins between 2003 and 2004. They ever
disqualified for World Cup for five times totally.
Football Association Year of Establishment : 1909R12(6), R16 (2), R20(1),R24(1), Olympic Games : 1st(1), 2nd(2)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (8 Years 3 months)
The Greatest Manager Ever : Vicente Del Bosque
Football
Association Year of Establishment : 1893Stadium :EL Monumental (57,921 Seats)
3rd(3-A,1-B), 4th (1-A,2-B), 5th (3-B), 6th (13-B)
R16(2), R20(1), Confederation Cup : WN(1), RN(2)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
Football
Association Year of Establishment :
1898The Highest Elo Rating : 1st (10 Years 11 Months)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
QF(7), R12(1), R16(1A,1B)
The Highest Elo Rating : 1st
The Greatest Player Ever : Pele
The Greatest Manager Ever : Mario Zagallo
Mid 2010s : Germany
It's very difficult to make a national ranking, but i think Brazil need to be ahead Germany.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are some nations that's the best player ever is wrong, for me.
France best player ever: Zidane
Spain: Di Stéfano
Itally: Meazza
Scotland: Dalglish.
The case off Brazil VS Germany is the only pair I have implemented methodologically based on standard of competition. The result shows Germany has significantly superior to Brazil.
DeleteWC Standard BRA-P BRA-R GER-P GER-R BRA SRT GER SRT
1934 3.5 3 1.75 0 18.375
1938 3 3 1.75 15.75 0
1950 2.5 4 3 30 0
1954 3.5 3.5 1.1 4 5 13.475 70
1958 4.5 5 5 3.5 1.5 112.5 23.625
1962 3.5 4.5 5 78.75 0
1966 3.5 3 0.7 4 3 7.35 42
1970 4.5 5 5 4 1.75 112.5 31.5
1974 4.5 3.5 1.5 4.5 5 23.625 101.25
1978 4 4 1.75 3.5 1.1 28 15.4
1982 4.5 4 1.1 4 3 19.8 54
1986 4 3.5 1.1 4 3 15.4 48
1990 5 3.5 0.7 4.5 5 12.25 112.5
1994 4 4 4.5 3.5 1.1 72 15.4
1998 3.5 4 3 3 1.1 42 11.55
2002 2.5 4 5 3.5 3 50 26.25
2006 3.5 3.5 1.1 3.5 1.75 13.475 21.4375
2010 3 3 1.1 3.5 1.75 9.9 18.375
2014 3 3 1.5 4 5 13.5 60
Total 670.28 669.66
Average 35.28 41.85
Di Stefano is the best player who ever played for Spain but he never participated in major tournament. I have also not counted this case of converted nation. Anyway, I did not update and Meazza is actually the best for Italy, and Dalglish for Scotland. I'll update them.
Just compare: https://www.11v11.com/teams/germany/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Brazil/
Delete5 to 12, anyway 4<5 WC. Your general list just fail with this basic compare
You have some problems with all time top scorer section bro. Have you updated it already?
ReplyDeleteOK I'll check to update.
DeleteI already update in very many points but some of small nations is still cannot found are Congo Republic, Libya and Gabon.
DeleteOK, that's fine enough. I'm so proud of you with your work. Can't wait for the others new categories is to be updated, especially 9x10 ranking list.
DeleteChile won the copa América now
ReplyDeleteOh OK I'll update (Actually its 2015 Copa America has been applied to the rating)
DeleteDisaster. Beginner scoring. There is no logic there. This is your worst choice ever. Literaly processed material. Can I go first with Switzerland? Masters qualification, which is by far the best player was S ... ....... So the Swiss for the EC in 2016 were behind England and ahead of Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, San Marino. For WC 2014 landslide have been the winners of their group in a terrible competition: Iceland, Norway Slovenia, Albania and Cyprus. EC for 2012, Montenegro was too strong. For WC 2010 again narrowly svovoj first in the group, ahead of Greece, Latvia, Israel, Luxembourg and Moldova. Bravo Switzerland !!!! For the EC in 2008 were the hosts. For that, for WC 2006 left behind Israel (on goal difference), Ireland (1 point), and were convincingly better than Cyprus and Faro Icelands. For the EC in 2004 were ahead of Russia (worst in each other's matches), Ireland, Albania and Georgia. For 2002, were terrible. Russia, Serbia and Slovenia were better, Switzerland of its 14 points, scored 12 against Luxemburg and Faro Icelands. For EC 2000 Italy and Denmark were better, and Belarus Wales left behind. For WC 1998 of them were better Norway, Hungary and Finland. Switzerland was better than Azerbaijan. For 1996 were the first outside Turkey (not yet represented nothing serious), Sweden (major disappointment) and Hungary and Iceland. For 1994 they played well and were a pleasant surprise.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what are you trying to say ? All of your sentence refer to the minority of part of competition in history and I'm not even show the rating by tournament here.
DeleteBefore that, the championships were the last time in 1966. There is the "greatest" success of Swiss football. Three quarter-!!!! The first two are from 1934 and 1938, from the time when the Olympics were much stronger competition. Third were the hosts. At the European Championships are played 3 times and never passed the group. The largest Swiss success is actually a silver medal with the Olympics 1,924 years. Look at the little qualification for the first World Championships. Read about the role of judges in these first championships. On the other hand, we have Denmark with three silver Olympics, a bronze, semi-finals Euro 1964, and in modern football has a quarter-WC, 3rd place in the Euro 1984 and of course the gold in 1992 and winning the cup confederations in 1995. And do not write that Swiss quarter-final at the toilet more important than the Olympics or the listed Danish modern success, because I have to lose again an hour or two to write arguments are self-evident to anyone who knows the conditions, ways and circumstances in which the situation got worse. many greetings
ReplyDeleteI did not include international competition before 1920s covers the Olympic since it was participated by not only amateur teams but also the lower level team when Great Britain send its amateur team to compete and Denmark lost. Even I includes Denmark is still led by Switzerland. Additionally, football league in many European and South American nations had not been established yet and most of them was a fully amateur status so the competitions, are considered too much below standard of overall history. Not likes South American Championship in the 1910s, they’re amateur but they send the best squad to competition.
DeleteFIFA Confederation is also not included in the main system. Otherwise, top nations in the post-1990 would have get advantage too much. The confederation cup is used as a judged parameter when total score is in the same level only.
Switzerland?????? Best football player in Switzerland is Pirmin Zurbriggen!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI do not need to repeat, i have a lot of respect for this your idea. But this choice is really funny. Place the Polish national team, especially Romania and Switzerland ahead of Denmark, Scotland and Austria to me is ridiculous. If we ignore the England amateurs to 1920, Danes have had this result: Sweden-9 1 2 (35-14), Norway 8 0 2 (51-8), Germany 2 0 0 (7-2), France 2 0 0 (26 -1), Netherlands 2 2 0 0 (8-3). It can not be ignored. The Swiss are the quarter-finals WC 1934 come through three matches: Qualifications are passed without any real victory (2-2 Yugoslavia, Romania, the Swiss won the green table) and the championship Holland 3-2. In the quarter-finals in 1938, they beat Portugal 2-1 in qualifying. The championship was played one game. Against Germany 1-1, and in the replay 4-2. And there they are in the quarterfinals. In 1954 they hosted. Qualifying did not play. The championship got one game and there they are again in the quarterfinals. On these three world championships and qualifying for the championship, the Swiss had a total of 4 wins. With four victories and had the 3 quarter-finals. Conclusion: I am sure that more true Danish semifinals from 1984., than complete Swiss football history. Not to mention all of them .
ReplyDeleteThere are some adjustment in historical model in this evaluation to prevent injustice advantage/disadvantage due to competition format. In example, the former Euro final tournaments were competed by only 4 teams. So, it has been expanded to 16-team equally between historical tournaments. For only upper level of performance, Denmark is likely to the best among nations you've mentioned but not mean it represent the entire history.Also, the coefficient of World Cup is basically higher than Euro. That's why Poland could reduce the gap to Denmark's superiority on Euro.
DeleteFor a host nation and holder, they basically did not play qualifying match but I'm sure Brazil will be ranked below Italy if there is no point applied to them. I prevent this non-sense disadvantage by giving score for a host and holder based on their performance in the final tournam
Your way of scoring is obviously wrong. There is no logic to Switzerland is ranked better than Denmark, Austria and Scotland. As it does not make sense that Romania and Poland ahead of Denmark. And my friend, that I still wonder, when you dismember the former communist alliances? I think that based on the players who played in their time can make some kind of scoring. How much of the past goes Croatia, and how much goes to Serbia? How much goes to Russia, Ukraine and Georgia? Cheska and Slovakia also ? You say Switzerland? So they did not have to Blatter and not imported players from Kosovo and Albania would be in the range of Luxembourg !!!
ReplyDeleteIt is always an incomplete solvable problem for ranking the former union and independent nations. As I specified, it include performance of former union body combined with the best performance of independent nations of former union group. In example, Croatia is the 1996 Euro is the best among independent nations, is included in Yugoslavia score.
DeleteI also provide another model Yugoslavia-Serbia, Yugoslavia-Croatia, etc but not applied to the main top 50 rank because the set of Yugoslavia is repetitive. I'd not prefer to separate Former union and independent nation in the ranking system since the period time of participation is too different from the usual system and not make any meaningful comparison to the others.
Regarding the lower level of performance, Denmark was lowest among these nations. It won only 1 point in the 1976 Euro qualifying zone and when count goal difference, it was better only Luxembourg and Cyprus and even below Malta. They also finished the lowest place in the 1980 qualifying. You can check the other three nations never fall to such the lowest point in Euro or World Cup qualifying.
Now I laughed. You can thus observe things. Malta has collected two points for Greece was granted in 1976. Danes have won one point in the group with Spain, Romania and Scotland. Do you think that the Swiss played better qualifications for WC 1990? They won just one point in the group with Portugal, Cheskoslovakia and Belgium. Just then there was then Luxemburg, and with two wins against Luxembourg things look better. We are a team of friends from the Balkans. We're a little older than you. We play football and drink beer and talk about regular updates to your site. And we all agree that the Danish football incomparably stronger than the Swiss. You have to make more sophisticated classification of national teams, because it makes no sense to you. Look at how the Danes dropped from the World Cup in 1990 (by today's rules to pass), see 1994 as they were knocked out and the ruled in the final match! However, looking through the analysis, or the like around there's no way that Switzerland is better than Denmark. The rating system must be complex. What were the champions in 1992 is no coincidence. Reward them for what they played in the eighties, when they expected them trophies. Greetings!
ReplyDeleteImportantly, Now I see the main part which let Switzerland rank higher. Denmark did not participate in World Cup qualifying 5 times during 1930s and 1950s when Switzerland never missed. Based on performance within its participation amount, Denmark is better as I check but the qualification round is a compulsory part of rating and I cannot give expansion coefficient to Denmark since most of European nations attended the qualifying in that period. Not like case of Asia and Africa, too few nations participated in the same period.
DeleteGreece could draw West Germany in the away match in the 1976 qualifying match. It is surely not inferior to Scotland or Romania. I see Switzerland would obtain only 1 point equal to Denmark if Luxembourg is taken away from the group, still get better 3 goals difference. The margin of goal difference would be applied to the biggest lost within the competition. Denmark lost Romania 6-1 and Switzerland lost Czechoslovakia 3-0. If compare the level of team, is ahead of Denmark and Switzerland in related group, it is no significant difference.
Anyway, It is very nice to know your lifestyle of football group. I always open for discussion.
5 World Cup
ReplyDelete4 Confederations Cup
8 Copas America
Brazil is more than Germany
5> 4 World Cups
The list is not competed by only number of trophies. Standard of the tournament, the frequency of competition, performance in each tournament and the other finished rounds are also combined. For more detail is briefly existed in NT evaluation result on WGHC page and entirely existed in historical rating methodology.
DeleteOnly Brazil National Team to compete in 20 World Cups
ReplyDeleteThis number is the sulficiente
A nation celebrates Trophies goals or numbers?
In Germany they did not like to stay with the best attack in the World Cup 2010 and even then did not take the title
Brazil won five World Cups celebrated one more and that's sulficiente for worldwide less YOU consider Brazil the best selection of all time
individually Ronaldo was better than Beckenbauer or any other German players and that makes us be proud to have a cheerful and not a defensive Football Football
Your list says Beckenbauer was better than Ronaldo and even then the rest of the world does not consider this as Ronaldo played a football that was a pleasure to see play
You take only advantages of Brazil and those advantages are just some example of cases. So, it could be applied to the entire historical rating. As I already make scorecard which shows rating in every tournaments, it would be better to issue the point of disagreement by item.
DeleteCan you elaborate historical nation lineups?
ReplyDeleteHistorical line up of national team is now available in International Legendary Museum at xtralegend.blogspot.com
DeleteI think you should revise the following bit: "“The Selecao” Brazil national team is the greatest World team of all-time", since Brazil is the 2nd place.
ReplyDeleteYou should update the greatest players ever for every nation so it fits your newest results. For example Italy's best player should be Rivera or Meazza (as in ILM).
ReplyDeleteOK, thanks, I'll check.
DeleteAnd Suarez is the greatest Uruguay player now.
ReplyDeleteNo he is not, sorry, my mistake.
DeleteShould Rifaat El Fanagili be Egypt's greatest ever player? You have both Salah and El Khatib higher on the International Legendary Museum.
ReplyDeleteYes I really did not update players for nation ranking.
DeleteGreat list, very detailed and complete. However, I disagree with the greatest nations per era. I would suggest swaping Germany with The Netherlands for the early 1970'. Dutch Teams won the Europa Cup 1 for 4 consecutive years from 1970-1973 and they dominated the 1974 World Cup. You could also make a point for France during the mid 1980' as they won EURO 1984.
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't mind too much. However, the information regarding the Yugoslav national team is your fault. So, in this area, football started playing in Croatia. The Football Association was founded in Zagreb and was only forcibly transferred to Belgrade in 1930, which of course caused a boycott of Croatian footballers and coach Ante Pandakovic. The first game played by the Yugoslav national team was played by 10 Croats and 1 Serb. The White Eagles were not synonymous for Yugoslavia, only for Serbia. I think it's time you finally separated us too. Croatia and Serbia had quite enough quality players to be able to stand on their own. The others can be modeled on the principle you have performed with Norway, Finland and Iceland.
ReplyDeleteVery bad ranking
ReplyDeleteYou think football is numbers and data, but clearly have no notion about the essence of the sport
Your rank is based in results, and not what each nation truly meant during different eras of football
Early Brasil 80s is the best team to ever play but they haven't won anything and you place italy better just because they won a match they played way worse
1 brazil
2 germany
3 italy
4 Argentina
5 france
6 netherlands
7 uruguay
8 england
9 spain
10 sweden
Go watch some soccer instead of gathering data, placing netherlands after spain/england is ridiculous
Well, to rank the historical performance based on % Ball Possession is illogical and not represent the word "Performance". The football teams with attractive styles will undoubtedly be followed by more fans but history not recognize their achievement. The winner is the game is undeniably a main purpose of football.
DeleteI disagree Brazil 1980s is the best team when Toninho made a rare mistake and you can;t say they are the best team just because they had specially beautiful style.
I agree with the top 6... but England placed better than Uruguay??? you have to be absolutely kidding me. Uruguay got so many trophies, silver and bronze medals as well. England??? They got 3 olympic gold medals from when the sport was still fairly new. 1 gold at the world cup and 1 bronze in the european championship. This has to be a joke, right??????? England is the biggest disappointment historically in national team football. Also, no one cares about the nations league, it's a glorified friendly tournament.
ReplyDeleteAlso Belgium above Hungary???? Hungary have way more medals and success than Belgium ever had. They will overtake them, sure, but as of right now, there can be no way Belgium is placed better than Hungary.
I know that you are a football genius and know a lot about the game and such, but the england and uruguay part has to be a mistake surely??? Honestly if you think about it, England might be the worst performing 'big' football nation in history of the sport. They have had so many talents and big names, but consistently failed at the international stage. Considering how few medals they have, they don't even deserve to be in top 20 honestly.
1. Brazil
ReplyDelete2. Germany
3. Italy
4. Argentina
5. France
6. Spain
7. Uruguay
8. Netherlands
9. Hungary/Czechoslovakia
10. England
Man, you need to improve your list. I watch football since 1960s, you missed some best players, also there is literally no way Brazil is number 2, no matter how you look at it. Overall it is not that bad, but has some serious mistakes. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHi Naratorn, maybe it's time to update this? None of the summaries for these countries include recent achievements, and I'd argue some of the rankings might have shifted based on the last decade.
ReplyDeleteThanks you for asking. I plan to update after world cup next year. These club and NT rankings requires a great deal of efforts to finish and I will be free from other activities after the mentioned time.
DeletePORTUGAL IS UNDER RATED AS THEY WON THE EURO 2016 AND EURO NATIONS LEAGUE 2017,THAT DECADE BELONGS TO PORTUGAL
ReplyDeleteDenmark deserves to rank better now that they won a bronze at the 2020 Euro championship, don't they??? They were so good.
ReplyDeleteI agree!!
DeleteI can see your latest update was in 2018. When you are making the next update Denmark should move up, and Senegal will probably take a spot in the bottom of top 50?
ReplyDeleteThere is one team, that ALWAYS, really ALWAYS is a disappointment again and again, in every big tournament they played throughout all these decades of years and this is England. Before every big tournament (WM/EM), their fans talk like they would be one of the big favourites and then they loose, before even making it far in the tournament. *lol*.
ReplyDeleteOne can only rub one's eyes, how such a loser-team like England, is always placed so high on all these internet-lists when it comes to the best teams (maybe english journalists posts these lists?). England has no place there in these lists, for me they are not even in the top 10 ranking! So finally kick them out of these lists, when it comes to the best football nations of all time.
Every football fan in the world, who has watched all the important games/tournaments for many years now, knows exactly who are the BIG FOUR NATIONS in this sport, namely Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina and NOBODY ELSE!!! We alle know it, right, when we are really honest?
Alot of disussions, but I think we all know which four countries have to be in front of the "best of all time list" and these were mentioned correctly here, its "Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina" and after that, nothing happens for a long time. Then we can name the best country at the moment, which is France (when you look at the last worldcups) and then we must name the country that dominated from 2008, up to 2013 and this is Spain. And then we have a look at the country that dominated in the very early days and this was Uruguay. So in my eyes, these seven countries should be mentioned definately, when it comes to the sport football.
ReplyDelete