IFFHS World's Best Club

The IFFHS World's Best Club is a football award given annually since 1991 to the world's best club. The award is given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), the entity has also produced a monthly Club World Ranking.

IFFHS World's Best Man Club

Sport	Association football
Competition	Association and confederation tournaments as well as FIFA Club World Cup
Awarded for	Best performing man club of the calendar year
Presented by	International Federation of Football History & Statistics
History
First award	1991
Editions	33
First winner	Roma
Most wins	Barcelona Real Madrid (5 awards)
Most recent	Real Madrid (5th award)
Website	www.iffhs.com

The ranking takes into consideration the results of twelve months of continental and intercontinental competitions, national league matches (including play-offs) and the most important national cup (excluding points won before the round of 16).

All countries are rated at four levels based upon the national league performance—clubs in the highest level leagues receive 4 points for each match won, 2 for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Level 2 is assigned 3 pts. (win), 1.5 (draw) and 0 (lost), and so on with the next lower levels.

In continental competitions, all clubs receive the same number of points at all stages regardless of the performance level of their leagues. However, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores yield more points than UEFA Europa League and Copa Sudamericana, respectively. The point assignment system is still lower for the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC continental tournaments. Competitions between two continents are evaluated depending upon their importance. Competitions not organized by a continental confederation, or any intercontinental events not recognized by FIFA, are not taken into consideration.

Criteria

Criteria for national competitions:^[1]

Competition	Points for a win	Points for a draw
National Leagues in Level 1	4.0	2.0
National Leagues in Level 2	3.0	1.5
National Leagues in Level 3	2.0	1.0
National Leagues in Level 4	1.0	0.5

Criteria for international competitions:^[1]

Competition	Points for a win	Points for a draw
UEFA Champions League	14.0	7.0
UEFA Europa League	12.0	6.0
Copa Libertadores	14.0	7.0
Copa Sudamericana	12.0	6.0
CAF Champions League	9.0	4.5
CAF Cup (defunct)	7.0	3.5
AFC Champions League	9.0	4.5
AFC Cup	7.0	3.5
CONCACAF Champions League	9.0	4.5
OFC Champions League	5.0	2.5
FIFA Club World Cup (semi-finals)	14.0	7.0
FIFA Club World Cup (final)[2]	21.0	10.5

Barcelona

Men's winners

List of winners

Year	Rank	Club	Points
1991	1st	Roma[3]	347.5
	2nd	Red Star Belgrade	344.5
	3rd	Marseille	299.5
1992	1st	Ajax[4]	331
	2nd	Milan	330
	3rd	Real Madrid	323
1993	1st	Juventus[5]	372.5
	2nd	Milan	367.5
	3rd	Barcelona	319
1994	1st	Paris Saint-Germain[6]	334
	2nd	Parma	332.5
	3rd	Milan	310
1995	1st	Milan[7]	367.5
	2nd	Juventus	320
	3rd	Ajax	300
1996	1st	Juventus[8]	335
	2nd	América de Cali	261.5
	3rd	Barcelona	256
1997	1st	Barcelona[9]	378
	2nd	Juventus	310
	3rd	Borussia Dortmund	308
1998	1st	Inter Milan[10]	326
	2nd	Vasco da Gama	295.5
	3rd	Bayern Munich	288
1999	1st	Manchester United[11]	361
	2nd	Palmeiras	291
	3rd	Parma	289
2000	1st	Real Madrid[12]	327
	2nd	Galatasaray	322
	3rd	Boca Juniors	296
2001	1st	Liverpool[13]	358
	2nd	Barcelona	298
	3rd	Bayern Munich	292
2002	1st	Real Madrid[14]	312
	2nd	Manchester United	306
	3rd	Arsenal	289
2003	1st	Milan[15]	295
	2nd	Real Madrid	293
	3rd	Santos	284
2004	1st	Valencia[16]	274
	2nd	Boca Juniors	270
	3rd	Manchester United	265
2005	1st	Liverpool[17]	317
	2nd	Inter Milan	307
	3rd	Bayern Munich	281
2006	1st	Sevilla[18]	295
	2nd	Inter Milan	286
	3rd	Roma	277
2007	1st	Sevilla[19]	306
	2nd	Manchester United	281
	3rd	Milan	280
2008	1st	Manchester United[20]	292
	2nd	Bayern Munich	272
	3rd	Liverpool	267
2009	1st	Barcelona[21]	341
	2nd	Chelsea	292
	3rd	Manchester United	291
2010	1st	Inter Milan[22]	300
	2nd	Bayern Munich	268
	3rd	Barcelona	266
2011	1st	Barcelona[23]	367
	2nd	Real Madrid	312
	3rd	Vélez Sarsfield	271
2012	1st	Barcelona[24]	307
	2nd	Chelsea	279
	3rd	Boca Juniors	278
2013	1st	Bayern Munich[25]	370
	2nd	Real Madrid	290
	3rd	Chelsea	273
2014	1st	Real Madrid[26]	381
	2nd	Bayern Munich	276
	3rd	Atlético Madrid	267
2015	1st	Barcelona[27]	379
	2nd	Juventus	286
	3rd	Napoli	268
2016	1st	Atlético Nacional[28]	383
	2nd	Real Madrid	310
	3rd	Barcelona	280
2017	1st	Real Madrid[29]	328
	2nd	Grêmio	286
	3rd	Manchester United	284
2018	1st	Atlético Madrid[30]	289
	2nd	Real Madrid	284
	3rd	Red Bull Salzburg	278
2019	1st	Liverpool[31]	316
	2nd	Barcelona	293
	3rd	Manchester City	284
2020	1st	Bayern Munich[32]	260
	2nd	Palmeiras	230
	3rd	Paris Saint-Germain	226
2021	1st	Palmeiras[33]	322
	2nd	Atlético Mineiro	313
	3rd	Manchester City	300
2022	1st	Flamengo[34]	299
	2nd	Palmeiras	284
	3rd	Liverpool	273
2023	1st	Manchester City[35]	359
	2nd	Real Madrid	332
	3rd	Inter Milan	289
2024	1st	Real Madrid[36]	441
	2nd	Bayer Leverkusen	384
	3rd	Atalanta	380

Statistics

Winners (1991–present)^[37]

Club	Wins	Runners up	Third place
Real Madrid	5 (2000, 2002, 2014, 2017, 2024)	6 (2003, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2023)	1 (1992)
Barcelona	5 (1997, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015)	2 (2001, 2019)	4 (1993, 1996, 2010, 2016)
Liverpool	3 (2001, 2005, 2019)	0	2 (2008, 2022)
Bayern Munich	2 (2013, 2020)	3 (2008, 2010, 2014)	3 (1998, 2001, 2005)
Juventus	2 (1993, 1996)	3 (1995, 1997, 2015)	0
Manchester United	2 (1999, 2008)	2 (2002, 2007)	3 (2004, 2009, 2017)
Milan	2 (1995, 2003)	2 (1992, 1993)	2 (1994, 2007)
Inter Milan	2 (1998, 2010)	2 (2005, 2006)	1 (2023)
Sevilla	2 (2006, 2007)	0	0
Palmeiras	1 (2021)	3 (1999, 2020, 2022)	0
Manchester City	1 (2023)	0	2 (2019, 2021)
Roma	1 (1991)	0	1 (2006)
Ajax	1 (1992)	0	1 (1995)
Paris Saint-Germain	1 (1994)	0	1 (2020)
Atlético Madrid	1 (2018)	0	1 (2014)
Valencia	1 (2004)	0	0
Atlético Nacional	1 (2016)	0	0
Flamengo	1 (2022)	0	0
Chelsea	0	2 (2009, 2012)	1 (2013)
Boca Juniors	0	1 (2004)	2 (2000, 2012)
Parma	0	1 (1994)	1 (1999)
Red Star Belgrade	0	1 (1991)	0
América de Cali	0	1 (1996)	0
Vasco da Gama	0	1 (1998)	0
Galatasaray	0	1 (2000)	0
Grêmio	0	1 (2017)	0
Atlético Mineiro	0	1 (2021)	0
Bayer Leverkusen	0	1 (2024)	0
Marseille	0	0	1 (1991)
Borussia Dortmund	0	0	1 (1997)
Arsenal	0	0	1 (2002)
Santos	0	0	1 (2003)
Vélez Sarsfield	0	0	1 (2011)
Napoli	0	0	1 (2015)
Red Bull Salzburg	0	0	1 (2018)
Atalanta	0	0	1 (2024)

Wins by country

Country	Total	Clubs
Spain	14	5
Italy	7	4
England	6	3
Brazil	2	2
Germany	2	1
Colombia	1	1
France	1	1
Netherlands	1	1

Continental rankings

Bold indicates the World's Best Man Club winner.

Year	Confederation	Winner
2020	UEFA	Bayern Munich[38]
	CONMEBOL	Palmeiras[39]
	CONCACAF	UANL[40]
	CAF	Al Ahly[41]
	AFC	Ulsan Hyundai[42]
	OFC	Magenta[43]
2021	UEFA	Manchester City[44]
	CONMEBOL	Palmeiras[45]
	CONCACAF	Comunicaciones[46]
	CAF	Al Ahly[47]
	AFC	Ulsan Hyundai[48]
	OFC	Team Wellington[49]
2022	UEFA	Liverpool[50]
	CONMEBOL	Flamengo
	CONCACAF	Alajuelense[51]
	CAF	Al Ahly[52]
	AFC	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors[53]
	OFC	Auckland City[54]
2023	UEFA	Manchester City[55]
	CONMEBOL	Fluminense[56]
	CONCACAF	Club León[57]
	CAF	Al Ahly[58]
	AFC	Al Hilal[59]
	OFC	Auckland City[60]
2024	UEFA	Real Madrid[61]
	CONMEBOL	Botafogo[62]
	CONCACAF	Alajuelense[63]
	CAF	Al Ahly[64]
	AFC	Al Hilal[65]
	OFC	Auckland City[66]

Continental Men's Clubs of the Century (1901–2000)

Peñarol's South America's Best Club of the Century trophy.

In 2009, the IFFHS released the results of a statistical study series which determined the best continental clubs of the 20th century.^[67] The ranking did not consider the performance of the teams in national football tournaments (except in the Oceania's club ranking due to limited editions held under OFC club competitions), the performance in the intercontinental or worldwide club competitions or those submitted in the IFFHS Club World Ranking, available since 1991.^[68]

Based on this study, which assigned a weighted score criteria applied for each competition analysed, the below six clubs were named as "continental clubs of the century" by the IFFHS between 10 September and 13 October 2009. These clubs were awarded with a golden trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala celebrated at Fulham, London, on 11 May 2010.^[69][70][71]

Continental rankings^[71]

Rank	Europe	South America	CONCACAF	Africa	Asia	Oceania
1	Real Madrid	Peñarol	Saprissa	Asante Kotoko	Al-Hilal	South Melbourne
2	Juventus	Independiente	Olimpia	Al Ahly	Yokohama F. Marinos	Sydney City
3	Barcelona	Nacional	Comunicaciones	Zamalek	Esteghlal	Marconi Stallions
4	Milan	River Plate	Municipal	Canon Yaoundé	Persepolis	Wollongong Wolves
5	Bayern Munich	Olimpia	Transvaal	ASEC Mimosas	Seongnam FC	University-Mount Wellington
6	Inter Milan	Boca Juniors	Alajuelense	Hearts of Oak	Al-Nassr	Melbourne Knights
7	Ajax	Cruzeiro	Necaxa	Espérance de Tunis	Pohang Steelers	Adelaide City
8	Liverpool	São Paulo	Cruz Azul	Hafia FC	Tokyo Verdy	Napier City Rovers
9	Benfica	América de Cali	Alianza	Africa Sports	Liaoning	Tafea
10	Anderlecht	Palmeiras	América	Englebert	Thai Farmers Bank	Sydney United

Boca Juniors, South American team of the decade (2001–2010).

The World's Best Man Club of the Decade (2001–2010)

In 2012, the IFFHS recognised Barcelona as the World's Best Club Team of the Decade for the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010).^[72]

Top 10 clubs^[73]

Rank	Club	Confederation	Points
1	Barcelona	UEFA	2,550
2	Manchester United	UEFA	2,523
3	Liverpool	UEFA	2,414
4	Arsenal	UEFA	2,410
5	Inter Milan	UEFA	2,358
6	Bayern Munich	UEFA	2,315
7	Milan	UEFA	2,296
8	Real Madrid	UEFA	2,257
9	Chelsea	UEFA	2,235
10	Boca Juniors	CONMEBOL	2,095

Top 5 continental clubs

Rank	Europe	South America	CONCACAF	Africa	Asia	Oceania
1	Barcelona[74]	Boca Juniors[75]	América[76]	Al Ahly[77]	Al-Hilal[78]	Auckland City[79]
2	Manchester United	São Paulo	Guadalajara	Espérance de Tunis	Pakhtakor Tashkent	Ba
3	Liverpool	River Plate	Cruz Azul	Étoile du Sahel	Al-Ittihad	Perth Glory
4	Arsenal	Cruzeiro	Pachuca	ASEC Mimosas	Gamba Osaka	Waitakere United
5	Inter Milan	Santos	Toluca	Coton Sport	Kashima Antlers	Pirae

The World's Best Men Club of the Decade (2011–2020)

In 2021, Barcelona were recognised as the world's best club also for the second decade (2011–2020).^[80]

Top 10 clubs^[81]

Rank	League	Confederation	Points
1	Barcelona	UEFA	2,877
2	Real Madrid	UEFA	2,782
3	Bayern Munich	UEFA	2,594.5
4	Paris Saint-Germain	UEFA	2,357
5	Atlético Madrid	UEFA	2,302
6	Juventus	UEFA	2,272
7	Chelsea	UEFA	2,113
	Manchester City	UEFA
9	Manchester United	UEFA	2,020
10	Arsenal	UEFA	2,016

Top 5 continental clubs

Rank	Europe	South America	CONCACAF	Africa	Asia	Oceania
1	Barcelona[82]	Grêmio[83]	UANL[84]	Espérance de Tunis[85]	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors[86]	Auckland City[87]
2	Real Madrid	Atlético Nacional	Monterrey	Al Ahly	Al-Hilal	Team Wellington
3	Bayern Munich	River Plate	América	Étoile du Sahel	Ulsan Hyundai	Magenta
4	Paris Saint-Germain	Boca Juniors	Santos Laguna	Zamalek	FC Seoul	Hienghène Sport
5	Atlético Madrid	Club Libertad	Cruz Azul	TP Mazembe	Al-Ahli	Tefana

The World's Best Men Club of the Month

Month	Year	Club	Ref.
January	2023.12023	Porto	[88]
February	2023.22023	Real Madrid
March	2023.32023	Feyenoord
April	2023.42023	Real Madrid (2)
May	2023.52023	Inter Milan
June	2023.62023	Flamengo
July	2023.72023	Corinthians
August	2023.82023	Palmeiras
September	2023.92023	Barcelona
October	2023.102023	Bayern Munich
November	2023.112023	PSV Eindhoven
December	2023.122023	Manchester City
January	2024.12024	Juventus	[88]
February	2024.22024	Feyenoord (2)	[89]
March	2024.32024	Milan	[90]
April	2024.42024	Manchester City (2)	[91]
May	2024.52024	Atalanta	[92]
June	2024.62024	Internacional	[93]
July	2024.72024	FCSB	[94]
August	2024.82024	Sparta Prague	[95]
September	2024.92024	Corinthians (2)	[96]
October	2024.102024	Fiorentina	[97]
November	2024.112024	Atlético Madrid	[98]
December	2024.122024	Real Madrid (3)	[99]
January	2025.12025	Arsenal	[100]
February	2025.22025	Real Madrid (4)	[101]
March	2025.32025	FC Barcelona (2)	[102]

Women's winners

IFFHS World's Best Woman Club

Sport	Association football
Competition	association and confederation tournaments
Awarded for	Best performing woman club of the calendar year
Presented by	International Federation of Football History & Statistics
History
First award	2012
Editions	13
First winner	Lyon
Most wins	Lyon (7 awards)
Most recent	Barcelona (4th award)
Website	www.iffhs.com

Lyon

List of winners

Year	Rank	Club	Points
2012	1st	Lyon[24]	132
	2nd	1. FFC Frankfurt	96
	3rd	1. FFC Turbine Potsdam	32
2013	1st	VfL Wolfsburg[25]	140
	2nd	Lyon	96
	3rd	Portland Thorns FC	41
2014	1st	VfL Wolfsburg[26]	189
	2nd	Lyon	73
	3rd	FC Kansas City	48
2015	1st	Lyon[27]	142
	2nd	1. FFC Frankfurt	100
	3rd	Bayern Munich	46
2016	1st	Lyon[28]	241
	2nd	VfL Wolfsburg	101
	3rd	Bayern Munich	34
2017	1st	Lyon[103]	303
	2nd	Paris Saint-Germain	79
	3rd	VfL Wolfsburg	78
2018	1st	Lyon[104]	302
	2nd	VfL Wolfsburg	138
	3rd	North Carolina Courage	37
2019	1st	Lyon[105]	284
	2nd	Barcelona	105
	3rd	North Carolina Courage	36
2020	1st	Lyon[106]	360
	2nd	Bayern Munich Paris Saint-Germain North Carolina Courage Chelsea Barcelona	5
	3rd	–
2021	1st	Barcelona[107]	225
	2nd	Chelsea	40
	3rd	Corinthians	30
2022	1st	Barcelona[108]	738
	2nd	Chelsea	546
	3rd	Lyon	532
2023	1st	Barcelona[109]	609
	2nd	Lyon	434
	3rd	Corinthians	384
2024	1st	Barcelona[110]	324
	2nd	Lyon	256
	3rd	Chelsea	228

Statistics

Winners (2012–present)^[111]

Club	Wins	Years
Lyon	7	2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Barcelona	4	2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
VfL Wolfsburg	2	2013, 2014

Wins by country

Country	Total	Clubs
France	7	1
Spain	4	1
Germany	2	1

Continental rankings (women)

Bold indicates the World's Best Woman Club winner.

Year	Confederation	Winner
2021	UEFA	Barcelona[112]
	CONMEBOL	Corinthians[113]
	CONCACAF	Portland Thorns FC[114]
	CAF	Hasaacas[115]
	AFC	Melbourne Victory[116]
	OFC	Southern United[117]

Year	Confederation	Winner
2022	UEFA	Barcelona[118]
	CONMEBOL	Palmeiras[119]
	CONCACAF	Chivas Guadalajara[120]
	CAF	Mamelodi Sundowns[121]
	AFC	Incheon Red Angels[122]
	OFC	Northern Rovers[123]

Year	Confederation	Winner
2023	UEFA	Barcelona[124]
	CONMEBOL	Corinthians[125]
	CONCACAF	América[126]
	CAF	Mamelodi Sundowns[127]
	AFC	Urawa Red Diamonds[128]
	OFC	Western Springs[129] Auckland United[129]

Year	Confederation	Winner
2024	UEFA	Barcelona
	CONMEBOL	Corinthians
	CONCACAF	Tigres UANL
	CAF
	AFC	Incheon Red Angels
	OFC

The World's Best Woman Club of the Decade (2011–2020)

In 2021, Lyon were recognised as the world's best club for the second decade (2011–2020).^[130]

Top 10 clubs^[130]

Rank	Club	Confederation	Points
1	Lyon	UEFA	178
2	VfL Wolfsburg	UEFA	130
3	Bayern Munich	UEFA	98
4	Paris Saint-Germain	UEFA	97
5	Portland Thorns FC	CONCACAF	87
6	Barcelona	UEFA	74
7	Chelsea	UEFA	69
8	North Carolina Courage	CONCACAF	67
9	Manchester City	UEFA	48
10	Rosengård	UEFA	47

See also

• International Federation of Football History & Statistics
• IFFHS World's Best Player
• IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper
• IFFHS World's Best Top Goal Scorer
• IFFHS World's Best International Goal Scorer
• IFFHS World Team
• IFFHS World's Best Club Coach
• IFFHS World's Best National Coach