Cape Town - The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) has named Brazil’s Serie A the best national league in the world for 2022.
It is the second time in the history of the 32-year-old organisation that a continental league other than European tops the world ranking. Spain's La Liga has topped the charts 13 times, followed by Italy (11), England (5) and Germany (1).
Seven of the top 10 slots are filled by leagues from UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and three are from CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation). The top 10 leagues are 1 Brazil, 2 England, 3 Spain, 4 Germany, 5 Italy, 6 France, 7 Portugal, 8 Netherlands, 9 Argentina and 10 Paraguay.
Only three African leagues under the CAF (Confederation of African Football) banner feature in the top 30. They are Egypt (13), Algeria (20) and Morocco (24). South Africa slots in at 53 which is a significant drop from its ranking (31) in 2021.
The national leagues also reflect favourably on FIFA's official world rankings which are headed by Brazil. The rest of the countries that are world ranked in the top 10 also have the best-rated domestic leagues.
The IFFHS is a Swiss-based organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football around the world. It has no affiliation with FIFA, but it does use FIFA-approved information to compile the statistics.
At a club level, Africa fares far better and features in the top 20 list. The lone African club in the top 20 is Egypt's Al Ahly SC which is ranked 17th. This is the highest-ever slot of an African team in the club world ranking
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Flamengo (1) and Palmeiras (2) head up the world ranking of clubs. The next eight berths in the top 10 bracket are occupied by European clubs. They are: 3 Liverpool (England), 4 Chelsea (England), 5 Manchester City (England), 6 Real Madrid (Spain), 7 SL Benfica (Portugal), 8 FC Porto (Portugal), 9 RB Leipzig (Germany), 10 PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands).
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The club rankings include 500 clubs worldwide and only two South African clubs have made it onto the list. They are Mamelodi Sundowns (109) and Orlando Pirates (220). The once mighty Kaizer Chiefs have not made it onto the rankings.
In Africa, Al Ahly are followed by Wydad AC (49) and Zamalek SC (63).
IOL Sport