The latest report from The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) names Major League Soccer as the 49th strongest league in the world, out of 125.
The criteria is based on all national and (inter)continental results, or to put it in plain English, the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League. Neither of these tournaments get any respect from MLS coaches, especially the CONCACAF Champions League and until that changes, MLS will continue to be ranked below the likes of Cyprus, Tunisia, Moldova and Azerbaijan.
For those of you discounting the report, which has been coming out since 1991, the IFFHS ranks Spain’s La Liga as the top league in the world, followed by the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A. A ranking that most fans would agree with.
For La Liga it is the fourth year in a row that is has been named the world’s best league. The Premier League ran it close as the best English clubs got a better performance for continental competitions (524 points) than Spanish (469 points), but strongly they failed in the FA Cup (72 points), meanwhile La Copa del Rey semifinals were played by the four strongest Spanish teams (144 points).
Top 50 Leagues In The World
|
lace 1 |
2012 (1) |
Country
Spain |
Points 1155,00 |
|
|
2 |
(5) |
England |
1128,00 |
|
|
3 |
(3) |
Germany |
1056,00 |
|
|
4 |
(4) |
Italy |
927,00 |
|
|
5 |
(2) |
Brazil |
896,00 |
|
|
6 |
(6) |
Argentina |
868,00 |
|
|
7 |
(7) |
France |
796,00 |
|
|
8 |
(19) |
Russia |
739,50 |
|
|
9 |
(21) |
Colombia |
724,50 |
|
|
10 |
(14) |
Romania |
722,50 |
|
|
11 |
(9) |
Paraguay |
721,00 |
|
|
12 |
(23) |
Switzerland |
698,00 |
|
|
13 |
(15) |
Turkey |
683,50 |
|
|
14 |
(11) |
Ukraine |
682,00 |
|
|
15 |
(20) |
México |
678,50 |
|
|
16 |
(12) |
Belgium |
669,50 |
|
|
17 |
(21) |
Czech Republic |
661,50 |
|
|
18 |
(17) |
Portugal |
646,50 |
|
|
19 |
(10) |
Chile |
621,50 |
|
|
20 |
(13) |
Ecuador |
587,50 |
|
|
21 |
(8) |
Netherlands |
578,50 |
|
|
22 |
(17) |
Greece |
578,00 |
|
|
23 |
(15) |
Korea Republik |
571,50 |
|
|
24 |
(28) |
Saudi Arabia |
519,00 |
|
|
25 |
(24) |
Scotland |
503,00 |
|
|
26 |
(29) |
Cyprus |
488,50 |
|
|
27 |
(68) |
Bulgaria |
486,50 |
|
|
28 |
(43) |
Austria |
476,00 |
|
|
29 |
(30) |
Norway |
472,00 |
|
|
30 |
(27) |
Japan |
469,50 |
|
|
31 |
(42) |
Tunisia |
462,00 |
|
|
32 |
(32) |
Croatia |
458,00 |
|
|
33 |
(26) |
Denmark |
435,50 |
|
|
34 |
(70) |
China |
430,50 |
|
|
35 |
(25) |
Uruguay |
429,00 |
|
|
36 |
(44) |
Israel |
427,50 |
|
|
37 |
(36) |
Iran |
419,00 |
|
|
38 |
(61) |
Costa Rica |
403,00 |
|
|
39 |
(51) |
Poland |
392,00 |
|
|
40 |
(31) |
Perú |
384,00 |
|
|
41 |
(34) |
Moldova |
380,00 |
|
|
42 |
(41) |
Serbia |
372,00 |
|
|
43 |
(84) |
Azerbaijan |
370,50 |
|
|
44 |
(38) |
Bolivia |
370,00 |
|
|
45 |
(33) |
Sweden |
366,50 |
|
|
46 |
(87) |
Egypt |
361,50 |
|
|
47 |
(56) |
Maroc |
359,00 |
|
|
48 |
(69) |
Venezuela |
351,00 |
|
|
49 |
(37) |
USA |
349,50 |
|
|
50 |
(46) |
Georgia |
343,00 |
