Clubs, Leagues, Rankings - from A to Z

Methodology

I. Clubs World Ranking - Continental and National Competitions

Formula: The club ranking is calculated based on the results of the last five years of intercontinental, continental and national competitions. The most recent year has a total point value of 100%, while each previous year has a decreasing weight, with the 5th year counting only 50% of its original value.

For example, the points of a club in Club World Ranking 2022 is determined by taking into account 100% of points earned in 2022, 80% of points earned in 2021, 70% of points earned in 2020, 60% of points earned in 2019, and 50% of points earned in 2018.

There are 2 types of competitions: continental (and intercontinental), which have a maximum of 300 points (UEFA Champions League) and national (100 points for the champions). The system is thinking to value a UCL trophy with a weight of 3 national titles of the most important world league.

General: We do not use a match equalizer as we believe that a team's effort to play more games should be recognised. For example, in the Costa Rican Primera Division, a team can play more than 50 matches in a season. This does not guarantee more points for a club as their fixture will be more crowded than usual and participation in a continental competition (where clubs should earn more points) is at risk.

While for National Leagues points are distributed based on continental results, for international competitions the system is pre-set taking into account several factors such as: confederation, level (the first continental competition is usually called the Champions League, the 2nd, 3rd), stages, number of teams, transfer of teams between competitions or equivalents in other confederations.

A: Intercontinental and Continental Competitions

1) All intercontinental and continental competitions are considered for the club rankings. Each confederation has a main competition (generally referred to as the Champions League, except in the case of CONMEBOL where it is known as the Copa Libertadores) and several secondary competitions, including continental super cups. Currently, there are only two intercontinental competitions being held: the FIFA Club World Cup (which includes champions from all continents) and a regional champions league involving some countries from the Asian and African confederations.
2) The UEFA Champions League is the largest competition in the world, with the winner receiving a total of 300 bonus points. This competition serves as a benchmark for all others, with the Copa Libertadores rated at 90% of the UCL (awarding 270 bonus points) and the UEFA Europa League awarding 190 bonus points. The secondary competition for each confederation is rated between 40% and 65% of the main competition. The main competitions of the Champions League in CONCACAF, AFC, CAF are quite equal, with some differences only making a few preliminary stages. We consider that these are all major continental competitions (as UEFA Champions League), but should not be highly rewarded against a strong domestic league (English Premier League for example, which can have a maximum of 100 bonus points). For that, the bonus points for all these tournaments are between 130 and 150 bonus points.

World

Clubs World Cup100 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 100 / 75 21.0 7.0 2
2 3rd Place Match 55 / 40 18.0 6.0 2
3 Semifinals 18.0 6.0 4
4 5th Place Match 25 / 15 18.0 6.0 2
5 Quarterfinals 18.0 6.0 4
6 Preliminary Round / 5 12.0 4.0 2
Arab Club Championship Cup37 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 12 6.0 2.0 2
2 Semifinals 10 6.0 2.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 7 6.0 2.0 8
4 Groups Stage 5 / 5 4.5 1.5 16
5 Second Qualifying Round 3 3.0 1.0 12
6 First Qualifying Round 3.0 1.0 24
7 Preliminary Round 3.0 1.0 4

UEFA

UEFA Champions League300 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 70 21.0 7.0 2
2 Semifinals 60 21.0 7.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 50 21.0 7.0 8
4 Round of 16 40 21.0 7.0 16
5 Groups Stage 40 / 40 15.0 5.0 32
6 Play-Off Round 40 9.0 3.0 12
7 Third Qualifying Round 7.5 2.5 20
8 Second Qualifying Round 6.0 2.0 24
9 First Qualifying Round 4.5 1.5 30
10 Preliminary Round 4.5 1.5 4
UEFA Europa League190 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 40 15.0 5.0 2
2 Semifinals 35 15.0 5.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 30 15.0 5.0 8
4 Round of 16 25 15.0 5.0 16
5 Knockout Round Play-offs 20 15.0 5.0 16
6 Groups Stage 20 / 20 12.0 4.0 32
7 Play-Off Round 20 7.5 2.5 20
8 Third Qualifying Round 6.0 2.0 14
UEFA Europa Conference League120 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 30 12.0 4.0 2
2 Semifinals 25 12.0 4.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 20 12.0 4.0 8
4 Round of 16 15 12.0 4.0 16
5 Knockout Round Play-offs 10 12.0 4.0 16
6 Groups Stage 10 / 10 10.5 3.5 32
7 Play-Off Round 10 7.5 2.5 44
8 Third Qualifying Round 6.0 2.0 64
9 Second Qualifying Round 4.5 1.5 106
10 First Qualifying Round 4.5 1.5 62
UEFA Super Cup30 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 30 / 15 21.0 7.0 2

CONMEBOL

Copa Libertadores270 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 65 18.0 6.0 2
2 Semifinals 55 18.0 6.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 45 18.0 6.0 8
4 Round of 16 35 18.0 6.0 16
5 Groups Stage 35 / 35 15.0 5.0 32
6 Third Stage 35 9.0 3.0 8
7 Second Stage 7.5 2.5 16
8 First Stage 6.0 2.0 6
Copa Sudamericana170 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 35 15.0 5.0 2
2 Semifinals 30 15.0 5.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 25 15.0 5.0 8
4 Round of 16 20 15.0 5.0 16
5 Knockout Round Play-offs 15 15.0 5.0 16
5 Knockout Round Play-offs Participation Bonus 15 - -
6 Groups Stage 30 / 15 12.0 4.0 32
7 First Stage 15 7.5 2.5 32
Recopa Sudamericana30 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 30 / 15 18.0 6.0 2

CONCACAF

CONCACAF Champions League135 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 35 12.0 4.0 2
2 Semifinals 30 12.0 4.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 25 12.0 4.0 8
4 Round of 16 20 10.5 3.5 16
6 Round One 20 6.0 2.0 22
7 Round One Participation Bonus 5 - -
CONCACAF Leagues Cup66 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 17 7.5 2.5 2
2 Semifinals 15 7.5 2.5 4
2 Third Place Match 7.5 2.5 2
3 Quarterfinals 12 7.5 2.5 8
4 Round of 16 10 7.5 2.5 16
5 Round of 32 7 7.5 2.5 32
6 Groups Stage 5 / 5 6.0 2.0 45
CONCACAF Central American Cup49 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 15 7.5 2.5 2
2 Semifinals 12 7.5 2.5 4
3 Play-In Round (QF losers) 7.5 2.5 4
3 Quarterfinals 10 7.5 2.5 8
4 Groups Stage 7 / 7 6.0 2.0 20
5 Groups Stage Participation Bonus 5 - -
CONCACAF Caribbean Cup34 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 12 6.0 2.0 2
2 Semifinals 10 6.0 2.0 4
2 Third Place Match 6.0 2.0 2
3 Groups Stage 7 / 7 4.5 1.5 10
4 Groups Stage Participation Bonus 5 - -
CONCACAF Caribbean Shield18 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 7 4.5 1.5 2
2 Semifinals 5 4.5 1.5 4
2 3rd place match 4.5 1.5 2
3 Groups Stage 3 3.0 1.0 16
4 Groups Stage Participation Bonus 3 - - 16

AFC

AFC Champions League150 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 35 12.0 4.0 2
2 Semifinals 30 12.0 4.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 25 12.0 4.0 8
4 Round of 16 20 12.0 4.0 16
5 Groups Stage 20 / 20 10.5 3.5 40
6 Play-Off Round 20 6.0 2.0 16
7 Preliminary Round 2 4.5 1.5 10
8 Preliminary Round 1 4.5 1.5
AFC Cup61 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 17 9.0 3.0 2
2 West Asia Final (SF) 15 9.0 3.0 2
2 Inter-zone Play-Offs Finals (SF) 15 9.0 3.0 2
3 West Asia Semifinals (QF) 12 9.0 3.0 4
3 Inter-zone Play-Offs Semifinals (QF) 12 9.0 3.0 4
4 ASEAN Finals (PO) 9.0 3.0 2
5 ASEAN Semifinals (PO) 9.0 3.0 4
6 Groups Stage 10 / 10 6.0 2.0 36
7 Play-Off Round 7 4.5 1.5 14
8 Preliminary Round 2 3.0 1.0 10
9 Preliminary Round 1 3.0 1.0 2

CAF

CAF Champions League135 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 35 12.0 4.0 2
2 Semifinals 30 12.0 4.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 25 12.0 4.0 8
4 Groups Stage 20 / 20 10.5 3.5 16
5 Round 1 20 6.0 2.0 32
6 Preliminary Round 5 4.5 1.5 44
CAF Confederation Cup64 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 17 9.0 3.0 2
2 Semifinals 15 9.0 3.0 4
3 Quarterfinals 12 9.0 3.0 8
4 Groups Stage 10 / 10 7.5 2.5 16
5 Second Qualifying Round 10 4.5 1.5 32
6 First Qualifying Round 3.0 1.0 40
CAF Super Cup15 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 15 / 7 12.0 4.0 2
Kagame Interclub Cup15 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 7 4.5 1.5 2
2 Semifinals 5 4.5 1.5 4
2 Third Place Match 4.5 1.5 2
3 Groups Stage 3 3.0 1.0 8
African Football League44 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 15 7.5 2.5 2
2 Semifinals 12 7.5 2.5 4
3 Quarterfinals 10 7.5 2.5 8
4 Quarterfinals Participation Bonus 7 - - 8

OFC

OFC Champions League44 total bonus points
TPhaseBonus
Points
MatchTeams
Count
WinDraw
1 Final 15 9.0 3.0 2
2 Semifinals 12 9.0 3.0 4
3 Groups Stage 10 / 10 6.0 2.0 8
4 Preliminary Round 7 / 7 3.0 1.0 4
4 National Playoffs 7 4.5 1.5 14
Bonus points are awarded for winning the indicated phase (or finishing second in the group stage or losing a super cup final). Teams that are automatically qualified for the group stages (e.g. UEFA Champions League) receive the points awarded for winning the play-off round (40 points in the case of the UCL). The points awarded for each phase vary, taking into account three types of phases: preliminary, regular (group stages), and final (knockout stages after the group stages). Additionally, the points earned for a win or a draw are different. For example, a win in the UCL final is awarded 21 points, while a play-off win is only awarded 9 points.

B: National Leagues & Cups

The distribution points are used to determine the strength of the country's league and cups. The coefficients ranking categorizes each country into a specific category, where the top 3 leagues receive 100 points and the national cup is awarded 40% of that, the league cup winner is awarded 20% and the super cup 10%. The points are then reduced based on a table.
The coefficients ranking is used to determine the national category for each season, taking into account both fall-spring and spring-fall seasons, and is used for the next 2 years, skipping one year. So the 2022 coefficient ranking will be used for the 2023/24 (fall-spring) or 2024 (spring-fall) season.
The Cups Minimum Phase column indicates the minimum phase of national knockout competitions that will be counted towards the ranking. This means that teams from lower divisions may be included in the ranking based on their participation in the later stages of national cups.
Domestic competitions, such as the England Premier League, are only added to the leaderboard once they have been completed. This is because continental matches are given priority, and the ranking updates only take effect after each continental round or after a national tournament has ended.
Each year, for the top 10 countries in the coefficient ranking, the second level of the national league is taken into account in the ranking, provided that the country in question is in the top 10 for 2 years in a row. This rule is added because we want to count only the most competitive tier 2 competitions, where the leagues last at the top and are not just skipped there for a year. For example, the English Championship is added for 2022 as England was in the top 10 for 2020 and 2021, while the Mexican Ascenso MX is not eligible for 2022 as it dropped out of the top 10 in 2021. The match value for the tier 2 league is 60% of the first. So, if the English Premier League gets 6 points for a win and 2 for a draw, in the EPL Championship a match is awarded with 3.6 points for a win and 1.2 points for a draw. No bonus points for winning the second league or for promotion. Thus, the system will qualify them between positions 41 and 50 in the National League Table (below) with countries such as Croatia, China, Israel, Russia etc.
Level Positions in
Coefficients Ranking
Countries
Count
Bonus PointsMatches
Points
Cups
Minimum
Phase
LeagueCups
StartEndChampions2nd3rd Second
League
Cup
Winner
Cup
Finalist
League Cup
Winner
Super Cup
Winner
WinDraw
1 1 3 3 100 35 20 40 16 20 10 6.0 2.0 Round of 16
2 4 6 3 95 33 19 38 15 19 10 5.7 1.9 Round of 16
3 7 10 4 90 32 18 36 14 18 9 5.4 1.8 Round of 16
4 11 12 2 85 30 17 34 14 17 9 5.1 1.7 Round of 16
5 13 14 2 80 28 16 32 13 16 8 5.1 1.7 Round of 16
6 15 16 2 75 26 15 30 12 15 8 4.8 1.6 Round of 16
7 17 18 2 70 25 14 28 11 14 7 4.8 1.6 Round of 16
8 19 20 2 65 23 13 26 10 13 7 4.8 1.6 Round of 16
9 21 23 3 60 21 12 24 10 12 6 4.5 1.5 Round of 16
10 24 26 3 55 19 11 22 9 11 6 4.5 1.5 Round of 16
11 27 30 4 50 18 10 20 8 10 5 4.2 1.4 Round of 16
12 31 35 5 45 16 - 18 7 9 5 3.9 1.3 Round of 16
13 36 40 5 40 14 - 16 6 8 4 3.9 1.3 Round of 16
14 41 45 5 35 12 - 14 6 7 4 3.6 1.2 Round of 16
15 46 50 5 30 11 - 12 5 6 3 3.6 1.2 Round of 16
16 51 60 10 25 9 - 10 4 5 3 3.3 1.1 Round of 16
17 61 70 10 20 - - 8 - 4 2 3.0 1.0 Quarterfinals
18 71 85 15 15 - - 6 - 3 2 2.7 0.9 Quarterfinals
19 86 100 15 12 - - 5 - 2 1 2.4 0.8 Quarterfinals
20 101 120 20 10 - - 4 - 2 1 2.1 0.7 Quarterfinals
21 121 150 30 7 - - 3 - 1 1 1.8 0.6 Quarterfinals
22 151 250 100 5 - - 2 - 1 1 1.5 0.5 Quarterfinals

II. Country Coefficients

Formula: The sum of the points of the top 5 clubs for each year, for each country (only continental competitions are taken into account). All the 5 years that make up the country coefficient have the same weight, compared to the club ranking where the weight of points decreases with each year.

- Coefficients rankings are used to determine the importance of leagues (by the distribution points) in the world, which where detailed above at point B of Continental and National Competitions chapter.
- The points earned by clubs in all the continental and intercontinental competitions are taken into account in the country coefficients. But not the all: for example, some countries from the South American confederation have a big advantage with almost 14 teams per season for the continental competitions. To ensure a fair ranking, it was decided that only the top 5 clubs for each season, for each country, would be considered for the coefficients. There are still some disadvantaged countries, such as Europe with only 4 teams for the continental competitions or Oceania with only one confederation tournament and 2 teams from each country that qualify. This is mostly due to a competition with a low number of teams or a poor coefficient in the official ranking of the confederations. Nevertheless, the aim is to provide each country with a fair chance to participate in the ranking.

III. Strongest Leagues

Formula: The sum of the points of the top 5 teams (in Clubs Ranking) for the current year, for each country.

The club ranking is used to determine the strength of a country's league by considering the top 5 teams in the country. This method allows for a more comprehensive comparison of a country's overall results and helps to determine the strength of the national league based on both continental and national results.