In the modern day, whether your stresses stem from Premier League title races or lower league promotion pushes or even a relegation dogfight - club football tends to take priority for most supporters.
Enticed by the tribalism of turf war, cities such as London, Manchester and Liverpool all see their populations divided by club colours. Whether it be Arsenal against Tottenham, City versus United or Liverpool and their foes Everton - the passion felt from each fanbase makes for the most fiercely contested rivalries.
International football has a reputation for not always carrying that same passion given games occur at a far lesser rate, sometimes months apart and even then you may still not be drawn a real grudge-match. However, every so often a tie will be drawn - usually at major tournament level as well, that will match up two nations that do not see eye to eye.
The 2022 Qatar World Cup is nearly upon us and though we've already seen one footballing powerhouse fail to seal their place at the tournament in Italy, it should still be four weeks to remember.
It will be a significant change of pace from World Cup's gone-by given the fact it is being played from November to late December, but could still see some rivals face off on the biggest stage of all.
Mirror Football has taken a look at some of the most fierce rivalries between international sides and why certain fixtures between certain nations harbour such animosity.
Germany vs Netherlands
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Arguably the most volatile rivalry in international football, these two sides are gearing up for a 'friendly' (if you can believe that) on Tuesday night at the Amsterdam Arena.
Undeniably, the hatred stems from something far bigger than football. From a Dutch perspective, there was a lingering anti-German sentiment off the back of World War 2.
The Netherlands' first meeting with Germany after the war came in the 1974 World Cup final in a game that saw Die Mannschaft spring a surprise win to topple the Dutch. That game is still referred to as "De moeder aller nederlagen" ("The mother of all defeats") in Holland to this day.
16 years later, they met at the 1990 World Cup for a game that played witness to one of the most disgusting acts seen on a football pitch when Frank Rijkaard appeared to spit in the hair of Rudi Voller.
Expect plenty of fireworks when they meet this week, regardless of the game's friendly status.
Brazil vs Argentina
Much like the Netherlands against Germany, this rivalry is made extra heated by the fact both nations so often boast supreme talents within their ranks.
A certain edge is taken off of any rivalry when one outfit is so much more dominant than the other, but for these South American counterparts meetings are commonly tense, close affairs.
Between them, they have seven World Cup and a whopping 24 Copa America titles as well as producing some of the game's best ever players. A feud between two poster boys for each nation in Diego Maradona and Pele ran for multiple decades before the pair eventually settled their differences.
In the 1990 World Cup, La Albiceleste met the Selecao at the round of 16 stage in a contest that saw Argentina run out 1-0 winners, but their win was not without intense controversy. The Brazil players claimed that their water had been spiked, resulting in this fixture forever being known as the 'Holy Water' game.
More recently, the sides met in the last Copa America final which ended in the same score-line - handing Lionel Messi his first piece of international silverware.
Egypt vs Algeria
There is bad blood and then there is Egypt vs Algeria. Whenever these two are drawn together, expect fireworks and a heavy police presence to try and quell the mob of angry fans from either nation.
During their game at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, 15,000 policeman were deployed to prevent any potential crowd trouble as Egypt ran out 4-0 winners.
Their on-pitch hatred stems from long before then, when a 1989 World Cup qualifier descended into chaos after Algerian superstar Lakhar Belloumi blinded the Egypt team doctor in one eye with a bottle. A warrant for his arrest from Interpol lasted nearly 20 years before charges were dropped.
The two nations have gone in contrasting directions in recent years, with the Mohamed Salah-led Egypt reaching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year while Algeria finished bottom of their group with just one point to show for their efforts.
Denmark vs Sweden
An often forgotten rivalry given neither nation could be described as footballing powerhouse, there is little love lost between the two Scandinavian countries.
They have faced each other more than 100 times, but one that stands out above the rest was the heated meeting of Euro 2008 which had a notably ugly ending.
Sweden had enjoyed a 3-0 lead at half-time, only to see the Danish side mount an inspiring comeback to bring the score level at 3-3. Referee Herbert Fandel pointed to the spot in second-half stoppage time to award Sweden a last-gasp penalty - cue pandemonium.
A Danish fan proceeded to run onto the pitch and try to assault the official, which promoted Fandel to swiftly abandon the match. The Swedes were granted a 3-0 victory by default.
Ghana vs Nigeria
Affectionately dubbed the "jolloff derby", Ghana and Nigeria will take each other on knowing a place at the 2022 Qatar World Cup is at stake on Tuesday night.
The Black Stars make the trip to the Super Eagles for the second-leg of their World Cup play-off with the game evenly balanced after a 0-0 draw back in Ghana last week.
Much like many of the rivalries mentioned above, the competition between these two transcends football and delves into socio-economic territory.
Two of the biggest and most respected footballing nations on the continent, Ghana and Nigeria so often produce Premier League talent. Ghana's Thomas Partey is one of the first names on the team-sheet at Arsenal while the likes of Nigeria's Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi also feature regularly on these shores.
Honduras vs El Salvador
While every rivalry mentioned so far harbours a lot of bad blood, none have kickstarted an actual war. Yet Honduras vs El Salvador is unlike any other footballing rivalry.
June 1969 marked three contests between the two nations, the first couple coming in the form of a two-legged World Cup qualifier for the 1970 tournament. Fighting between fans marred the first game, won 1-0 by Honduras.
Things turned even uglier by the second, which was won 3–0 by El Salvador. The third and final clash was played in Mexico City on the same day that El Salvador severed all diplomatic ties with Honduras.
El Salvador won the third game 3-2, but war broke out due to the souring in relations less than a month later. Needless to say, things have hardly been friendly since.
Japan vs South Korea
One of the most politically charged fixtures around, these two sides meet more often they would like during qualification stages for multiple tournaments due to their close proximity.
Whenever Japan and South Korea face off, both sets of supporters tend to unveil offensive flags at the expense of the other.
On the pitch, South Korea were long viewed as the superior nation but the latest generation of Japanese stars has seen a significant turning of the tide and the gap is much closer between the two.
Japan have already secured their place in Qatar, but South Korea will have to take on the UAE in a play-off first.
