In most countries, there's one football club that's bigger than all the rest – even if only by a little bit.
This is a list that's sure to spark heated debate the world over... And we reckon we should dive straight in.
Just click any of the arrows over on the right to start the journey!
The most successful football club in the country, having won multiple top-flight titles and the OFC Champions League (before Australia left the Oceania Football Confederation for its Asian counterpart), Sydney FC were a founder member of the A-League back in 2005.
Based at the 42,500-seater Allianz Stadium, the Sky Blues have seen some major stars from Oz and abroad pull on the shirt – including former national team captain Lucas Neill and Italian World Cup winner Alessandro Del Piero.
In recent years, Austrian football has been dominated by Red Bull Salzburg – but Rapid Vienna remain the country’s biggest club.
Founded in 1899, they’ve been crowned national champions more times than anyone else and reached the Cup Winners’ Cup final on two occasions: 1985 and 1996, losing narrowly to PSG in the latter.
Hailing from the capital, Brussels, Anderlecht made history in 1976 by becoming the first Belgian side to win major European silverware: the Cup Winners’ Cup – which they lifted again two years later, before adding the 1982/83 UEFA Cup to their trophy cabinet.
Traditionally the dominant force domestically, they were established in 1908 and have long-standing rivalries with the two other members of Belgium’s ‘Big Three’: Club Brugge and Standard Liege.
Set up in 1895 as Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (Rowing Club of Flamengo, such was their initial vocation), Rio de Janeiro giants Flamengo didn’t actually play their first official football match until 1912.
They went on to become the most popular club in football-obsessed Brazil, with almost a quarter of the population of more than 200 million said to support them in 2024.
The first Chilean outfit to be crowned champions of South America, Colo-Colo won the 1991 Copa Libertadores.
Based in the capital, Santiago, Los Albos (The White Ones) were founded in 1925 and took their name from Mapuche tribal chief Colocolo – a depiction of whom takes centre stage on the club crest.
Nine-time champions of Yugoslavia, and the dominant force in Croatian football since the country’s 1991 independence, Dinamo Zagreb are one of the most decorated clubs in the Balkans.
Dinamo were the first side from the region to lift a European trophy, beating Leeds 2-0 on aggregate in the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final.
Central Europe’s top club in terms of success in continental competitions, Sparta Prague reached the 1991/92 European Cup semi-finals (which actually took the form of a group stage) and 1972/73 Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals.
National champions on numerous occasions before and after Czechoslovakia’s 1992 split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Sparta’s official colours are those of the Czech capital: blue, yellow and red (although they generally play in maroon).
Formed in 1992, the present-day FC Copenhagen is the successor to Kjobenhavns Boldklub – the oldest football club in continental Europe – and Boldklubben 1903, both of whom ran into financial difficulties and effectively merged.
Regular winners of the Danish Superliga title, Copenhagen made history in 2010 by becoming the first side from the Scandinavian nation to reach the Champions League knockout stages.
Not just the most successful club in Egypt but the most successful club in all of Africa, Al Ahly were the first side to win the CAF Champions League six times (or seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 or 12 times, for that matter).
Founded in 1907 and playing home games at the 75,000-capacity Cairo International Stadium, they contest a heated cross-capital derby with Zamalek.
Probably the biggest football club in the world, never mind England, Manchester United really need no introduction.
Formed in 1878 as Newton Heath, adopting their current name in 1902, the Red Devils have won everything there is to win, enjoying their most notable period of success under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson – who famously guided them to the treble in 1998/99.
PSG only came into being in 1970, but the last decade or so has seen them firmly establish themselves as the foremost force in French football.
Ligue 1 champions in 10 out of 12 seasons between 2012/13 and 2023/24, Les Parisiens can cite among their fans ex-president of France Nicolas Sarkozy dance music superstar DJ Snake.
From 2013 to 2023, Bayern Munich won a record-breaking 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles, emphatically asserting their status as top dogs in Germany.
Founded in 1900, the Bavarian giants – whose other sporting departments include handball and [checks notes] chess – also added two Champions League crowns during that time, taking their total to six.
Hungary’s most popular and most successful club, Ferencvaros celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2024 – when they secured yet another domestic top-flight title.
Winners of the 1964/65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, beating Juventus in the final, the Budapest outfit – sadly – never got to sign the nation’s greatest player, their semi-namesake Ferenc Puskas.
In a country where Gaelic football leads association football in popularity, Shamrock Rovers are the most prominent name in the beautiful game.
Established back in 1899, the Dubliners – who were the first Irish club to play in continental competition, appearing in the 1957/58 European Cup – began the 2020s by winning four straight League of Ireland titles.
Founded in 1897 by a group of students from the Turin (the Alps-adjacent city of The Italian Job fame), Juventus clinched their first of a record-breaking number of Serie A titles just eight years into their existence.
European champions for the first time in 1985, Juve’s fan base stood at 12 million in 2016 – accounting for a whopping 34% of football supporters in Italy at the time.
The Urawa Red Diamonds aka Urawa Reds are the best-known football club in Japan, initially forming in 1950 as the works team of electronics corporation Mitsubishi.
Based near Tokyo in Saitama (which absorbed the former city of Urawa), they won their first Japanese title in 1969 and their first AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Champions League in 2007.
A founder member of Mexico’s top flight, Liga MX, Guadalajara won their first domestic title in 1957 and secured their first continental crown five years later.
Based in the country’s third-largest city, the club nicknamed Chivas (Goats) has produced some of the finest Mexican players of all time, including Javier Hernandez and Carlos Salcido.
There is a Monaco national team, but they’re not a member of FIFA or UEFA, and the wealthy principality’s premier club side are immeasurably more prominent.
Members of the French Football Federation (FFF), Monaco have won numerous Ligue 1 titles and Coupe de France crowns, and reached the final of the 2003/04 Champions League.
One of the most iconic clubs in world football, Ajax turned professional in 1955 and quite quickly became a major force at home and abroad.
Famed for their youth system, Ajax well and truly put themselves on the map by winning three straight European Cups in the early 70s – thanks in no small part to the Total Football philosophy of Johann Cruyff and legendary manager Rinus Michels.
Founded in 2007 to replace the defunct New Zealand Knights, Wellington Phoenix compete in the Australian A-League – where they finished as runners-up in 2023/24.
Football will always lag behind rugby as the most popular sport in New Zealand, but the Nix have grown a strong fan base in their short existence – with the most ardent supporters calling themselves the Yellow Fever.
Set up by the Polish military during the First World War, Legia Warsaw are one of the most passionately supported clubs in Europe – with their vociferous fans always making their presence known by bringing plenty of pyro.
Polish champions and cup winners on numerous occasions, Legia reached the semi-finals of the 1969/70 European Cup and 1990/91 Cup Winners’ Cup.
The biggest of Portugal’s ‘Big Three’ (the other two being their Lisbon rivals Sporting, and Porto), Benfica have swept almost 100 major trophies throughout their long history.
Established in 1904, they won their first Portuguese title in 1936 – and their first of back-to-back European Cups in 1961, under iconic coach Bela Guttmann with a team spearheaded by the great Eusebio.
Hailing from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Al-Hilal were founded in 1957 (as Olympic Club) and had won 10 top-flight titles by their 50th anniversary – as well as two AFC Champions Leagues.
Losing finalists to Real Madrid at the 2022 Club World Cup, Al-Hilal maintain bitter rivalries with fellow Riyadh outfits Al-Ittihad and Al Nassr.
Formed in 1945, Red Star Belgrade enjoyed their finest hour in 1991 – when they beat Marseille on penalties to lift the European Cup, becoming just the second club from Eastern Europe to do so.
Easily the most-supported side in Serbia (and Yugoslavia before that), Red Star contest one of the fiercest derbies in world football: the Eternal derby against Partizan Belgrade.
Taking their name from founder Kaizer Motaung, a South African former player, Kaizer Chiefs were founded in 1970 and went on to establish themselves as top dogs in the country.
Playing their home games at Johannesburg’s enormous FNB Stadium – the scene of the 2010 World Cup final – the club nicknamed AmaKhosi (Kings or Chiefs in Zulu) reached their first CAF Champions League final in 2021.
If Manchester United aren’t the biggest club in the world, Real Madrid are (but we’ll leave you to fight that out among yourselves), and they’re certainly number one in Spain.
European champions on significantly more occasions than anyone else, Los Blancos were established in 1902 as Madrid Football Club; they were bestowed with royal status (Real is Spanish for Royal) by King Alfonso XIII in the 1920.
Representing Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmo are the Scandinavian nation’s most successful club, winning their first of many top-flight titles in the 1943/44 season.
In 1979, the Blues made history by becoming the first club from Scandinavia to reach the final of the European Cup – which they lost narrowly to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.
Founded back in 1893, Basel won their first Swiss title in 1953 and their 20th in 2017 – by which time they had marked themselves out as Switzerland’s leading force in continental football.
Champions League regulars, they reached the quarter-finals of the 1973/74 European Cup and have seen stars such as Mo Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri pass through.
Shakhtar Donetsk may be Ukraine’s money club, but Dynamo Kyiv are the country’s biggest – and they have the pedigree to back it up.
Established in 1907, Dynamo won a record 13 Soviet Top League titles and claimed nine of the first 10 Ukrainian Premier League crowns – mostly during the 90s, when they reached the semi-finals of the 1998/99 under Valeriy Lobanovskyi, the legendary manager who had previously guided them to two Cup Winners’ Cup triumphs.
Among the most decorated clubs in all of South America, Penarol were founded back in 1891 and won their 50th Uruguayan top-flight title in 2018.
Copa Libertadores champions on multiple occasions, winning the competition three times during the 60s and twice during the 80s, their main rivals are fellow Montevideo outfit Nacional.
This football will never be the most popular sport in the USA, but MLS has done a good job of putting the round-ball sport on the map since the competition’s inception in 1996.
The LA Galaxy have been there since the beginning, claiming numerous pieces of silverware and boasting some of the biggest names ever to play in North America’s top league – including David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Steven Gerrard.
The only non-English side to win the FA Cup, defeating Arsenal 1-0 in the final of 1927, Cardiff City have played in the English league system for their entire history – but no one can take away their Welshness.
Sharing an intense rivalry with Swansea City, the Bluebirds have had several stints in the top flight and came agonisingly close to the title in 1923/24 – only losing out to Huddersfield Town on goal average.
