Top 10 Football Clubs In The World 2012

1. Barcelona

They are the current European and Spanish football champions, and the most successful club in Spanish football in terms of domestic and overall trophies, having won 21 La Liga, 25 Copa del Rey, 10 Supercopa de España, 3 Copa Eva Duarte^[4] and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. It is also one of the most successful clubs in European and international club football, having won four UEFA Champions League, a record four UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, four UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup trophies. They also won a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup trophies, considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup.

2. Manchester United

Manchester United has won the most titles in English football, with 53 domestic trophies, comprising a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups, four League Cups and 19 FA Charity/Community Shields. The club has also been successful globally, winning seven international titles: three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the club won a “Treble” of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, an unprecedented feat for an English club. Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world. As of July 2011, the club is number one in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams, valued at $1.86 billion.

3. Real Madrid

Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. It is the most successful club in Spanish football in terms of international and overall trophies, and was voted by FIFA as the most successful football club of the 20th century, having won a record 31 La Liga titles, 18 Spanish “Copa del Rey” Cups, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la Liga, a record 9 UEFA Champions Leagues, 2 UEFA Cups, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 3 Intercontinental Cups.

Real Madrid holds long-standing rivalries with other football clubs, most notably FC Barcelona, with matches between the two teams referred to as “el Clásico”. Unlike most European football clubs, Real Madrid’s members (socios) have owned and operated the club since its inception. The club is the world’s richest football club (€438.6m) in terms of revenue and the second most valuable worth over €1.4mld in 2011.

4. Inter Milan

Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Inter have always played in Serie A since 1908. The club has won 30 domestic trophies, including the league eighteen times, the Coppa Italia seven and the Supercoppa Italiana five. Inter have won three times the Champions League; two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010. The last completed an unprecedented Italian treble with the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto. The club has also won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.

Inter is one of the most supported clubs in Italy, according to an August 2007 research by Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Historically, the largest section of Inter fans from the city of Milan have been the middle-class bourgeoisie Milanese, while AC Milan fans are typically working-class and a significant portion are migrants from Southern Italy.

5. Porto

Porto is the most successful Portuguese football club in international competitions, with 7 titles, and the second most successful in domestic competitions, with 63 titles. It is also the most successful Portuguese football club in terms of total titles, with 70 titles. Domestically, it holds the record of five Portuguese Liga titles in a row, having won the Portuguese Liga 25 times. Other national titles won by the club include the Championship of Portugal/Portuguese Cup 20 times and the Portuguese SuperCup 18 times.

6. AC Milan

They are the current Italian football champions, and are the most successful club in world football in terms of international trophies along with Boca Juniors, with 18 officially recognized UEFA and FIFA titles. Milan has won four world titles, more than any other club in the world, having won the Intercontinental Cup three times and the FIFA Club World Cup once. Milan also won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions, second only to Real Madrid. They also won the UEFA Super Cup a record five times and the Cup Winners’ Cup twice. Milan won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the Europa League in which they lost two semifinals. Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A behind Juventus (27 titles), along with local rivals Inter. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as a record six Supercoppa Italiana triumphs. Furthermore, Milan is the only team to have won the Serie A without losing a game, doing so in 1991-92 during a 58-match unbeaten run.

7. Manchester City

The club’s most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they won the League Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup. After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline culminating in relegation to the third tier of English football in 1997. The club has since regained top flight status where they have spent the majority of their history. In 2011, Manchester City qualified for the Champions League and won the FA Cup.

8. Chelsea

Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four times. They have also been successful in Europe, winning the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup twice. The club had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship. Chelsea won several cup competitions during the 1960s and 1970s, but after that did not win another major title until 1997. The past decade has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, capped by winning Premier League titles in 2005, 2006 and 2010, the latter as part of their first league and FA Cup “Double”.

9. Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups. Bayern is a membership-based club with 162,187 members. There are also 2,764 officially-registered fan clubs with 192,160 members. The club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis, referees, and senior football with more than 1,100 active members.

10. Liverpool

Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups. Liverpool has won more European titles than any other English club, with five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups. Liverpool has long-standing rivalries with neighbours Everton and with Manchester United. The team has played in an all-red home strip since 1964. The club’s anthem is “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.