Europe is the biggest stage of world football, no doubt about it, and it is there that the best players and the best competitions are found. But do you know which is the biggest team from each European country?
In this article I will show you which is the greatest football team in each European country. However, we will take the greatest team, not the current best, but the team that has won the most important titles in the history of each country. We’ll use the biggest international champion or the biggest Champions League champion. But Europe has 50 countries, and if I were to talk about each one, it would take two hours of reading, so I’ll take the top 15. So let’s start.
Portugal
Benfica and Porto
In Portugal we have a very fierce dispute between Benfica and Porto. These two rivals are very strong in conquests, if you look only at the Portuguese championship Benfica has more titles (total of 37), but of continental championship the two are very equal, Benfica has two Championships, in 1961/1962 and also won a Latin Cup in 1950, which was an important tournament before the Champions League started.
Porto also have two Champions League, they won in 1987 and 2004, and two Europa League as well, but what can break the tie is that Porto have 2 World Cups. Yes, they won the World Cup in 1987/2004. Benfica, on the other hand, has no World Cup.
Spain
Real Madrid
Going to their neighbour Spain, to catch the biggest team there is no doubt, Real Madrid. Besides being the biggest Spanish champion, they also have 14 Champions League. They have been winning over the years. There were several titles in the 50s and 60s, also in the 90s, in the 2000s and more recently in these last few years as well. It is by far the biggest champion in all of Europe. Moreover, Real Madrid has 7 world titles, while their rival Barcelona has only 5 Champions League and 3 World Cups, much less than Real Madrid.
France
PSG and Olympique de Marseille
Going a little higher, we go to France. When we think of France only one team comes to mind, PSG (Paris Saint-Germain), but they have never won the Champions League. The only French team to win the Champions League was Olympique de Marseille, yes, Olympique won it in 1993 against AC Milan. As long as PSG don’t win the tournament too, the biggest will remain Olympique de Marseille.
Belgium
Sporting Club Anderlecht
Going to Belgium, the biggest one is Anderlecht. In Belgium there are no Champions League winners, but Anderlecht are the biggest national champions, with 34 titles. They have also won a UEFA cup in 1983. They have also won two Cup Winners Cups and even two UEFA Supercups. Well, there’s no way, Anderlecht is the biggest of Belgium, there’s no chance for Club Brugge or Genk.
Netherlands
Ajax
In Holland it’s like that, there is no dispute either, the three biggest teams there have already won the Champions League, but Ajax was champion an incredible 4 times. Yes, they were champions in 1971, 1972, 1973 and in 1995, besides winning two World Cups and being the biggest national champion too, with 34 national titles.
United Kingdom
Liverpool and Manchester United
We know that the United Kingdom is the junction of 4 countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but let’s take the biggest as a whole, the biggest team out of the 4. Starting from that, the biggest team is Liverpool. Yes, Liverpool is the greatest because they have won 6 Champions League, that’s a lot, besides having 1 World Cup, 19 national titles and 7 FA Cups
There is also another super team there, Manchester United, which has 2 World Cups, 3 Championships and 20 national titles. A very big club indeed. But we think Liverpool beats Manchester United in titles, because even though they only have 1 less national title and 1 less world cup than Manchester United, the 3 victories in the Champions League are much more relevant, which makes Liverpool the biggest team in the UK.
Russia
Spartak Moscow, CSKA and Zenit
In Russia there is another fierce dispute, the biggest national champion is Spartak Moscow with 10 national titles, but they have no international titles, while CSKA has fewer national titles (6 titles) but has a Europa League. They won a Europa League 2005. The third team competing for the vacancy of the country’s biggest is Zenit, this team has much fewer national titles (5 titles), but they won a Europa League in 2008, and also won a UEFA Super Cup, beating Manchester United. So in Russia the competition is a little bit divided between Spartak Moscow, CSKA and Zenit.
Ukraine
Dynamo Kyiv and Shaktar Donetsk
In Ukraine the two main teams are Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv, but who really stands out is Dynamo. Besides having more national titles (15 national titles) they also have more international titles. One fact is that no team from there won the Champions League, but Dynamo won a UEFA Supercup and 2 Cup Winners Club Cups.
Cup Winners Cup
This was a competition that took place for many years in Europe in the past. It gathered the champions of the cups of each country, for example, in England it was the winner of the FA CUP, in Spain it was the Copa do Rei, in Portugal it was the Taça de Portugal. And Dynamo Kyiv won this competition twice, in 1975 and 1986.
Turkey
Galatasaray Spor Kulubu
Turkey is more in Asia than Europe, but the teams from there play the Champions League, so it’s all right. The biggest team in Turkey is Galatasaray, no team in Turkey won the Champions League, but Galatasaray won the Europa League in 2000, and in the same year they also won the UEFA Supercup, beating Real Madrid. Besides these two international titles, Galatasaray is also the biggest winner of the Turkish championship, the biggest in every way, with 22 titles.
Greece
Olympiacos FC
On the other side of Turkey is another very important and historical country, Greece. There the national championship is practically dominated by a single team, Olympiacos, which has no European titles, but do you know how many national championship trophies they have? 44! That’s a lot. They win 2011, 2012, 2013… But when they leave Greece for European competitions they are not that good. Olympiacos are always participating in the Champions League, but the farthest they’ve ever gone was only a quarter-final back in 1999, losing to Juventus 3-2. That’s right, they always fall before the quarter-finals.
Italy
Milan
Italy, unlike the Greeks, have always had football to scare the world with giant teams like Napoli, Juventus, Inter Milan, among others. But the biggest team there is the mighty Milan, nowadays they are not all that, but in their history Milan is giant, because they are the second biggest Champions League champion, with 7 titles.
The first was in 1963 and the last in 2007, plus four runners-up finishes too. See above their trophy room, how many important cups. Milan have also won 5 UEFA Super Cups and 4 World Cups, while Inter have 3 Champions League and Juventus only 2. Funny thing is that Juventus have a lot more Italian national titles (32 titles), but lose a lot in European competitions, also losing the position of Italy’s biggest.
Austria
Rapid Vienna and Red Bull Salzburg
Moving up a bit we go to that German speaking country, Austria. A team that is dominating Austria lately is Red Bull Salzburg, the one Haaland used to play for. But even though they win a lot these days they are still not the biggest Austrian champions, the biggest champion of the country is Rapid Vienna, with 32 trophies, being the biggest one there. And they have even reached the semi-finals of a Champions League in 1961, quite some time ago.
Switzerland
Grasshoppers and FC Basel
Switzerland is very important because it is home to the headquarters of FIFA, and today one of the most famous teams there is Basel. But they are not the biggest champions, the biggest Swiss champion and the biggest Swiss team in history is Grasshoppers. We haven’t heard about this team lately because today they are very bad, they fell to Serie B. However, in total they have 27 Swiss national titles in the first division, they are weak today but before they were very strong. Basel, on the other hand, only has 20 national titles.
Germany
Bayern Munich
In Germany the dispute of the greatest team is not even funny because the Bundesliga was founded in 1964, before it was another format and another name. In the list of the biggest winners from that time is Borussia Mönchengladbach with 5 titles, Borussia Dortmund with 5 titles as well, and there is a Bayern Munich with 31 national titles, while the second place has only 5. Moreover, they are on a run of 10 trophies in a row. They have been winning first place since 2013. In addition, Bayern have 5 Champions League titles, 4 World Cup titles, and are really the biggest in all of Germany.
Poland
Legia Warsaw
This country people don’t look at much, it’s on the German side, it’s Poland. There is another very big dispute between 4 teams, 2 of them won the Polish championship 14 times and the other 2 teams won 13 times. But if you have to choose just one team, I would choose Legia Warsaw.
Yes, Legia Warsaw is a team that has 13 national titles, but they are the biggest champions of the Polish Cup, the second biggest tournament in the country, but the most impressive thing is that in 1991 they managed to reach the semi-final of the Champions League, but lost to Manchester United 3-1.
So making that summary
The main football teams in European countries are:
Portugal: Benfica and Porto
Spain: Real Madrid
France: Olympique de Marseille
Belgium: Anderlecht
Netherlands: Ajax
United Kingdom: Liverpool
Russia: Zenit, Spartak or CSKA
Ukraine: Dynamo Kyiv
Turkey: Galatasaray
Greece: Olympiacos
Italy: Milan
Austria: Rapid Vienna
Switzerland: Grasshopper
Germany: Bayern Munich
Poland: Legia Warsaw
And you, would you make any changes to this list? Let us know below!
