IFFHS stands for "International Federation of Football History and
Statistics" and it was led by Dr. Alfredo W. Pöge (R.I.P.), in Wiesbaden,
Germany, who also devised the "World Ranking for Clubs", subject of
some debate in rec.sport.soccer in January 1996 and detailed below.
It was first issued for 1991. It roughly counts national championships
twice as much as the national cups (other national tournaments such as
league cups and the like are not counted at all) and counts continental
cups (including e.g. the European super cup, the Copa Conmebol, and
many, many others) roughly twice as much as national championships.
The precise set of rules for 1991:
National championships: every country has a multiplication factor M; for
1991, this was 5 for Italy, 4 for Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany,
and Spain, 3 for France, Uruguay, Mexico, Netherlands, and quite a few
others, 2 for e.g. Greece, Egypt, Denmark, and Austria (among many others),
1 for Luxembourg and the like. Every win in the national league gives
a team M points, every draw M/2, every loss 0. No correction for number
of games is made except in extremal cases. The second divisions of
England, Germany, Italy and Spain are given M=2. France was moved into
the category with M=4 for 1994, Italy was moved back to M=4 for 1997 (there
were several less important changes).
National cup: every country has again a multiplication factor N. If M=5,
N=20; M=4 then N=18; M=3 then N=12; M=2 then N=7; M=1 then N=3,5. (Note
that N/M is not constant). For every country, if a team reaches the
1/8 final of the cup, it obtains N points, unless it needed extra time
and/or a penalty shoot-out, in which case both winner and loser gain N/2
points. The same applies each subsequent round. I.e., the Italian
cup winner can get maximally 5x20=100 points (if no extra time was needed),
the Dutch cup winner maximally 60, the Luxembourg one maximally 17,5.
Continental cups: in Europe, every win in a European cup competition (no
matter which) counts for 25 points, a draw 12,5, a loss 0. (This was
changed to 20, 10, and 0 in 1994.) In South America, these numbers ae
15, 7,5, and 0, respectively (because clubs can enter several tournaments).
Stuff like the European Super Cup, the Copa Conmebol, etc., is all counted
and the same way as the Champions Cup or the Copa Libertadores. For all
other continents, wins give 8, draws 4 points, with the exception of the
Caribbean qualifying competition for the Concacaf Cup (4 and 2).
The maximal possible score is something like 500 points. The top-10
from 1991 to 1996:
1991
1.Roma (Italy) 347,5
2.Crvena zvezda (Yugoslavia) 344,5
3.Olympique Marseille (France) 299,5
4.Sampdoria (Italy) 287,5
5.Manchester United (England) 283,0
6.Barcelona (Spain) 278,5
7.Torino (Italy) 272,5
8.Werder Bremen (Germany) 261,0
9.Atlético Madrid (Spain) 255,5
10.Tottenham Hotspur (England) 254,5
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
74.América (Mexico) 124,5
82.Puebla (Mexico) 116,5
83.Monterrey (Mexico) 115,5
91.Power Dynamos (Zambia) 106,5
100.Univ. Guadalajara (Mexico) 103,5
1992
1.Ajax (Netherlands) 331,0
2.Milan (Italy) 330,0
3.Real Madrid (Spain) 323,0
4.Rangers (Scotland) 289,0
5.Atlético Madrid (Spain) 286,5
6.Juventus (Italy) 277,5
7.Colo Colo (Chile) 268,5
8.Torino (Italy) 265,0
9.Benfica (Portugal) 264.5
10.Sparta Praha (Czechoslovakia) 260,0
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
95.América (Mexico) 107,0
1993
1.Juventus (Italy) 372,7
2.Milan (Italy) 367,5
3.Barcelona (Spain) 319,0
4.São Paulo (Brazil) 310,0
5.Parma (Italy) 305,0
6.Spartak Moskva (Russia) 300,0
7.Real Madrid (Spain) 296,5
8.Internazionale (Italy) 285,0
9.Paris Saint-Germain (France) 264,5
10.Flamengo (Brazil) 263,5
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
64.Al Ahly (Egypt) 141,0
90.Paramatta Melita (Australia) 109,5
93.Verdy Kawasaki (Japan) 108,5
95.León (Mexico) 106,0
1994
1.Paris Saint-Germain (France) 334,0
2.Parma (Italy) 332,5
3.Milan (Italy) 310,0
4.Barcelona (Spain) 296,5
5.São Paulo (Brazil) 284,0
6.Porto (Portugal) 262,0
7.Juventus (Italy) 257,5
8.Manchester United (England) 246,0
9.Lazio (Italy) 245,0
10.Vélez Sarsfield (Argentina) 243,5
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
82.Espérance Sportif (Tunisia) 118,0
1995
1.Milan (Italy) 367,5
2.Juventus (Italy) 320,0
3.Ajax (Netherlands) 300,0
4.Grêmio (Brazil) 298,5
5.Parma (Italy) 287,5
6.Paris Saint-Germain (France) 275,0
7.Deportivo La Coruña (Spain) 275,0
8.River Plate (Argentina) 230,0
9.Bayern München (Germany) 226,0
10.Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 216,0
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
86.UAG (Mexico) 120,0
93.Santos (Mexico) 113,5
1996
1.Juventus (Italy) 335,0
2.América Cali (Colombia) 261,5
3.Barcelona (Spain) 256,0
4.Atlético Madrid (Spain) 252,0
5.River Plate (Argentina) 249,5
6.Ajax (Netherlands) 249,0
7.Auxerre (France) 247,0
8.Manchester United (England) 242,0
9.Liverpool (England) 238,0
10.Paris Saint-Germain (France) 236,0
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
81.ES Sahel (Tunisia) 124,0
1997
1.Barcelona (Spain) 378,0
2.Juventus (Italy) 310,0
3.Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 308,0
4.Internazionale (Italy) 277,0
5.Colo Colo (Chile) 265,0
6.Schalke '04 (Germany) 258,0
7.River Plate (Argentina) 255,0
8.Paris Saint-Germain (France) 253,0
9.Manchester United (England)
10.Peñarol (Uruguay) 247,5
Grêmio (Brazil) 247,5
1998
1.Internazionale (Italy) 326,0
2.Vasco da Gama (Brazil) 295,5
3.Bayern München (Germany) 288,0
4.Palmeiras (Brazil) 284,5
5.River Plate (Argentina) 273,0
6.Lazio (Italy) 266,0
7.Rangers (Scotland) 262,5
8.Real Madrid (Spain) 256,0
9.Spartak Moskva (Russia) 251,0
10.Chelsea (England) 248,0
Cruzeiro (Brazil) 248,0
Non-Europe-non-SA teams in top-100:
67.América (Mexico) 153,0
69.Guadalajara (Mexico) 151,5
99.Saprissa (Costa Rica) 126,0
The development of some clubs over the years:
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Ajax 11 1 14 13 3 6 27 58
Barcelona 6 12 3 4 15 3 1 16
Bayern München 25 165 56 56 9 11 14 3
Benfica 24 9 17 14 41 25 97 42
Boca Juniors 15 44 77 32 111 66 84 64
Feyenoord 31 22 55 25 22 17 32 129
Grêmio 101 >100 128 32 4 29 10 47
Juventus 27 6 1 7 2 1 2 14
Liverpool 23 25 115 50 50 9 35 78
Manchester United 5 70 19 8 35 8 9 20
Milan 32 2 2 3 1 19 182 123
Nacional (Montevideo) 28 66 49 119 149 >165 86 98
Olimpia Asunción 29 14 26 17 23 96 138 17
Paris Saint-Germain >180 32 9 1 6 10 8 89
Parma 60 15 5 2 5 74 13 27
Peñarol 90 169 59 40 62 125 10 47
Porto 20 18 21 6 19 16 55 44
PSV 45 41 110 144 32 28 60 51
Real Madrid 15 3 7 21 40 88 22 8
River Plate 18 49 43 41 8 5 7 5
São Paulo 160 11 4 5 78 112 60 164
Steaua Bucuresti 64 55 57 73 54 81 19 159
Nota bene: I have stripped this file from my personal comments on
this rating. Readers of rec.sport.soccer may have found them there.
Let it suffice to say here that:
1) I have nothing to do with this ranking;
2) I do not think the algorithm is particularly brilliant;
3) any suggestions on the method should be sent to the IFFHS;
their website can be found at: https://www.iffhs.com/.
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 5 Aug 2021
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1996/2021
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.