Who Are the Top Ranked European National Football Teams?

Football, or Soccer in the United States, is the most popular sport in the world, with close to five billion fans around the world. The sport came about in the mid-1800s, when Oxford university drafted the first-ever, official rules of the game. At the dawn of the twentieth century, football became an Olympic sport, and has been played at an Olympic level ever since.

Today, football remains the most popular sport in the world, being watched by close to five billion fans the world over, and being played by over 500 million people around the world. Football, very quickly after its inception, became the most popular betting sport in the entire world, overtaking horse racing. Today, football dominates sports shops, land-based betting shops, and online betting sites.

Being the most popular sport in the world, many countries have great national teams, and in this article we will take a look at the most successful national football teams in Europe.

Belgium’s national football team

The highest ranked team according to the official FIFA rankings is the national football team of Belgium. Not only is the Belgium national team the top ranking European team, it is also the highest ranking national football team in the world, beating out Brazil (the 2nd highest ranked team). The Belgium team has won an Olympic tournament, as well as numerous FIFA and UEFA titles and awards. Their first colors are red and black, and their second colors are white with red and black patterns.

France’s national football team

The French national football team is ranked 3rd in the world, and is the 2nd highest ranked European football team, following Belgium and Brazil. The French national team has won the Olympic title once, in 1984, and has also won a number of prestigious titles, including two FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, two FIFA Confederations Cups, etc. Their first colors are striped blue shirts and their second colors are white, with red and blue patterns, resembling the French flag.

England’s national football team

England is where football began, and is home to one of the most passionate football fan bases in the entire world, so it is understandable that their national team would rank in the top five. The English national football team is the fourth highest ranked national football team in the world, and is the oldest national football team, having first formed in the mid-1800s. The English team is one of the eight teams to have won the World Cup, and they’ve qualified for the Cup fifteen times. Unfortunately, due to England being a constituent of the United Kingdom, their national team is not qualified to compete in the Olympics, and so the team has never played at an Olympic level.

Honorable Mentions

Apart from the top three teams featured on this list, other fantastic national football teams that bear mentioning include Italy’s national football team, the Spanish national football team, and the national football team of Portugal, all of which have their own fantastic achievements and which have competed in the World Cup.