What makes a team the best in the world? It’s a rather subjective question. Sure, the number of wins and trophies a club has won in recent times can be a good indicator, but in a sport where anyone could beat anyone, it feels like a tough task to pick just one team that trumps the rest. After all, comparing teams from different leagues requires pure guesswork.

As a prime example, Manchester United have never locked horns with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. And while many may think the former would easily come out on top, it’s practically impossible to know full well. Admittedly, it’s subjective and there is technically no right or wrong answer – but everyone could use some help from the folks over at Opta, who have calculated – and recently updated – their Power Rankings.

Using an Elo algorithm which analyses results from over 2.5 million games, a rating is then assigned to that team, which is comparable to other sides across the world. Points are determined by in-league ratings, the overall rating of a division, a country’s rating, among others, and the rating of the continent a team plays in. With all that in mind, here are the 30 best teams in world football as things stand, how well they’ve performed in competitions in seasons gone by and exactly why they are placed where they are.

World’s Best Teams: 30th-21st

Everton, AC Milan and Napoli feature

Kicking things off are Fulham, Everton and Roma, who have made a fine start to the season under Gian Piero Gasperini. Club Brugge then follow in 27th, with them just behind Union St. Gilloise in terms of current league standings, having lost just two of their opening 13 domestic matches.

Benfica are the second highest-ranked Portuguese club after missing out on the Primeira Liga title last term. The European titans haven’t made the best of impressions in Europe since Jose Mourinho arrived at the helm. They trail just behind Serie A side Atalanta and RB Leipzig, who sit 25th and 24th respectively.

Next up are Ruben Amorim’s former club, Sporting CP. Despite losing their manager to United in late 2024, the Portuguese side didn’t miss a beat and went on to win the Primeira Liga under Rui Borges. Although they lost Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal this summer, they are still pushing for another league title on domestic soil, picking up 28 points from their first 11 matches.

AC Milan, galvanised by the arrival of Massimiliano Allegri, have enjoyed a fine start to the new campaign. Once adored as the beating heart of Italian football, the Rossoneri have plenty of work to do before returning to the top – but Allegri’s style of play could see them on their way. At the current moment, the Italian side are just inside the top 25 with a Power Ranking of 89.4. They are followed by fellow Serie A club Napoli, who are battling out with Milan this season at the summit of the league.

World’s Best Teams: 20th-11st

Manchester United, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid feature

It’s been up and down for Manchester United under Ruben Amorim since the Portuguese was appointed in November 2024. More of the latter, of course, but they had a recent upturn in form under their head coach, whose side are ranked 18th here, narrowly ahead of Brentford and Bayer Leverkusen.

Thomas Frank-led Tottenham Hotspur are currently going through a transition period from one manager to another: Ange Postecoglou to Frank. Last season, the north Londoners were able to put a dismal Premier League campaign behind them and finish the campaign with silverware after beating Manchester United in the Europa League final. They’ve made a topsy-turvy start to the new campaign with Frank at the helm, but could find themselves either back in the top 10 soon or in the complete opposite direction, depending on whether recent grumblings between the players, the fans, and the management derail their respectable form.

Bournemouth are on a terrific run of form which has seen them collect 18 points from 10 games as they push for European qualification this year. Just ahead of them are fellow Premier League side Brighton, who consistently challenge the bigger teams above them, despite receiving a fraction of their investment.

Borussia Dortmund, who signed midfielder Jobe Bellingham in the summer, are hoping the English star’s brilliance in the midfield can propel them to success in Germany and Europe. They started the season brightly and were unbeaten in five Bundesliga matches – but they’ve since experienced a dip in form, with them now sitting third in the German top tier, with current projections suggesting Jude’s younger sibling won’t be rivalling him for a place in the England squad anytime soon.

In 13th are Diego Simeone and Atletico Madrid, who still find themselves in the shadow of rivals Real Madrid. Aston Villa come in at 12th, with them recently showing a heel to poor early-season form to go on a four-game winning streak before losing to the champions Liverpool in their latest outsing. Next up are Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace, who sit in 11th after they won a major trophy for the first time in their history with FA Cup success against Manchester City at Wembley last season. This season, it’s been much of the same even if their 18-game unbeaten streak recently came to a lamentable end.

World’s Best Teams: 10th-1st

Arsenal beat Bayern Munich to top spot

The top 10 are made up of the crème de la crème of world football, though every team here – unsurprisingly – resides in Europe. Kickstarting this category is Inter Milan, who surprised everyone by reaching the Champions League final in 2022/23, and they made the final again at the end of a very busy 2024/25 season. Unfortunately, they lost on both occasions, most recently being humiliated 5-0 by PSG at the Allianz Arena. They were also unable to retain their Serie A title as they were pipped to the post by Napoli, courtesy of McTominay’s brilliance from start to finish. But they are on track to reclaim their crown this year.

Newcastle United celebrated their first major trophy in seven decades when they bested Liverpool to win the 2024-25 Carabao Cup thanks to goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak, but are perhaps a little lucky to feature in the top ten. They followed their triumph last term with a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League, earning them qualification to the Champions League, but their 14th-placed standing in the league right now is pretty underwhelming.

Chelsea have endured an up-and-down start to Enzo Maresca’s reign. Under the Italian, the Blues look to finally be heading in the right direction on all fronts after qualifying for the Champions League, winning the Conference League and then going all the way again to win the first Club World Cup since FIFA’s reconstruction of a showpiece event that was starting to get overlooked before they slapped a £125 million prize on top of it. Despite those promising signs, losses to Manchester United, Brighton and Sunderland prove that they are not a complete team just yet.

An extremely impressive 24/25 campaign for Barcelona, under the fresh stewardship of Hansi Flick and his well-drilled entourage, has the Catalan giants in seventh place. Lamine Yamal is looking almost destined to become the best player in the world one day (if he isn’t already), while Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski more than played their respective parts in the club’s title glory. What’s more impressive is how limited the La Liga side have been in terms of recruitment, due to their financial struggles.

After exiting the Champions League last season earlier than expected, a star-studded Real Madrid side that had a hard time clicking with Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe in the same team, ranks sixth. They disappointed in Europe and were also not at their best domestically, losing out on the title to Barcelona. This term, however, they are already looking more like a finished product under Xabi Alonso, sitting clear of Barcelona and Villarreal at the top of La Liga.

Paris Saint-Germain may have lost the aforementioned Mbappe to Real Madrid but, after completing a historic treble in 24/25, they’ve transformed into one of the best teams in the world – though Opta rankings suggest their form this season only places them fifth, showing just how quickly the sport moves on. The Ligue 1 juggernauts, led by Luis Enrique, were mightily impressive in the Champions League last season as they won the trophy for the first time in their existence.

Liverpool are ranked as the fourth-best team in the world with a 97.1/100 rating, which is a true testament to how well Arne Slot has done since taking over from the seemingly irreplaceable Jurgen Klopp. Many believed the Dutchman would have to undergo a period of transition at Anfield, but consistent form and the inconsistency of others meant the Reds were crowned as champions with four games remaining. This season, 2025/26, started in a similar fashion but their recent streak of four losses on the bounce has tarnished their position, though wins against Villa and Real Madrid suggest they might be back to their scintilating best in no time at all.

Manchester City have long been seen as the team to beat in Europe, ever since Pep Guardiola cemented his style of play at the Etihad Stadium. However, a downturn in performances – especially last season when the Spaniard went on a winless run of seven games for the first time in his career – were the first warning signs that things aren’t as perfect as ever and have also meant that City have fallen down in the pecking order. It’s still pretty impressive they have clung on to a place in third despite having not won a trophy last season – the first time they’ve stooped that low since their manager’s debut season in 2016.

In silver place, Bayern Munich have a rating of 98.3 as Vincent Kompany regained Germany’s top-flight trophy after their dominant decade-long run in the Bundesliga came in the season before last. Harry Kane’s side failed to meet the expectations many had come to expect of the Bavarians as they lost out on the league title, but last season, they came back with a furious vengeance and always looked like the team to beat.

The record-breaking Kane, who reached a century of goals in record time, has fired Kompany and Co to the top of the German top flight this season, too, and they look somewhat invincible under their Belgium head honcho.

Having come so close to Premier League glory three campaigns on the bounce from 2022/23 to 2024/25, Mikel Arteta and his well-drilled entourage were always hoping to end Arsenal‘s silverware drought under the Spaniard when last season ended. That, however, wasn’t to be after exiting Europe’s top table at the hands of PSG. Irrespective of their lack of silverware and judging by their start to 2025/26, they are first in the Power Rankings, with a perfect score of 100.

All Power Rankings courtesy of Opta – correct as of 09/11/2025