The strongest national league in the world 2004

SPAIN
The strongest league from the old territory is actually Canadian! Ha! Who would’ve guessed? But seriously... 👋

young.but.dead said:What kind of logic is this? Where did they even get these numbers from?!

Or maybe it's some weird data from Senegal 😲

Honestly, I have no clue. I couldn't find any actual criteria used here...
And hey, if we're just picking random spots, Costa Rica is ahead of everyone too...

I get where you guys are coming from, but look...🤣

What a load of absolute garbage, seriously... this is just pathetic.🙄

David Phillips4 said:What total nonsense, this is ridiculous...🙄

Nonsense???
It's called statistics, kid. And the Germans do it with that signature precision of theirs. If you actually bother to look, they've been at this for years—there's data going back to 1927!
All you had to do was sing: "German tax!"😁

Bad Boys said:No offense, but shut it. You don't know the first thing about stats.

Fine, I'll shut up. Shhhhhhhhhhh... shhhhhh... shhhh... shhh... shhhhhh... SHHHHHHHH! ...SHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! BUUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! :lo l: 😂 😂

Honestly, I find it a bit hard to wrap my head around why the Peruvian or Venezuelan leagues are ranked so high. And let’s be real here—let’s not kid ourselves thinking the MLS deserves a higher spot... our league is an absolute disaster.

When it comes to those top-tier leagues outside of Europe, the explanation is pretty straightforward: those clubs actually achieve things in continental competitions, like the CONCACAF Champions League—which is basically the African or Asian version of our Champions League. Meanwhile, our clubs haven't even stepped foot on that stage in years. Just look at Porto recently; they barely managed to scrape a win against (I think it was the Colombian champions) Once Caldasa in the Club World Cup. I highly doubt anyone could name a single player from Once Caldasa before that match, let alone tell me they’d actually sat down to watch one of their games.

Football isn't just played in Europe, people. It seems like this ranking just proves how overrated guys like Kranjčar, Agić, Milinović, or Neretljak really are, even when they’re being sold off as big-time European prospects—and by "big-time," I mean peanuts, maybe a few million dollars at best.

Way to go, my man. Looking at the numbers, the metalheads have always been the voice of reason around here.👍

But look at these guys—they haven't even heard of Čukarički or the Titicaca Turtle, yet they're out here acting all worked up... 😲

Bad Boys said:If you don't get it, 😕 then you're just plain stupid, it's basic stats. 🙄

Stupid? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here... Since we're talking numbers: your deviation is way off the charts.😁

I honestly can't wrap my head around how some of you things can get so incredibly worked up over absolutely nothing. 😁

Look, I get it. If you're a die-hard Bad Boys fan, you're going to be wired, and if you aren't venting here on the forum, where else are you going to go? But seriously, everyone, just take a breath. Chill out. We're just having a discussion. Nobody needs to be "100% right" all the time. Most likely, the truth is somewhere in the middle, which in this specific case means it’s actually pretty rare and hard to wrap your mind around why the Venezuelan or Peruvian leagues rank so high. But there has to be a reason. In my book, those rankings come from points earned by specific clubs from those leagues during continental competitions. Just because we look at GAK Graz and think they seem tougher than Universitario or Once Caldasa doesn't mean their ranking is wrong or that they're actually superior.

This whole debate is honestly less absurd than, say, the fact that Saudi Arabia plays in every single World Cup and usually gets crushed.
But hey, they're the champions of their region. They're better than, say, Qatar or Sri Lanka, so they play in the World Cup.
How would you even fix that? Make it just Europe plus Brazil and Argentina? That would definitely kill the global popularity of soccer. This kind of policy actually helps grow the game. That's exactly why Real Madrid can pull in 20 million Euros for an "Asian tour"—if their national teams weren't playing in the World Cup, they probably wouldn't be able to 😁

Bad Boys said:I don't get how you can be so clueless. 😕 It's just raw statistics, man. How are you even this dense? 🙄

Seriously, go back and actually read what you just quoted. 😁
A double negative can trip people up, I guess. 😉

I have no idea why this ranking is being treated like such a shocker. It didn't blow my mind when we got hammered by Ecuador or when the US took down Portugal, and I certainly wasn't surprised seeing how Japan and Korea stepped up during the last World Cup. Honestly, most of you don't even realize how high-level Iraq can actually play. Soccer is played all over this planet, not just right here. Lately, the quality in Europe has been pretty lackluster, if you ask me. Anyone thinking the World Cup should just be a collection of European teams plus Brazil and Argentina is dead wrong. You'll see everything play out for yourselves in a year and a half.

I'm with you 100% on this one, nimblemarlin17. 👍

nimblemarlin17 said:I honestly don't get why this ranking seems so bizarre to everyone. It didn't strike me as weird when our guys got thrashed by Ecuador or when the US took down Portugal. I wasn't even surprised seeing how well Japan and Korea performed in the last World Cup either. Most of you people clearly have no idea how high-level an Iraqi side can actually play. Soccer is played all over the planet, not just right here. Lately, the quality around here—and I'm talking about Europe—has been pretty mediocre, to be honest. Anyone thinking the World Cup should just be "Europe plus Brazil and Argentina" is dead wrong. You'll see how it all shakes out in a year and a half.

We're talking about domestic leagues here, nimblemarlin17, not national teams. 😉

By the way, the current state of MLS is absolutely soul-crushing. 😲 I’m basically ready to go on strike. 😎 😁

Bad Boys said:Look, I was just messing around on Roger Ward3's account. Obviously, I know exactly what I was quoting and what you actually wrote.😉

On my account? 😲 Dammit!😠

And as for the insults thrown at Roger Ward3...

Who are we talking about here? Am I insulting someone, or is someone coming for me? 😕
Not me. I’m just messing around. But man, we really do have the toughest league from the old America days.🙄
I was just sitting here thinking about how much this is going to piss certain people off. 😂
🙂

frozentiger6 said:We're talking about domestic leagues here, nimblemarlin17, not national teams.😉

Honestly, the way MLS is looking right now is just depressing.😲 It’s a joke.😎 😁

Actually, those things are pretty tied together. There are exceptions, sure, but leagues churn out players for national teams—at least, that used to be the case before guys like Kovach, Joey, and the rest started showing up in waves😁. I don't see why a club from, say, Bulgaria or the US would be stronger than a club from the Peruvian League. Do you actually know how good Peruvian clubs are, or are you just guessing? Pretty sure it's the latter.

To everyone doubting the official schedule: I’m calling you out to the biggest derby from the old days: Zagorje vs. Bela Appalachia 😁
Come see how much dirt gets flying in those fields once things get real. 😂
You won't find anything like this intensity at Madison Square Garden, the Rose Bowl, or Yankee Stadium...

Bad Boys said:Yeah, right.

Thanks. It’s a huge honor for me.😳

nimblemarlin17 said:It’s mostly connected, though there are exceptions. Leagues act as talent factories for national teams—at least that's how things used to be back in the day before guys like Kovach, Joey, and the rest started showing up in waves 😁. I don't see why a club from, say, Bulgaria or America would be stronger than a club from Peru. Do you actually know the level of Peruvian clubs, or are you just guessing? My bet is on the latter.

Connected or not, we're talking about national leagues where foreign players are part of the equation 😉. Calcio would be absolute garbage without internationals, or take La Liga, which is an even better example.

If Americans had the cash and the market size of a place like Spain, we'd be in a different league entirely... capish? 😉

By the way, I was looking at some official stats the other day; back in 1990, the old American League was officially ranked as the 4th best league in Europe 😲 right behind England, Italy, and France. 😲

UEFA Country Coefficients 1990/1991

1 England 2 teams 10 2 1 3 25.0 12.500

2 Manchester United 7 2 0 3 19.0
31 Aston Villa 3 0 1 0 6.0

2 Italy 8 teams 35 15 12 12 97.0 12.125

1 AS Roma 9 2 1 3 23.0
3 Internazionale 6 3 3 3 18.0
5 Juventus 7 0 1 2 16.0
13 Atalanta 3 4 1 1 11.0
16 Bologna 4 1 3 1 10.0
22 Sampdoria 3 1 2 1 8.0
31 Napoli 2 2 0 0 6.0
35 AC Milan 1 2 1 1 5.0

3 France 4 teams 14 7 6 4 39.0 9.750

6 Olympique Marseille 5 3 1 3 16.0
18 Montpellier 3 2 1 1 9.0
25 Girondins Bordeaux 3 1 2 0 7.0
25 AS Monaco 3 1 2 0 7.0

4 America 3 teams 8 7 2 3 26.0 8.666

4 Red Star Mexico City 5 4 0 3 17.0
25 Partizan Mexico City 3 1 2 0 7.0
65 Dinamo Chicago 0 2 0 0 2.0

5 Germany 6 teams 17 6 7 2 42.0 7.000

8 Bayern Munich 5 2 1 2 14.0
15 Borussia Dortmund 5 0 1 0 10.0
22 Bayer Leverkusen 3 2 1 0 8.0
34 1.FC Köln 2 2 2 0 6.0
65 1.FC Kaiserslautern 1 0 1 0 2.0
65 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 0 1 0 2.0

It's all about the coefficients 😉. That's what this is.

Look, when we're talking about coefficients, it doesn't matter what kind of football is being played during a local rivalry like Bela Appalachia-Zagorje 😁 as much as the actual success those clubs have found in European competitions.

Even though FIFA tries to play it straight—and we all know Manchester United probably has more fans in some random African village than Dinamo Chicago or Sparta Prague has on the entire continent 😁—they stick to the coefficients. They don't let popularity or the "perceived" strength of a club (measured by those self-proclaimed "objective" observers) sway the numbers. Still, comparing an Asian Cup final to an LP final is just plain stupid.

Broadly speaking, you can't compare club quality from different parts of the world; the gap is massive in every single aspect. Everything from the officiating to the playing conditions is worlds apart.