The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organization that chronicles the history and records of Association football.[1][2][3] It was founded on 27 March 1984 at Leipzig (Germany) by Dr. Alfredo Pöge with the blessings of general secretary of the FIFA at the time, Dr. Helmut Käser.[1] The IFFHS was based at Al-Muroor Street 147, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) for some time but, in 2010, relocated to Bonn, Germany.[4]
During its early stages, and through the years until 2002, the IFFHS concentrated on publishing quarterly magazines like Fußball-Weltzeitschrift, Libero spezial deutsch, and Libero international.[5] When these had to be discontinued for reasons which were not officially told, the organization took to publishing their material in a series of multi-lingual books in co-operation with sponsors.[6] The statistical organization has now confined its publishing activities to its website, receiving logistical support from FIFA,[6] organization that recognise the IFFHS and its work[3][6] although the latter has no affiliation with the football's governing body.[7] The magazine's back issues can still be obtained through internet sources.
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Top goalscorer the world as classified by the World Federation of the history of football and statistics (IFFHS)
Since 1991, the entity has produced a monthly Club World Ranking.
The ranking takes into consideration the results of twelve months of continental and intercontinental competitions, national league matches (including play-offs) and the most important national cup (excluding points won before the round of 16).
All countries are rated at four levels based upon the national league performance—clubs in the highest level leagues receive 4 points for each match won, 2 for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Level 2 is assigned 3 pts. (win), 1.5 (draw) and 0 (lost), and so on with the next lower levels.
In continental competitions, all clubs receive the same number of points at all stages regardless of the performance level of their leagues. However, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa Libertadores yield more points than UEFA Europa League and Copa Sudamericana, respectively. The point assignment system is still lower for the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC continental tournaments. Competitions between two continents are evaluated depending upon their importance. Competitions not organized by a continental confederation, or any intercontinental events not recognized by FIFA, are not taken into consideration.
| Competition | Points for a win | Points for a draw |
|---|---|---|
| National Leagues in Level 4 | 4.00 | 2.00 |
| National Leagues in Level 3 | 3.00 | 1.50 |
| National Leagues in Level 2 | 2.00 | 1.00 |
| National Leagues in Level 1 | 1.00 | 0.50 |
| Competition | Points for a win | Points for a draw |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 14.0 | 7.0 |
| UEFA Europa League | 12.0 | 6.0 |
| Copa Libertadores | 14.0 | 7.0 |
| Copa Sudamericana | 12.0 | 6.0 |
| CAF Champions League | 9.0 | 4.5 |
| CAF Cup | 7.0 | 3.5 |
| AFC Champions League | 9.0 | 4.5 |
| AFC Cup | 7.0 | 3.5 |
| CONCACAF Champions League | 9.0 | 4.5 |
| FIFA Club World Cup (semi-finals) | 14.0 | 7.0 |
| FIFA Club World Cup (final)[9] | 21.0 | 10.5 |
- Last updated: 15 August 2011 - Current Standings
The following table shows the clubs that finished top of the ranking for each year since 1991:[10]
IFFHS recognised these clubs as The World's Club Team of the Year and were awarded with a golden trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala.[10]
In the same case of the The World's Club Team of the Year, since January 2000 IFFHS recognizes those teams that have the greatest performance in the world during a month as The World's Club Team for the Month.[32]
The All-time Club World Ranking is determined by taking into account all the results of the national championships, the national cup competitions, the club competitions of the six continental confederations and the Intercontinental Cup (defunct), which was replaced by the FIFA Club World Cup. It is therefore only possible to determine an All-time Club World Ranking from 1 January 1991, when the Club World Ranking began taking all these details into consideration.
The All-time Club World Rankings are updated annually. For this ranking the IFFHS takes into consideration the "Top 50 Clubs" on the Club World Ranking at 31 December of each year, and awards them points from 50 points for the top club down to 1 point for the club in the 50th place. Adding the points from individual years for each club provides the All-time Club World Ranking (shown below).
| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 807 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 726 |
| 3 | Juventus | 633 |
| Real Madrid | 633 | |
| 5 | Milan | 620 |
| 6 | Internazionale | 605 |
| 7 | Bayern Munich | 599 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 594 |
| 9 | River Plate | 503 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 491 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 455 |
| 12 | Porto | 447 |
| 13 | Roma | 445 |
| 14 | Ajax | 421 |
| 15 | Boca Juniors | 420 |
| 16 | Valencia | 398 |
| 17 | Parma | 373 |
| 18 | São Paulo | 368 |
| 19 | Rangers | 364 |
| 20 | Lazio | 342 |
| 21 | Lyon | 339 |
| 22 | Atlético Madrid | 319 |
| 23 | Werder Bremen | 317 |
| 24 | Borussia Dortmund | 285 |
| 25 | Paris Saint-Germain | 284 |
Last updated 31 December 2010 - Current Standings
In 2009, the IFFHS released the results of a statistical study which determined the best continental clubs of the 20th Century.[33] The ranking did not consider the performance of the teams in national football tournaments (except in the Oceania's club ranking due to limited editions held under OFC club competitions), the performance in the intercontinental or world-wide club competitions or those submitted in the IFFHS Club World Ranking, available since 1991.[34]
Based on this statistical study series, Spain's Real Madrid, Uruguay's Peñarol, Ghana's Asante Kotoko, Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal, Costa Rica's Saprissa and Australia's South Melbourne were named as "continental clubs of the century" by the IFFHS between 10 September and 13 October 2009. These clubs were awarded with a golden trophy and a certificate during the World Football Gala celebrated at Fulham, London (England) on 11 May 2010.[35][36]
| Year | Pos. | League | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 1 | Serie A | 1,382.5 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,069.0 | |
| 3 | Premier League | 1,059.0 | |
| 1992 | 1 | Serie A | 1,342.5 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,145.5 | |
| 3 | Eredivisie | 941.5 | |
| 1993 | 1 | Serie A | 1,577.5 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,171.0 | |
| 3 | Bundesliga | 1,046.5 | |
| 1995 | 1 | Serie A | 1,345.0 |
| 2 | Division 1 | 1,067.5 | |
| 3 | La Liga | 1,030.0 | |
| 1996 | 1 | Serie A | 1,119.0 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,037.0 | |
| 3 | Division 1 | 1,008.0 | |
| 1997 | 1 | Bundesliga | 1,209.0 |
| 2 | Serie A | 1,181.0 | |
| 3 | La Liga | 1,120.0 | |
| 1998 | 1 | Serie A | 1,276.0 |
| 2 | Série A | 1,198.0 | |
| 3 | La Liga | 1,096.0 | |
| 1999 | 1 | Serie A | 1,163.0 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,145.0 | |
| 3 | Premier League | 1,134.0 | |
| 2000 | 1 | La Liga | 1,215.0 |
| 2 | Premier League | 1,116.0 | |
| 3 | Serie A | 1,051.0 | |
| 2001 | 1 | La Liga | 1,267.0 |
| 2 | Premier League | 1,176.0 | |
| 3 | Serie A | 1,013.0 | |
| 2002 | 1 | La Liga | 1,209.0 |
| 2 | Premier League | 1,183.0 | |
| 3 | Serie A | 1,119.0 | |
| 2003 | 1 | Serie A | 1,180.0 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,107.0 | |
| 3 | Premier League | 1,052.0 | |
| 2004 | 1 | La Liga | 1,189.0 |
| 2 | Premier League | 1,184.0 | |
| 3 | Serie A | 1,010.0 | |
| 2005 | 1 | Premier League | 1,207.0 |
| 2 | Serie A | 1,137.0 | |
| 3 | Ligue 1 | 995.0 | |
| 2006 | 1 | Serie A | 1,182.0 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,168.0 | |
| 3 | Premier League | 1,125.0 | |
| 2007 | 1 | Premier League | 1,171.0 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,074.0 | |
| 3 | Serie A | 1,027.0 | |
| 2008 | 1 | Premier League | 1,192.0 |
| 2 | Serie A | 1,031.0 | |
| 3 | Primera División | 1,020.0 | |
| 2009 | 1 | Premier League | 1,187.0 |
| 2 | La Liga | 1,077.0 | |
| 3 | Bundesliga | 1,031.0 | |
| 2010 | 1 | La Liga | 1,092.0 |
| 2 | Premier League | 1,039.0 | |
| 3 | Serie A | 1,021.0 |
Last updated 31 January 2010 - Rankings 1991–2009
| Position | League | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Liga | |
| 2 | Primera División | 534.0 |
| 3 | Série A | 511.0 |
| 4 | Premier League | 509.0 |
| 5 | Serie A | 443.0 |
| 6 | Primeira Liga | 429.5 |
| 7 | Primera División | 411.5 |
| 8 | Eredivisie | 359.0 |
| 9 | Primera División | 381.5 |
| 10 | Ligue 1 | 379.0 |
| 11 | Belgian First Division | 355.0 |
| 12 | Primera División | 337.0 |
| 13 | K-League | 325.5 |
| 14 | Ligue 1 Professionnelle | 310.0 |
| 15 | Primera A | 310.0 |
| 16 | Russian Premier League | 302.5 |
| 17 | Scottish Premier League | 296.0 |
| 18 | Primera División | 291.0 |
| 19 | J. League | 272.0 |
| 20 | Saudi Professional League | 265.0 |
| 21 | Nigeria Premier League | |
| 22 | Iran Pro League | 260.0 |
| 23 | Super League Greece | 258.0 |
| 24 | Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 | 255.5 |
| 25 | Süper Lig | 246.5 |
| 26 | Moroccan Botola | 246.0 |
| 27 | Swiss Super League | 238.0 |
| 28 | Belgian Pro League | 232.0 |
| 29 | Egyptian Premier League | 230.0 |
| 30 | Ukrainian Premier League | 224.5 |
| 31 | IFA Premiership | 222.2 |
| 32 | Malaysian Super League | 218.0 |
| 33 | Liga AI | 210.5 |
| 34 | Uzbek League | 210.0 |
| 35 | V-League | 207.0 |
Last updated 21 July 2011 -[37]
| Year | Pos. | Name | Club | votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 1 | Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | 47,464 |
| 2 | Shunsuke Nakamura | Celtic | 27.633 | |
| 3 | Michael Ballack Rafael Márquez |
Chelsea Barcelona |
15.935 | |
| 2007 | 1 | Mohamed Aboutrika | Al-Ahly | 1,017,786 |
| 2 | Yasser Al-Qahtani | Al-Hilal | 613.116 | |
| 3 | Younis Mahmoud | Al-Gharafa | 583.769 | |
| 2008 | 1 | Mohamed Aboutrika | Al-Ahly | 301.837 |
| 2 | David Suazo | Benfica | 283.829 | |
| 3 | Marcos | Palmeiras | 155.282 | |
| 2009 | 1 | Carlos Alberto Pavón | Real España | 195,182 |
| 2 | Arda Turan | Galatasaray Spor Kulübü | 91.887 | |
| 3 | Mohamed Aboutrika | Al-Ahly | 84.470 | |
| 2010 | 1 | Farhad Majidi | Esteghlal | 63.473[38] |
| 2 | Karim Bagheri | Persepolis | 63.395 | |
| 3 | Mohamed Aboutrika | Al-Ahly | 34.954 |
Since 2006, the IFFHS has given an award to the world's most popular football player, which is selected based on online user votes, which are cast on the IFFHS website. Liverpool player Steven Gerrard was awarded the first title.[39]
In 2007, the IFFHS provided a list of 55 candidates from all six continents. A total of 2,946,740 votes were cast and the winner of the voting was Mohamed Aboutrika, who plays for Al-Ahly and the Egypt national football team.[40]
For 2008, the IFFHS drew up a list of 100 currently active players from 58 countries in all six football continents, from which votes were cast until 3 January 2009. After all the votes were counted, Mohamed Aboutrika was selected as the world's most popular football player for the second year in a row.[41]
On 19 October 2009, the IFFHS opened the voting for the 2009 award. The candidates consisted of 115 currently active players from 68 countries in all six football continents. Votes were cast at the IFFHS website until 2 January 2010 with Carlos Alberto Pavón being the winner.[42]
Karl Lennartz, a sports historian from Cologne, Germany, calls the organization "obscure", describing it as a one man show of its chairman Alfredo Pöge.[43]