The strongest National League in the World 2009:
England ahead of Spain and Germany !
The world ranking for the strongest national leagues has been determined annually by the IFFHS since 1991 on the basis of all national (championship, FA cup) and (inter)continental results of the clubs. This principle has proved to be a very sensitive and an objective indicator. In particular, the world ranking 2009 has produced the following:
1st
The English Premier League is the strongest league in the world, but its lead over the next placed national leagues compared to 2008 is narrower.
2nd
The Spanish Primera División and the German Bundesliga have shown an increase in performance and are now the No. 2 and No. 3 of the world - by some distance to the next placed leagues.
3rd
While the Italian Serie A and the Argentinian Primera División recorded a clear reduction in performance, the French Première Ligue improved to 6th place in the world ranking. The Brazilian Serie A achieved almost the same number of points as 2008.
4th
The largest increase in performance globally was recorded by the Dutch Eredivisie (plus 226 points) and is on the 8th place in the world ranking. Also, the leagues of the Ukraine and Turkey showed great improvement and complete the world "Top ten".
5th
The third-largest increase in performance globally (201,5 points) was recorded by the Romanian league which improved by ten places (to 11th place) in the world ranking compared to 2008 . The Mexican Primera División showed a drop in performance and is no longer in the "Top ten".
6th
The leagues from Paraguay and the Czech Republic each improved by more than hundred points and the Austrian Bundesliga improved by a sensational 202.5 points (the 2nd highest increase globally) and recorded an extremely strong 2nd half of the year in the "Top 20".
7th
The national leagues of Switzerland and Denmark again achieved good positions among the "Top 30" - also the Primera División of Ecuador - and as a result all three leagues have achieved promotion to the 2nd highest group. These three countries will rank higher from January 2010, while the national leagues of Austria and Israel need similarly good placing in the world ranking for 2010 to match their promotion.
8th
Asia‘s first national league, which will be classified in the 2nd highest group, is that from Japan (starting in 2010). The national leagues of the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan could also get promoted in 2010 if they achieve similarly good placing in the world ranking.
9th
From Africa only the Egyptian league achieved promotion to the 2nd highest group of performance (from January 2010). A second league, the Nigerian league could also achieve this on the end 2010, while the leagues from Angola and Algeria showed an upwards trend.
10th
In the CONCACAF area Major League Soccer (USA) improved from 77th to the 46th place and is ahead of Honduras, the second strongest league from Central- and North America. Oceania‘s top league is New Zealand (103rd in the world ranking).
11th
The Cyprian league in 2009 was once again by some distance the best-placed league, globally, in the lowest group of performance and will be classified in the 3rd highest group of performance from January 2010.
12th
The World‘s best Top Division Goal Scorer 2010 (including the most effective) will be determined from the more than 60 top leagues for the year 2009.
The victor – the English Premier League - and Primera División (Spain) will be honoured on May th, 2010, in London [see chapter IX: World Football Gala ---> Programme for the World Football Gala].
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The classification of the best leagues of the world is made objectively without any outside influence of any sort. We follow the criteria that the level of performance of a league is reflected by the best classified teams of that league who in turn usually represent their country in international club competitions. If one looks at the football power-houses of the world, one notices that regularly 4 or 5 clubs of their leagues are always competing in continental competitions. By adding the points won in all competitions by the five best placed clubs of each league, we have the points for the country which in turn helps to establish a fair classification. It is important to note that only the yearly classification is representative, since all competitions move along the whole season and over twelve months, we have an objective view of the best. This system has been used since 1991, and it is recognized today as the most precise in rating the leagues of the world.
