Football is the most popular game in the world and has spectators all over the world. There are football leagues all over the world, some of which are extremely popular and have a global audience. Mostly, the popular leagues are the ones organized by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) but there are other authorities as well which organizes football. The other popular leagues are organized by the six confederations, and the federations. While FIFA is an international association, six confederations are continental and federations are national associations. This article mentions the list of all football leagues in the world for the football fans to like and support. Let’s check them out.
List of Top International Football Leagues
Below here are given the details of the major international football leagues such as their year of formation, organizing authorities and consisting teams and clubs.
UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League was introduced in 1955 as the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens (French for European Champion Clubs’ Cup). It is most commonly known as the European Cup. The league usually begins in late June and consists of one preliminary round and one play-off round and three qualifying rounds.
UEFA Europa Conference League
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) organizes the UEFA Conference League. This football club competition is organized annually for eligible European football clubs. The first season was conducted in 2021 and served as the bottom level of the Europa League. It allowed the Europa League to be reduced from 48 to 32 teams in the group stage.
English FA Cup
More commonly known as English FA Cup, the Football Association Challenge Cup is held annually. The Cup is organized It is a knockout football competition in men’s domestic English football. The cup was first played during the 1871–72 season making it the oldest national football competition in the world. It is organized by The Football Association (The FA) after which it is named as well.
List of richest footballers in the world
Spanish LaLiga
The top league in Europe that also produced the continent’s top-rated club is the Spanish La Liga. With average viewers of around twenty-seven thousand in the previous years, the league has become one of the most popular professional sports leagues globally. The LaLiga is the third-highest of any professional association football league in the world and the eighth-highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world.
Italian Serie A
The Italian Serie A or Serie A or Serie A TIM is considered one of top Italian football league system. It is a professional league competition for football clubs and the winner of the cup is awarded with Scudetto and Coppa Campioni d’Italia. The league is also known for hosting three of the world’s most famous clubs namely Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Mila. All these clubs are the founding members of the G-14.
Africa Cup of Nations
The African Cup of Nations is the main international men’s association football competition held in Africa. It is also referred to as CAN, AFCON and Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations. Sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football, the first competition was held in 1957. It is held every two years since 1968 and was switched to odd-numbered years in 2013.
UEFA Europa League
Formerly known as UEFA Cup, UEFA Europa League is held annually by the Union of European Football Associations. The club competition is held for eligible European football clubs. Ranking below the UEFA Champions League, it is the second-tier competition of European club football followed by UEFA Europa Conference League. The competition is being organized since 1971.
English League Championship
Known as Sky Bet Championship or simply Championship, the English Football League Championship is the highest division of the English Football League. After the Premier League, it is also the second-highest overall in the English football league system. A total of 24 clubs are the contestants of the league. Two top-finishing teams in the Championship every year gets promoted to the Premier League automatically.
English Carabao Cup
The English Carabao Cup is a knockout football competition held every year. It is one of the major trophies in men’s domestic English football and is also known as the EFL Cup or the League Cup. The competition is organized by the English Football League and is open to any club within the top four levels of the English football league system. There are a total of 92 clubs including the top level Premier League, and the three divisions of the English Football League’s own league competition (Championship, League One and League Two).
German Bundesliga
Also known as 1. Bundesliga or simply Bundesliga, the German Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. The league comprises of 18 teams and the competition is held from August to May. The next level of promotion from here is the 2. Bundesliga and all Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal. Winner of the Bundesliga league qualifies for the DFL-Supercup.
French Ligue 1
The French Ligue 1 is a French professional league for men’s association football clubs. Its official name is Ligue 1 Uber Eats, it is the country’s primary football competition and is at the top of the French football league system. The competition is organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel and there are 20 clubs that forms the contestant in this league. The league operates on the system of promotion to Ligue 2.
Major League Soccer
Sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men’s professional soccer league. It is the highest level of sport in the United States. Headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, There are a total of 28 teams (25 in USA and 3 in Canada) in the league. MSL is also the most recent of a series of men’s premier professional national soccer leagues.
UEFA Nations League
The UEFA Nations League is an international football competition held twice every year. the senior men’s national teams of the member associations of UEFA are the contestants of this league. UEFA is the European governing body of the league. The league makes sure that all 55 of the member associations’ national teams is divided into a series of groups based upon their ranking.
FIFA World Cup Qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification cups are held to shortlist the national association footballs team that will go through qualifying round to participate in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup. From 211 teams that enter the cup, only 32 are selected for the finals.
- FIFA World Cup Qualifying – AFC (Asia)
- FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CONMEBOL (South America)
- FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean)
- FIFA World Cup Qualifying – UEFA (Europe)
- FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CAF (Africa)
- FIFA World Cup Qualifying – OFC (Oceania)
List of Other Major Football Leagues
Asia
| AFC Champions League | Chinese Super League |
| Indian Super League | Indonesian Liga 1 |
| Singaporean Premier League | Australian A-League Men |
| Japanese J League | Indian I-League |
| Malaysian Super League | Thai League 1 |
Europe
| UEFA Champions League | Dutch Eredivisie |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | Russian Premier League |
| English FA Cup | Scottish Premiership |
| English League Championship | Scottish League Cup |
| Spanish Copa del Rey | Greek Super League |
| German DFB Pokal | Swiss Super League |
| Italian Coppa Italia | Norwegian Eliteserien |
| French Coupe de France | Romanian Liga 1 |
| Maltese Premier League | UEFA Women’s Champions League |
| German 2. Bundesliga | UEFA Champions League Qualifying |
| French Ligue 2 | UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifying |
| English League One | UEFA Europa League |
| English EFL Trophy | English Premier League |
| Scottish Championship | English Carabao Cup |
| Scottish League Two | Spanish LaLiga |
| Northern Irish Premiership | German Bundesliga |
| Italian Serie A | Danish Superliga |
| French Ligue 1 | Swedish Allsvenskan |
| Portuguese Liga | Israeli Premier League |
| Dutch KNVB Beker | Spanish LaLiga 2 |
| Belgian First Division A | Italian Serie B |
| Scottish Cup | Dutch Keuken Kampioen Divisie |
| Turkish Super Lig | English League Two |
| Austrian Bundesliga | English National League |
| Scottish League One | FA Women’s Super League |
| Welsh Premier League | UEFA Europa League Qualifying |
| Irish Premier Division | FA Women’s Super League |
Internationals
| FIFA World Cup | UEFA European Championship |
| FIFA Confederations Cup | UEFA Nations League |
| FIFA World Cup Qualifying – AFC | UEFA European Under-19 Championship |
| FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CONMEBOL | Africa Cup of Nations |
| FIFA World Cup Qualifying – UEFA | Africa Nations Championship |
| FIFA Under-17 World Cup | CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| Women’s Olympic Tournament | CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying |
| AFF Cup | Men’s Olympic Tournament |
| Women’s International Friendly | SAFF Championship |
| FIFA Club World Cup | UEFA European Championship Qualifying |
| FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CONCACAF | UEFA European Under-21 Championship |
| FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CAF | Copa América |
| FIFA World Cup Qualifying – OFC | Africa Cup of Nations qualifying |
| FIFA Under-20 World Cup | WAFU Cup of Nations |
| International Friendly | CONCACAF Nations League |
| AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers | FIFA Women’s World Cup |
USA, Mexico & CONCACAF
| Major League Soccer | United States Open Cup |
| Mexican Liga BBVA MX | Mexican Copa MX |
| Mexican Liga de Expansión MX | Leagues Cup |
| ScheduleTeamsStats | CONCACAF League |
| CONCACAF Champions League | Guatemalan Liga Nacional |
| Costa Rican Primera Division | Salvadoran Primera Division |
| Honduran Primera Division |
South America
| CONMEBOL Libertadores | Colombian Primera A |
| Argentine Liga Profesional de Fútbol | Chilean Primera División |
| Argentine Nacional B | LigaPro Ecuador |
| Argentine Primera C | Uruguayan Primera Division |
| Brazilian Serie A | Venezuelan Primera Profesional |
| Brazilian Serie B | CONMEBOL Sudamericana |
| Brazilian Serie C | Copa Argentina |
| Brazilian Campeonato Mineiro | Argentine Primera B |
| Argentine Primera D | Copa Colombia |
| Brazilian Campeonato Carioca | Copa Chile |
| Copa Do Brasil | Paraguayan Primera División |
| Brazilian Campeonato Gaucho | Peruvian Primera Profesional |
| Brazilian Campeonato Paulista | Bolivian Liga Profesional |
Africa
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederations Cup |
| South African Premiership | South African First Division |
| South African Nedbank Cup | South African Telkom Knockout |
| Nigerian Professional League | Ghanaian Premier League |
| Kenyan Premier League | Ugandan Premier League |
| Zambian Super League | Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League |
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