Global power ranking: The top 20 men's teams in the world

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  Ryan O'HanlonOct 30, 2026, 05:00 AM ET

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  Ryan O'Hanlon is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He's also the author of "Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution."

Which is the best soccer team in the world?

It might seem easy to answer, and maybe it is. Paris Saint-Germain have won the Champions League two seasons in a row, and they just beat Manchester City and Barcelona, 4-2 in consecutive league-phase matches.

But what about after PSG? Is it Arsenal or Bayern Munich, who just tied each other? Is it Barcelona, who just lost back-to-back games to PSG and Real Madrid? Is it Real Madrid, who are in third place in their league? Is it Manchester City who, uh ... [frantically waves arms toward the 114 charges they were just found guilty of].

And beyond that top tier, are some midtable Premier League clubs better than Champions League qualifiers in Germany? How many English teams would be the favorites to win Serie A? How many Serie A teams would be the second-best team in Germany? And what about, um, Ligue 1?

We will try to address those questions now, and for the rest of the season, with these power rankings of the top 20 teams in the world.

Because any kind of cross-league analytical model would require various, increasingly subjective decisions from me, these instead will be my subjective rankings. In other words, who do I think would win more often if these teams played 100 games on a neutral field?

Along with the rankings below, each team is accompanied by a number of stats from their domestic league: how many points they've won, their non-penalty adjusted goal differential (a blend of 70% expected goals and 30% goals), and the average Opta power rating of their league opponents thus far (not adjusted for home and away).

Now, on to the top 20 list!

1. Paris Saint-Germain

- Points (place): 17, 1st
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.93, 1st
- Strength of opponent (rank): 86.3, T-4th

I'm taking a "first place until proven otherwise" approach with PSG after the past two seasons. Over their back-to-back Champions League run, they've been brought to penalties twice -- one in each year -- by the champions of the best league in the world, Liverpool and then Arsenal, and both of those teams required borderline-absurd, conservative, defensive approaches to get there.

The big question from here: How will they cope with losing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for the season?

2. Bayern Munich

- Points (place): 17, 1st
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 2.42, 1st
- Strength of opponent (rank): 86.0, 15th

You could look at their home draw with Arsenal as a negative, given they were -- you know -- at home. But they probably should've won, despite Michael Olise and Joshua Kimmich missing the match and Luis Díaz featuring for just a handful of minutes at the end.

There's a gap, in my mind, between No. 1 and No. 2 in these rankings, but the gulf between No. 2 and No. 3 is the size of "Bukayo Saka being expected to miss a month-plus with a hamstring injury."

3. Arsenal

- Points (place): 21, 2nd
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.94, 2nd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 91.9, 17th

Here is one graphic to sum up the state of European soccer. On one axis is each team's adjusted goal differential in their domestic league. On the other is the average Opta power rating of each team's opponents. See if you can spot the Premier League teams:

So, as you grind your teeth about Arsenal's problems in attack, try to remember this: Their average league opponent this season would be ranked 20th in Opta's ratings.

4. Barcelona

- Points (place): 27, 1st
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 2.14, 1st
- Strength of opponent (rank): 86.2, T-12th

This team has a higher ceiling than anyone in the world, but well, first this happened:

And then this happened:

In back-to-back games against PSG and Real Madrid, Barcelona conceded 5.75 expected goals (xG) and six actual goals. Arsenal, meanwhile, have conceded five goals -- across eight Premier League matches.

Barcelona's high-flying high-press under manager Hansi Flick will always give up more goals than the other elite teams do, but Barca's defensive personnel isn't at the same level as the three teams ahead of them, either.

5. Real Madrid

- Points (place): 24, 3rd
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 1.28, 2nd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 87.2, 4th

The results and the performances have been pretty good so far, but I'm still not sold on the process. Under manager Jose Mourinho, they've controlled just slightly more than half of the final-third possession (field tilt) in LaLiga. That's their lowest mark on record, and the only other time they came close was in the forgettable 2008-09 season under Bernd Schuster and Juande Ramos:

The reactive approach worked well against Barcelona, but will they win enough points against everyone else without tilting the field?

6. Manchester City

- Points (place): 21, 1st
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 1.05, 1st
- Strength of opponent (rank): 92.0, 16th

If we shift our focus just to Man City's on-field worries, then the main one becomes quite clear: They can't really defend all that well.

They're conceding nearly 1.3 xG and over 10 shots per game -- both the highest marks they've allowed over the past 10 years. It seems like the plan was to play Enzo Fernández and Rayan Cherki in the same midfield, but neither defends: Cherki never did, and Enzo doesn't anymore. Elliot Anderson is fantastic -- but he's still not N'Golo Kanté.

7. Liverpool

- Points (place): 15, 4th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.34, 6th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 92.5, T-8th

Using the playing-styles breakdown from Futi, we can see the effect manager Andoni Iraola has already had on the way the team plays:

Essentially, the graphic is organized by how much control of the ball a team has and how aggressively it presses. The days of patient build-up play and constant control are gone, but the pressing remains as aggressive as ever.

And though it hasn't produced a run of dominant performances, they've now beaten four teams in this top 20. The 3-0 loss to City flipped as soon as Ryan Gravenberch got sent off in the second half, so this weekend's match against Arsenal should provide a clearer picture of just how good this team is.

8. Inter Milan

- Points (place): 22, 1st
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 1.57, 1st
- Strength of opponent (rank): 85.1, 17th

If you're friends with an Inter Milan fan, then you might want to make sure their bathroom is stocked with antacids, they've recently been to the doctor to have their blood pressure checked, and they have more than a passing familiarity with the Eastern philosophical concept of "nonattachment."

For the rest of us? This is the most fun team in Europe now: Inter Milan create a million chances every match, they concede a million chances every match and they either win every game with two goals in injury time or they lose at home to Club Brugge in the Champions League.

9. Atlético Madrid

- Points (place): 25, 2nd
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.89, 3rd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 86.1, T-15th

Though the vibes around Atletico haven't changed -- every game still feels like a knife fight -- the way they play certainly has. They're attempting 18.9 shots per game and are controlling 64% of the final-third possession in their LaLiga matches -- both highs across the Diego Simeone Era.

Only Barcelona are taking more shots and tilting the field more aggressively in Spain.

10. Brighton

- Points (place): 16, 3rd
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.92, 3rd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 93.1, 4th

They're leading the Premier League in non-penalty goals, and they're second in the league (behind City) for non-penalty expected goals. And that's without either of Brighton's best attackers, Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh, playing a minute this season. They are not good defensively -- they are barely average on defense -- but the trade-off has easily been worth it so far.

11. AS Roma

- Points (place): 18, 3rd
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 1.13, 2nd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 87.0, 1st

They really should've beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League; AS Roma dominated the majority of the match and then capitulated to a couple of set pieces in the final minutes to blow a 3-1 lead and lose 4-3. But manager Gianpiero Gasperini finally has Roma looking like those high-pressing, risk-taking Atalanta teams we all loved. Nearly 10 games in, they are absolutely contenders for the Serie A title.

12. Chelsea

- Points (place): 13, 5th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): -0.02, 9th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 92.5, T-8th

Though their numbers have improved a bit from that bonkers start to the season, you'll see that Chelsea still have a negative adjusted goal differential through the first eight games. Under Xabi Alonso, they continue not to press and they've yet to produce a dominant win that wasn't aided by red-hot finishing in front of goal. If things don't change -- and soon -- the results will get a lot worse.

13. Bournemouth

- Points (place): 9, 13th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.42, 5th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 93.3, T-2nd

I couldn't put Bournemouth ahead of Chelsea because Chelsea beat Bournemouth 5-1. But Bournemouth just played back-to-back games against AC Milan and Manchester United, and Bournemouth won both of those games by a combined score of 6-0. Remember when Milan and Manchester United won the Champions League in 2007 and 2008? Back then, Bournemouth were getting relegated ... to League Two.

After some rotten luck over the first month-plus of the season, Marco Rose's players are finally getting the results that their performances have deserved.

14. Juventus

- Points (place): 14, 7th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.74, 3rd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 84.8, 19th

Remember how fun Luciano Spalletti's Serie A-winning Napoli side was? His Juventus team is ... the exact opposite of that. Spalletti, instead, has the Old Lady looking like the Old Lady of old.

Through eight matches, Juventus have allowed 4.35 expected goals. Across Europe's Big Five top leagues, the next-best mark is Arsenal, at 6.19.

15. Como

- Points (place): 17, 5th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.55, 6th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 85.2, T-15th

Compared with last season, Como are attempting a full six more shots per match, and they're generating 0.22 more xG per game. But the trade-off hasn't quite been worth it for manager Cesc Fabregas.

They've also allowed an extra four shots per game and conceded an extra 0.44 xG. In the Champions League, though, the opposite is happening: They've been outshot through three matches, but they've created 2.12 xG per match and conceded just 0.98.

16. Aston Villa

- Points (place): 11, 9th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): -0.41, 16th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 93.3, T-2nd

Are they doing it again? Last season, Villa looked like they might be in a relegation battle after a terrible start to the season -- and then they finished fourth. This season, they took one point in their first four matches and then went win, draw, win, win over the next quartet of games.

Throw in the Champions League, where they're 3-0 and burying their opponents under an avalanche of chances, and it looks even better.

After a couple of years of rough finishing at Chelsea, Nicolas Jackson has seven goals from 31 shots worth fewer than 4.0 xG.

17. Borussia Dortmund

- Points (place): 17, 2nd
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.77, 4th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 85.1, 16th

They continue to be ... just ... fine? Sure, they've allowed just four goals across their first seven Bundesliga matches, but don't expect them to slow down Bayern Munich this weekend in Der Klassiker. Dortmund have conceded 7.3 xG in the league, and they've allowed an even higher mark against a cushy Champions League schedule. Their next two European matches, though: Arsenal and then Inter Milan.

18. Bayer Leverkusen

- Points (place): 13, 4th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.56, 6th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 86.4, 14th

They've been pummeling teams in the Europa League and had rallied back after a shocking opening-day loss to Elversberg, but then this happened against bottom-half-of-the-table Hoffenheim over the weekend:

Am I convinced that this team is better than Brentford -- and a bunch of other Premier League clubs? Absolutely not.

19. Brentford

- Points (place): 11, 6th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.48, 4th
- Strength of opponent (rank): 92.1, T-14th

This is where the rankings get tricky. Implied rankings from the betting odds have Brentford as a stronger team than Dortmund and Leverkusen. But Brentford also just struggled to a 1-1 draw with Hull City, theoretically the weakest team in the Premier League. But also, what does it mean to struggle against the worst team in the Premier League -- on the road -- anymore?

The Bees have given up one more shot than they've allowed through eight matches, and yet, they've turned that into the fourth-best adjusted goal differential in the Premier League. I would love to see Brentford play one of the top teams in any of Europe's other leagues.

20. RB Leipzig

- Points (place): 12, 5th
- Adjusted goal differential (rank): 0.94, 2nd
- Strength of opponent (rank): 87.1, T-6th

Other than getting demolished by Bayern Munich, they've been quite good in the Bundesliga this season. But they've been horrible in the Champions League -- again. Last time they were there, in 2024-25, they won once and lost their other seven league-phase matches. They've already won this year -- progress! -- but they lost their other two matches by a combined scoreline of 8-2.

Though, as always, Leipzig have a bunch of promising prospects, the estimated value of their roster, per Transfermarkt, would rank just 13th in the Premier League.