The men’s FIFA World Ranking is a ranking system for men’s national teams in association football, currently led by Belgium .

The teams of the men’s member nations of FIFA , football’s world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams (Argentina, Belgium , Brazil , France ,
Germany , Italy , the Netherlands and Spain) have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent the longest ranked first.

A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches.
The ranking system has been revamped on several occasions, generally responding to criticism that the preceding calculation method did not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams.

The current version of the ranking system was first used on 16 August 2018, adapted from the Elo rating system used in chess and Go .

Beginning on June 14, 32 teams from around the world will descend on Russia to take part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

It’s the 21st edition of the world’s premier sporting event, and plenty of football forces will vie for the 2018 title, including powerhouses Spain, Brazil, France, Germany and Argentina.

Want to know who will win the 2018 World Cup? We can’t tell you that, but we can tell you who won each of the first 20 World Cups, dating back to the inaugural tournament in 1930.

To get you set for Russia 2018, here’s a World Cup championship leaderboard and a rundown of every championship game in this illustrious event.

France are the winners of 2018 world cup.

1. Germany and Italy has won four world cups each. West Germany was by far the most consistent team after 1950 as they not only won 3 world cups but also lost 4 world cup finals. Netherlands is the only team to have appeared in the final more than 2 teams and fail to win the world cup. They lost three finals (1974, 1978 and 2010).
2. Since 1930, We only had 8 world cup winners and 6 of them have won the tournament more than once. France became the sixth team to win the world cup more than once. England and Spain have won 1 world cup each.
3. Only European or South American teams has won the world cup so far. Only United States and Turkey are the only teams (outside Europe and South America) to have finished 3rd in world cups.

Juventus’ pre-season schedule involves some interesting encounters, with games against European giants Bayern Munich and Benfica as well as a massive fixture against European champions Real Madrid.

Saturday 20 July 2019
Manchester United vs. Inter, National Stadium, Singapore
Kick-off 19.30 (local time).

After almost two weeks of preparations at the Carnago training centre, the side will fly to the United States for a sixth appearance at the International Champions Cup.

The first fixture in the schedule will be against Bayern Munich on Tuesday 23 July at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City at 20:00 local time or 03:00 CEST. The Rossoneri will be back in action five days later in Boston.

Benfica will be the opponents for the match on Sunday 28 July at Gillette Stadium (Foxborough) at 15:00 local time or 21:00 CEST. After this second match, the team will head back to Europe before travelling to Cardiff where Marco Giampaolo’s side will meet Manchester United on 3 August.

After facing the minnows of Benevento, Napoli drastically improve the quality of their opposition as they face Champions League winners Liverpool.

They were both placed in the same group in Liverpool’s Champions League winning campaign, with each team trading equal blows in the two matches they played; Napoli winning the first game at home 1-0, then Liverpool won the reverse fixture 1-0.

Liverpool knocked them out of the competition on goal difference and as a consequence of this Napoli went on an unsuccessful run in the Europa League, so they may be looking to seek revenge against the team that dashed their Champions League dreams.

ATHLETIC CLUB’S PRE-SEASON

Starts: July 4

Training Camp: From July 21 to 28 in Marienfeld (Germany).

Games: Arenas (July 20), SC Paderborn 07 (July 27), Borussia Moenchengladbach (July 28), Numancia (August 1), West Ham United (August 3), Racing Santander (August 4).

BARCELONA’S PRE-SEASON

Starts: July 14

Training Camp: Tour of Japan and the USA

Games: Chelsea (July 23), Vissel Kobe (July 27), Arsenal (Joan Gamper Trophy, August 4), Napoli (August 7), Napoli (August 10).

ATLETICO MADRID’S PRE-SEASON

Starts: July 4.

Training Camp: Los Ángeles de San Rafael (from July 7 to19), USA and Mexico (from July 21 to August 4).

Games: Numancia( July 20), Chivas (July 24), Real Madrid (July 27), MLS All-Stars (August 1), Atletico San Luis (August 3), Juventus (August 10).

REAL MADRID’S PRE-SEASON

Starts: July 8.

Training Camp: Canada (from July 8 to 20); USA (from July 21 to 27).

Games: Bayern Munich (July 21), Arsenal (July 24), Atletico Madrid (27 July), Tottenham Hotspur (31 July), Bayern Munich or Fenerbahce (August 1), team to be confirmed (August 7), team to be confirmed (August 11).

SEVILLA’S PRE-SEASON

Starts: July 4.

Training Camp: Portugal (from July 6 to 13); USA (from 16 to 21); Germany (from July 26 to August 4).

Games: FC Dallas (July 17), Liverpool (July 21), Mainz and Everton (27 July), Hoffenheim (August 3).

VILLARREAL’S PRE-SEASON

Starts: July 8.

Training Camp: Austria (from July 25 to August 3).

Games: West Bromwich Albion (July 13), Levante (July 19).

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are set to travel further than any of their top-six rivals, including a trip to Australia to face Leeds United.

Premier League champions Manchester City visit China, Singapore and Japan while Liverpool head to the USA.

Both Chelsea and Arsenal face Barcelona as part of their preparations.

The Gunners are the first English side to play Barca in the annual Joan Gamper Trophy at the Nou Camp since Manchester City beat the La Liga champions a decade ago.

Several Premier League teams will meet this summer with City, Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves all competing in the Premier League Asia Trophy in China.

Manchester United and Tottenham play one another in Shanghai in the International Champions Cup, which also pits Spurs against Juventus in Singapore before they host Inter Milan at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It was introduced in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, more commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each national championship. The competition took on its current name in 1992, adding a round-robin group stage and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries.

It has since been expanded, and while most of Europe’s national leagues can still only enter their champion, the strongest leagues now provide up to five teams clubs that finish next-in-line in their national league, having not qualified for the Champions League, are eligible for the second-tie UEFA Europa league competition. (Beginning in 2021, UEFA will hold a third-tier competition called UEFA Europa 2, which will be composed of teams not eligible for the UEFA Europa League.

In its present format, the Champions League begins in late June with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs.

The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round ribbon system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in late May or early June.

The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the following year’s Champions League,Uefa FIFA club cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

The competition has been won by 22 clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once. Real Madrid is the most successful club in the tournament’s history, having won it 13 times, including its first five seasons. Liverpool are the reigning champions, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 in the 2019 final.

Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (18 wins), followed by England (13 wins) and Italy (12 wins). England has the largest number of winning teams, with five clubs having won the title.

Uefa’s chief financial investigator has confirmed Manchester City could face a Champions League ban over the alleged £60million payments deception revealed during the Football Leaks scandal.

Telegraph Sport first disclosed last month how European football’s governing body was considering a suspension against the Premier League champions over potential breaches in Financial Fair Play rules.

Yves Leterme, the chairman and chief investigator of Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body, has now gone on record to confirm that the club face “the heaviest punishment” if the allegations are proven.

Senior Uefa officials – who previously launched sanctions against City in 2014 – are particularly enraged by leaked files from 2015, which claim almost £60million was paid directly into the club by their billionaire Arab owners but declared as sponsorship.

“If it is true what has been written, there might be a serious problem,” he says in an interview translated by German magazine Der Spiegel, which initially broke the Football Leaks scandal.

“This can lead to the heaviest punishment: exclusion from the Uefa competitions.”

The revelation is particularly bad timing for City, coming just hours before the club take on Liverpool in their most important domestic match so far this season.

The documents, allegedly obtained by illegal email hacks, were previously said to show £59.5million that was supposed to have come from City’s principal sponsor, Etihad Airways, was paid directly to the club by the Abu Dhabi United Group. To put that into context, City’s record signing is Riyad Mahrez, who cost £60million from Leicester City last season.

Real Madrid are by far the most successful team in European Cup history, having taken home the prestigious trophy a total of 13 times. Los Blancos’ closest rivals in terms of titles are AC Milan, who have won the Champions League seven times, most recently in 2007 against Liverpool.

Real Madrid have dominated the Champions League in recent years and took home the trophy four out of five times between 2013 and 2018. Their only failure came during the 2015 season when they were knocked out by Juventus in the semi-finals, with bitter rivals Barcelona ultimately lifting the trophy.

Having won the trophy in 2018, there were high hopes for the reigning champions in 2019.However, the European giants were knocked out by underdogs, Ajax, in the quarter final stage of the competition, marking their earliest exit from Europe for nine years.

Real Madrid 13

Ac Milan 7

Liverpool 6

Barcelona 5

Bayern Munich 5

Ajax 4

Manchester united 3

Inter Milan 3

Winners: Barcelona

Barcelona are looking to do something they’ve already done twice in their history—win three league titles in a row. It’s something only their mythical coaches Johan Cruyff (1991-1993; he added a fourth in 1994) and Pep Guardiola (2009-2011) have managed. Ernesto Valverde will try to emulate their achievements and also help record the club’s ninth title win in 12 seasons.

The pressure to maintain the hunger and drive in his squad, who have to labour under the ghosts of recent embarrassing UEFA Champions failure in Rome’s Olympic Stadium and Liverpool’s Anfield, will be ferocious. Crucially the club has reinforced sensibly, buying world-class players for the first time in five years with the additions of Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann.

They’ve also shored up a major weakness last season by bringing in left-back Junior Firpo. The ex-Real Betis player will provide cover for Jordi Alba, whose lapses against Liverpool at Anfield in May were critical.

Captain Leo Messi rightly drew attention to the merit of recently winning so many league titles in his stirring pre-season Gamper Trophy speech at the Camp Nou. His demanding professionalism should see them add another title to his CV, bringing him within one of the La Liga record, which is the 12 winners’ medals won by Real Madrid’s Paco Gento more than half a century ago.

Champions League Positions: Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Valencia

2. Atletico Madrid

There is a huge buzz around the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium—which should be a sellout for Atletico Madrid’s difficult season opener against Getafe on Sunday night—about the prospects of its team after major and exciting squad surgery.

The changes were enforced by external circumstances—clubs paid buyout clauses for Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich), Rodri (Manchester City) and Griezmann (Barcelona)—and internal policy, such as not offering more than one-year contract extensions to players over 30 years of age, which saw the likes of Diego Godin, Felipe Luis and Juanfran depart.

It has meant head coach Diego Simeone has had to replace the team’s spine. All the signs are that the job has gone well. Simeone, who is starting his ninth campaign in charge, has brought in one of La Liga’s gems in 24-year-old Mario Hermoso from Espanyol to bolster his defence, as well as Felipe, Kieran Trippier and Renan Lodi.

He’s added Marcos Llorente and the tigerish Hector Herrera to midfield and Joao Felix, the club’s most expensive signing in history, to the attack.

The team’s pre-season games were impressive, notably the 7-3 humiliation of Real Madrid in New Jersey, a defeat still reverberating around Spain.

However, doubts remain. Can Diego Costa avoid injury? Can Alvaro Morata, who turns 27 years old in October, finally deliver a full season to warrant his potential? Will Simeone revert to defence-minded type in November if results go against him early in the season, as has happened several times before?

There are just a few too many uncertainties to believe that Atletico can pip favourites Barcelona to the title.

3. Real Madrid

It seems that club legend Zinedine Zidane has been unable to lift the gloom around the Santiago Bernabeu since his return as coach in March. His pre-season has been a disaster—two wins in seven games, 18 goals conceded and statistically the worst performances of La Liga’s 20 teams over summer.

There are problems everywhere. Zidane’s faith in veteran players means the team’s starting XI, which finished 19 points shy of Barcelona in the league last season, will likely be the same again except for the addition of Eden Hazard.

The problem with Gareth Bale—who is in limbo after an aborted attempt to offload him to the Chinese Super League—persists. Defensive vulnerabilities remain, and they are still without a proven top-class goalscorer who can compensate for the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo a year ago. Luka Jovic, bought for €60 million, could eventually fill that void, but he has been scoreless during pre-season and is a gamble for the future.

Luka Jovic has failed to find the net in pre-seasonGiuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

The failure to bring in Paul Pogba—the one express petition made by Zidane—exacerbates problems in midfield, which badly needs a shakeup and is short of backup for Casemiro.

Could the speculated arrival of Neymar bring enough goals and quality to help Real Madrid sustain a title challenge? Unlikely, but it would bring back some excitement to the club, which has been sorely missing since Ronaldo’s exit.

4. Valencia

Valencia have endured a tumultuous summer at boardroom level, which nearly led to the departure of Mateu Alemany, the business brains behind Valencia’s recent resurgence.

With tranquility partially restored, one of Spain’s great historical powers should secure the final UEFA Champions League spot given their nearest rivals, Sevilla, have the difficult job of assimilating more than 10 new players and a change of trainer in former Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui.

Valencia’s big bet is on the bull-like Uruguayan centre-forward Maxi Gomez. After signing from Celta Vigo, it will be interesting to see if he can take the step up.