Modern football lives and breathes for titles. We all know that the sport began as a more recreational activity, but over the years, its growing popularity and the influx of major investment have meant that the competitive demands have continued to rise. The media have also contributed to increasing the pressure and attention surrounding every competition. Nowadays, a club’s greatness is measured, to a large extent, by the titles it wins, and for this reason, competitions organised by national and international federations carry decisive weight within football.
League titles and cup competitions are the ultimate goal for any club. It doesn’t matter which division they compete in: winning must always be the aim. In some cases, clubs invest millions to secure promotion, challenge for a title or end a long trophy drought. And it is precisely here that we find some of football’s most demanding competitions: leagues in which the differences between teams are so small that any mistake can cost crucial points. We’re all familiar with the major leagues that usually occupy the top spots in world football. Nevertheless, even in these competitions, the group of title contenders is usually fairly well defined. However competitive they may be, we can normally identify four or five teams with a genuine chance of finishing at the top.
But today we’re not talking about the leagues with the biggest budgets, the most stars or the greatest media coverage. We’re talking about those in which it’s practically impossible to make a reliable prediction about the champion. Competitions in which the parity between teams, salaries, the quality of squads, club structures and the gruelling fixture list can make all the difference. Because it’s one thing to compete against the best, but quite another to do so in a league where any opponent can throw a spanner in the works. In these competitions, maintaining consistency over months is a real challenge, and a single slip-up can completely turn the table.
These are the top 3 most competitive leagues in the world:
- EFL Championship
- LaLiga SmartBank
- Brasileirão - Série A
EFL Championship
Football originated in England over 100 years ago and, today, the Premier League is regarded as one of the best and most demanding leagues in the world. However, when we go down a level in the English football pyramid to the EFL Championship, the reality changes completely. This is one of the most evenly matched and demanding competitions on the planet. The Championship comprises 24 teams who face each other in a double round-robin format, amounting to a total of 46 matchdays for each club. Such an extensive and gruelling fixture list turns the competition into a true test of endurance, even for the most competitive squads. Maintaining consistency throughout the season is one of the major challenges of this division. The top two places secure direct promotion to the much-coveted Premier League. Meanwhile, the teams finishing in third to sixth place compete in a promotion play-off. The semi-finals are played over two legs, whilst the final takes place at Wembley, a historic venue in English football, where the last ticket to the Premier League is decided.
To better understand the scale and difficulty of this competition, one need only look at its attendance figures. In the 2004/05 season, the EFL Championship recorded nearly 9.8 million spectators, according to available data. This figure ranked it as the second-most-attended division in the world and amongst the leagues with the highest average stadium attendance. And when it comes to the clubs that have competed in this league, the list is even more striking. It may come as a surprise to some to learn that even a giant like Manchester United has competed in this division, as has Aston Villa – two historic British football clubs with European titles to their name. Currently, the Championship also features teams with a rich heritage such as Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County, all of them historic English football clubs and former champions of the old First Division, now known as the Premier League.
LaLiga SmartBank
The Spanish Second Division, known for several seasons as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is officially the National Second Division League Championship. The first edition was held in the 1928/29 season and, since 1984, it has been organised by the Professional Football League (LFP). Among all its champions, Real Murcia stands out in particular, having won nine Second Division titles. This figure can be explained, in part, by the club’s constant promotion and relegation between the top flight and the Second Division. Competing in Spanish professional football demands a high degree of consistency, particularly in a division where numerous promotion contenders emerge every season. Following its early years, during which the competition was even split into two groups, the current format has made the Second Division one of the most demanding tiers in Spanish football. With 22 teams, 42 matchdays and a constant battle for promotion places, maintaining consistency throughout the season is a real challenge. Added to this is the high number of teams that start the season with genuine aspirations of reaching the top flight.
As is the case in the EFL Championship, the top two teams are promoted directly to the top flight of Spanish football. The teams finishing in third to sixth place face off in a promotion play-off to decide who takes the final available place. To get an idea of just how challenging it is to compete in this division, one need only look at some of the major Spanish clubs that have played there: Atlético de Madrid, Espanyol, Valencia CF, Deportivo de La Coruña, Cádiz, Sevilla FC and Real Betis. Interestingly, of the clubs currently competing in the Primera División, only three have never played in the Segunda División: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Athletic Club.
Brasileirão - Série A
In Brazil, there are currently a huge number of competitions taking place each season. Between leagues and cup competitions, clubs from every Brazilian state compete to make a name for themselves and leave their mark on the history of a country that lives, breathes and feels football like few others in the world. Under the auspices of the CBF alone, more than 200 competitions are officially contested, although none matches the significance of the Brasileirão – Série A, the top tier of Brazilian football. The competition was founded in 1959 under the name Taça Brasil, with Bahia as the first champions. After numerous changes to its format, rules and even its name, the Brazilian championship settled on its current structure, which is very similar to that of the major European leagues. It is a double-round-robin league system in which 20 teams compete for the title over 38 matchdays. But just because the format is simple does not mean the competition is. The Brasileirão is an extremely demanding, long and unpredictable league. Teams experience constant ups and downs in form throughout the season, and maintaining consistency over 38 matchdays becomes one of the greatest challenges. One of the factors often cited to explain these fluctuations in form is the constant exodus of Brazilian talent to clubs around the world. A good example can be found in the most recent edition mentioned in the original text: Jorge Jesus’s Flamengo side found themselves several points behind the leaders at one stage, but ended up climbing the table and winning the league by a considerable margin.
To truly understand the scale of the Brasileirão and just how difficult it is to win it, one need only look back at its history. Across its various formats and names, the Brazilian league has seen 17 different clubs crowned champions. Palmeiras tops the list with 10 titles, followed by Santos with 8, Corinthians with 7, and São Paulo with 6. Flamengo, one of the biggest and most renowned clubs in world football, associated with legends such as Zico and the iconic Maracanã, won its fifth league title in 2019. Behind them are Cruzeiro, Vasco da Gama and Fluminense, with four league titles each. Internacional have three titles, whilst their great rivals from Porto Alegre, Grêmio, along with Botafogo and Bahia, have two league titles each. Atlético Mineiro, Guarani, Athletico Paranaense, Coritiba and Sport Recife have won a single title each. This record makes one thing clear: unlike other major leagues, winning the Brasileirão demands much more than simply having a strong squad. Consistency, the ability to manage an extremely long season and knowing how to cope with the ups and downs can make the difference between challenging for the title and being left out of the running.
