The 10 best sides from the continental tournament in the world from the 7 available continents based on their competitive strength and performances within that time frame with the world cup as the most important yardstick aside the regional tournaments.
The Parameters
It is defined from the following
1.Continental tournament-The European Championship and COPA America is regarded as the strongest, the evidence is clear, so far they are the only winners of the world cup.
2. world cup performance-The best result is winning it with 8 winners since inception.
3. Time -The Time consideration is set at four years.
4.Selection Process-The best performance of a country is considered and used making it impossible to have multiple entries.
Historical insight from each continent.
five from the seven continents have influenced football at this level which is listed below
COPA America- 1916
AFC Asian cup-1956
AFCON-1957
European championship-1960
CONCACAF-1963
The Best
The parameters have been set, the outstanding teams have emerged with special mention given to several teams that could not make the lists from Africa, Cameroun and Nigeria are worthy mentions between 2000 and 2004 the Lions of Cameroun had won the AFCON back to back posting Africa`s best performance at the defunct Confederation`s cup finishing second in 2003 they also participated at the 2002 world cup, for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, they were dominant in the early nineties between 1990 and 1994, finishing runner up then third before emerging champions in 1994, reaching the second round at the world cup and reaching Africa`s highest ranking of fifth. In Asia, Iran had won their championship a record three successive times from 1968-1976, from the teams that could have had more entries from Europe Spain`s current european champions have been remarkable winning the 2023 European nations league and the european championship a year later after finishing as semi finalist at the european championship in 2020 when they lost to Italy on penalties, France also had a strong showing between 2016 and 2020 finishing as finalist as host at the european championship then winning the world cup two years later and reaching the second round stage at the european championship in 2020. at the other dominant continent, Argentina were world cup finalist at Italy 1990 and won the next two COPA American titles in 1991 and 1993. Argentina had earlier won three at a stretch from 1945,1946 and 1947 when it was an annual tournament.
10.Egypt(2006-2010)- The Arab and African team held the AFCON Title for a record 7 times with their 3 peat success from 2006,2008 and 2010 another African milestone beating all their major opponents within that time, they stunned the world champions Italy at the 2009 Confederations cup which give an extra edge when compared to Iran, the weight of the achievement also gave them a slender lead over the other African teams already mentioned and the context of the ranking was also a factor. with the red hot duo of Salah of Liverpool and Omar Marmoush of Manchester City their stock may continue to rise.
9.Japan(2000-2004)-The samurai blue, Double Asian champions in 2000 and 2004 with a second round performance as host at the 2002 world cup, They even won the Kirin cup four from five editions which they host annually between 2000 and 2004 with the only exception the 2003 edition.
8.Netherlands(1988-1992)-The Dutch won their only major title in Germany, a sort of revenge for losing the 1974 world cup to Host Germany, with the coach in charge of both Finals the great Rinus Micheals the architect, four years later they narrowly lost their crown in the semi finals to surprise package Denmark on penalties and reached the world cup second round narrowly losing an ill fated encounter to the eventual champions Germany.
7.Chile(2014-2018)-La Roja narrowly lost to Host Brazil at the 2014 world cup, the 2013 confederations cup champions, they reached another level winning the COPA America titles back to back in 2015 and 2016 defeating Argentina twice, both on penalties, it was their first title which they went on to defend, they reached their highest ever ranking between April and may 2016 peaking at 3rd, they finished runner up a year later at the confederation`s cup. this was their golden age,a feat that will be a benchmark for measuring any success.
6.Mexico(1995-1999)-El Tri won three(1993,1996, and 1998) consecutive CONCACAF Titles, a success story if it had stopped there, reaching fourth in the world ranking in 1998 for the first time, they reached the semi finals as an invited team at the COPA America championship and the round of sixteen at both the 1994 and 1998 world cups(seven in succession starting in 1994) with the high point winning the confederations cup tittle as host in 1999 defeating Brazil with Cuauhtemoc Blanco tying Ronaldinho with six goals as the top goal scorer. they have had other worthy achievements but this timeline represents their best.
5.Germany(1972-1976)-Europe`s greatest football side in terms of achievements,Die Mannschaft are the model for all teams in terms of consistency, in the 70s they set the standard for others to follow, winning the european championship in 1972, the world cup in 1974 and narrowly missing out on another european title in 1976.
4.France(2000-2004)-Les Blues won their second european title in 2000 after a hard fought come from behind win against a very strong and classy Italians, the French were world champions and they went on a winning spree with two back to back Confederations cup titles in 2001 and 2003 making it four titles in a row from four consecutive finals although they failed dismally at defending both the world and european titles, it was this yo yo form that has restricted them from reaching higher on this list nevertheless, the quality of the competition which they faced and their consistency have highlighted their achievement deserving of this spot.
3.Brazil(2003-2007)-The Selecao like France had a strong showing at the continental championship which solidified their position, They won back to back titles in 2004 and 2007, The first as world champions making them the most successful side in the restructured tournament which was rebranded in 1975, their squad depth was a collector`s delight, their football breath taking.
2.Spain(2008-2012)-The Spanish side accumulated trophies the right way, in this period,they won the three major trophies , their back to back european championship win a record in Europe with their historic world cup in between. their brand of football was a novelty-tiki taka, a combination of all the positive tactical elements in the modern game.
1.Argentina(2021-2025) Argentina`s record winning spree is still on and was achieved by defeating all the strong opponents that were more or less very formidable it started at the grandest stage,against COPA America champions Brazil at the maracana stadium in 2021, the in form Colombia to retain the continental show piece and the world champions France in one of the most enthralling finals, they also almost matched Italy for winning streak falling short by just one game they had 36 as against their 37 surpassing that of Spain by one, beating Italy to win the match between the CONMEBOL champions and the European champions. after losing their previous four COPA America finals and two previous world cup finals a lesson to everyone on always believing and always pushing on. they deserve the number one spot!
