So Many Major Soccer Leagues!

Amateur Soccer Mom
Jan 10, 2018
2 min read

One of the first things I'd like to get a handle on is - how many major soccer leagues are there worldwide? When I began researching the answer I was overwhelmed with how popular this sport really is! What's more overwhelming is trying to find an easy-to-understand chart, website, or anything that lists the leagues, divisions, and championships. I'm not even going to attempt that here. Maybe someday.

Here's a brief list of what currently seem to be the top 5 leagues.

English Premiere League (EPL)

The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world. Teams compete for the FA Cup. Currently EPL has 49 teams as follows.

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Barnsley

Birmingham City

Blackburn Rovers

Blackpool

Bolton Wanderers

Bournemouth

Bradford City

Brighton & Hove Albion

Burnley

Cardiff City

Charlton Athletic

Chelsea

Coventry City

Crystal Palace

Derby County

Everton

Fulham

Huddersfield Town

Hull City

Ipswich Town

Leeds United

Leicester City

Liverpool

Manchester City

Manchester United

Middlesbrough

Newcastle United

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Oldham Athletic

Portsmouth

Queens Park Rangers

Reading

Sheffield United

Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton

Stoke City

Sunderland

Swansea City

Swindon Town

Tottenham Hotspur

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham United

Wigan Athletic

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Lega Serie A (Italy's A League)

The winner is awarded the Coppa Campioni d'Italia and currently has 20 clubs as follows.

Atalanta Benevento Bologna Cagliari Chievo Crotone Fiorentina Genoa Hellas Verona Internazionale Juventus Lazio Milan Napoli Roma Sampdoria Sassuolo SPAL Torino Udinese

La Liga (Spain's Premiere League)

This league was the strongest one worldwide in 2014 and has 20 teams.

Alavés Athletic Bilbao Atlético Madrid Barcelona Celta Vigo Deportivo La Coruña Eibar Espanyol Getafe Girona Las Palmas Leganés Levante Málaga Real Betis Real Madrid Real Sociedad Sevilla Valencia Villarreal

Germany's Bundesliga

Has the highest average stadium attendance worldwide and consists of 18 teams.

FC Augsburg Bayer Leverkusen Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Borussia Mönchengladbach Darmstadt 98 Eintracht Frankfurt SC Freiburg Hamburger SV Hertha BSC TSG 1899 Hoffenheim FC Ingolstadt 1. FC Köln RB Leipzig 1. FSV Mainz 05 Schalke Werder Bremen VfL Wolfsburg

Argentine Primera División (Superliga Argentina)

Twenty-eight teams play in this top Argentinian league.

Argentinos Juniors Arsenal Atlético Tucumán Banfield Belgrano

Boca Juniors Chacarita Juniors Colón Defensa y Justicia Estudiantes (LP) Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) Godoy Cruz Huracán Independiente Lanús Newell's Old Boys Olimpo Patronato Racing River Plate Rosario Central San Lorenzo San Martín (SJ)