The Beaumont Index rates every football club on one league-strength-weighted scale, so a side in Norway can be compared directly with one in England. We publish long-read analysis, real league tables built on performance rather than results, scouting on players nobody is watching, and studies such as how long coaches really last.

World club ranking 2026: Barcelona lose the Clásico and go top
The best football clubs in the world, ranked on performance through 2 November. The top three are six points apart, and the Luck Table names the Premier League's luckiest team: the leaders.
Latest
All analysis →
Man Utd v Roma: the table says mismatch, the football says level
Roma have 24 points and United 7, but on performance they are 10 rating points apart. United are 8.0 points short of what their football deserved.

Barcelona v Aston Villa: Europe's form team, England's worst football
Villa have nine Champions League points from nine, but in the Premier League their football is the worst of all 20 clubs on deserved points.…

RB Leipzig v Man City: honest numbers, and a goal-a-game gap
Leipzig's points match their football exactly. That is the problem: it is the 40th-best football in the world, and City are 232 rating points better.

Carrick is in football's most dangerous month. Our data says it is the wrong time to sack him
Of coaching spells that passed nine months and have since ended, 51% ended before the one-year mark. Teams peak at a median of 16.3 months. Michael…
The Index: world top 10
Full ranking →| # | Club | Rating on one scale | Rating | Rank range | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona LaLiga · Spain | 1914 | 1–5 | ||
| 2 | Arsenal Premier League · England | 1911 | 1–5 | ||
| 3 | Bayern München Bundesliga · Germany | 1908 | 1–6 | ||
| 4 | PSG Ligue 1 · France | 1851 | 1–7 | ||
| 5 | Manchester City Premier League · England | 1847 | 1–7 | ||
| 6 | Real Madrid LaLiga · Spain | 1838 | 3–8 | ||
| 7 | Liverpool Premier League · England | 1786 | 4–16 | ||
| 8 | Benfica Primeira Liga · Portugal | 1768 | 6–20 | ||
| 9 | Bournemouth Premier League · England | 1749 | 7–23 | ||
| 10 | Brighton Premier League · England | 1748 | 7–23 |
Also read

Bodø/Glimt v Lille: the Norwegians are the better team, and the table hides it
Lille are second in Ligue 1 and Bodø/Glimt play in a league ranked around 20th in the world. On the Beaumont Index it is the Norwegians who are…

The Monday Index: Arsenal are top, and the Index agrees. Just not for the reason the table gives
Arsenal's first win at Anfield since 2012 put them three points clear. Our ratings had them first in the world before kick-off. Plus: we grade all…

Brest are 13th in Ligue 1. Their chances say they should be near the top
No club in France has fallen further short of its chances than Brest. On performance adjusted for opponents, only PSG have been better, and their…

Bodø/Glimt and Viking are level on 59. Only one of them is earning it
Friday's 3-2 left Norway's title race tied on points and goal difference. On the Beaumont Index the two clubs are not close: Bodø/Glimt are 22nd in…

Brighton won at the Etihad. The Index says this is no hot streak
Brighton's first league win at Manchester City puts them third, two points off the top. Their results are not running ahead of their football. They…

Juventus v Napoli: level on points, a long way apart on the pitch
Both clubs have 14 points and both are 11 off the top. On the Beaumont Index, Juventus are the third-best team in Italy and Napoli the seventh, and…

Milan v Inter: the derby is not the title race Italy thinks it is
Inter are the best team in Italy by a distance on the Beaumont Index. Their real rival is not the side level on points with them, and Milan's derby…

Man City v Brighton: the five-point gap that is really one
City are top of the league with the biggest luck surplus in it. Brighton have the best goal difference, the fastest-rising rating among the leading…

The Shield is gone. Sunday in Vancouver is about something bigger
Nashville have the trophy. On the Beaumont Index, Vancouver have the football, and Seattle are a far better side than eighth place suggests.

Pyry Hannola: the best thing about the worst team in Eliteserien history
Haugesund took nine points from 30 games in 2025. Their Finnish midfielder still ranked among the top-flight's best chance creators. With promotion…

The best club in East Asia plays in the world's 167th-strongest league
Johor Darul Ta'zim are rated level with Fiorentina and above every club in Japan, Korea and Australia. No club anywhere is further ahead of its own…

Chelsea v Manchester United: eleven places apart, four rating points apart
The table says fifth against 16th. Our ratings say these are almost the same team, and that United's chances deserve far more than seven points.

Liverpool v Arsenal: the best team in the world is getting worse, and still winning
Arsenal are No. 1 on the Index and level top of the league. Their results are running well ahead of their football, for the second season running.…

Fiorentina and Frosinone: Serie A's table, upside down
Fiorentina are 18th and Frosinone sixth. On performance, Fiorentina are tenth and Frosinone 16th. Three seasons of numbers explain why the table and…

Bodø/Glimt v Viking: the leaders are the weaker side
Viking are three points clear with six games left. Our ratings say Bodø/Glimt are the better team by a distance. Friday in Bodø decides who is right…

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1 (6-5 pens): what our preview got right, and what one night can't tell us
Two penalties in normal time, sixteen in the shootout, and almost nothing between two sides we said were better than their results. Here is how our…

Dortmund 3 Bremen 2: our first prediction, graded in public
We said Tuesday's cup tie would be closer than the names suggested. It was settled by a stoppage-time free kick. Here is our call, the result, and…

The runs nobody counts
Most football numbers are a record of what happened to the ball. The run that dragged a defender away, the sprint that stopped a counter before it…

Kim Hellberg's Middlesbrough are top on merit, and built to last
Once every game is judged against the opponent, Boro have the Championship's best football by a distance. The attack has grown under Hellberg; the…

Millwall are better than 13th, and Stoke are flattered by ninth
We judged every Championship game against the opponent. Millwall play like a top-four side, Stoke and Sheffield United like the bottom two, and…

Ture Spendler: Norrby's left-back is ready for the Allsvenskan
He is the Superettan's most progressive full-back, better in each of three seasons, and the players who made the same jump before him kept most of…

The World Ranking: opponents now count, and Barcelona slip to third
Every game is now judged against the opponent. Arsenal return to No. 1, PSG climb, and the Luck Table shows who has been lucky against easy fixtures.

Dortmund v Bremen: closer than the brands suggest
Dortmund’s rating falls once you count their soft schedule. Bremen have faced one of the toughest runs in the Bundesliga. The cup tie is not a…

Liverpool v Chelsea: both better than their results
Chelsea have faced the harder Premier League schedule. Both sides get a small lift once opponents are counted. Liverpool still rate higher.

PSG 2-0 Lyon: the bench broke the block
Mayulu and Godts, both substitutes, scored the goals that took PSG top. For an hour Lyon’s deep block held. The season numbers said the gap would…

Scott or Camara: what £100m buys Liverpool
Bournemouth are rated 1721, 16th in the world, with a +28 opponent-adjustment lift. That is why Scott costs what he costs. Camara is the cheaper…

Bruno Fernandes: is he declining? Not where it matters
He's 32, out of contract in 2027, and the market is pricing in a decline. Seven seasons of our data say his passing hasn't aged. His running has.

Marcus Linday: Heerenveen's midfielder is ready for a top league
Braga bid €6.5m and were turned down. Our numbers say the Swede belongs a level higher: his ball-winning would rank near the top 10% even in a Big…

The Monday Index: Madrid win the argument, Inter leave it late
Seven stories from the weekend, from the Camp Nou to Montréal, and what our numbers said about each before a ball was kicked.

Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid: how Bellingham turned the Clásico
Mbappé scored both goals, but Madrid won the Camp Nou by going toe-to-toe with Barcelona, and Bellingham did the work off the ball.

Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth: are United really a 16th-placed side?
Bournemouth won easily at Old Trafford. But before Sunday, United’s football was worth the sixth-best points rate in the league.

Nashville won the Shield. Vancouver play the best football
Nashville lead MLS by 15 points with three games left. On the Beaumont Index, Vancouver have the best underlying numbers.

Palmeiras lead, but Flamengo are the better team
Palmeiras went top on Saturday. Flamengo are Brazil's highest-rated club, have the best underlying numbers and a game in hand.

J1's luck story: Sanfrecce deserve more, Kashima's run is over
Sanfrecce are Japan's highest-rated club and keep falling short of their numbers. Kashima's title came with a huge surplus, and it has gone.

PSG v Lyon preview, and why PSG are fifth in the world
Level on points, a goal a game apart on rating. PSG dominate Ligue 1 more than Arsenal dominate England. The league discount explains the rest.

Chelsea 0-2 Spurs: how De Zerbi took over Stamford Bridge
Spurs had 69% of the ball and twice as many shots. Chelsea’s set-piece problem and a no-striker gamble did the rest.

Viking, Lazio and Forest: Europe's luckiest and unluckiest teams
We ranked 154 clubs in our eight launch leagues by how far their results are from their performances. Viking still lead the lucky list, Lazio are…

David Raum to Manchester United? What the numbers say
This weekend's reports say Leipzig's captain is United's top January target. Six seasons of data on whether he's a habit or a spike, how he'd fit…

Inter v Fiorentina preview: top v 18th, but not as far apart
Inter are Italy's best side by rating and 15th in the world. Fiorentina are 18th in the table but 13th on rating, and the gap between those numbers…

PSV v Feyenoord preview: the leaders meet the rating
Feyenoord are top, unbeaten and have out-created every league opponent. PSV are still the Netherlands' highest-rated club, 50th in the world, and…

Barcelona v Real Madrid preview: perfect Barça, honest Madrid
Barcelona have won all nine league games and are 3rd in the world. Madrid, 6th, have earned exactly what their football deserved. Here is what the…

Manchester United v Bournemouth: two good sides, two bad tables
Seven games in, United and Bournemouth are two of the Premier League's four unluckiest teams. Their football deserves more. Sunday at Old Trafford…

Aston Villa 2-1 Man City: how Emery's side beat the unbeaten
City had 63% of the ball, seven shots on target and a perfect record. Villa had two shots on target and Nicolas Jackson. A tactical look at…

Betis 2-5 Barcelona: how Flick's 4-2-3-1 pulled the luckiest team in LaLiga apart
Same shape, very different games. Barcelona had the ball, the press and the right flank; Betis had two good moments and one very bad one. A tactical…

Eight players nobody is watching, and the one thing each does better than almost anyone in his league
A left-back who passes like a quarterback, a No. 6 who scores, a striker who defends for a living. Eight second-tier players from eight countries…

Carrick, Arbeloa and Hayen are on the clock. The clock is wrong.
Most completed coaching spells end within four months. Teams peak at about 16. A study of 6,876 spells suggests football fires people for the bit…

How strong is the Eliteserien compared with the Premier League?
The short version: the gap is big, but not as uniform as you think. The best of Norway would survive in England; the middle of Norway would not.
League hubs
World league ranking →The week in football, measured
The real tables, the luckiest teams, one long read and one player nobody is watching. Every week, free.