If there were a way to directly compare leagues from across the world, it would be fascinating to see where MLS would rank. Major League Soccer has seen consistent development over the years. That includes rapid growth in recent seasons where MLS has shown more success on an international level. Things like the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the Leagues Cup have allowed more MLS teams to play more games against Liga MX and other teams around North America and the Caribbean. Now, that is showing up in one ranking that includes every professional team in the world.
Opta, a British sports analytics company, compiled new rankings for all professional soccer leagues in the world. Using a formula that ranks all professional clubs on a scale of one to 100, Opta creates a table of every club. Using the average ranking for teams in certain leagues, we can see how the average club rating in each league compares to others. In this case, MLS ranks well. It is a slight improvement, but a significant one in truth compared to rankings from earlier in the year, when MLS was 13th.
Now, Major League Soccer ranks as the ninth-best league in the world, according to Opta. In achieving this spot, MLS sits at a rank above some of the most recognizable and historic leagues in the world. For example, the Eredivisie, Liga MX, Argentine Primera and Turkish Super Lig all sit beneath MLS.
Major League Soccer is, by Opta’s calculation, the second-strongest league from outside Europe. Only the Brasileirão, which is sixth, has stronger teams on average than MLS for leagues not in UEFA. The Brazilian Serie A occupying sixth is impressive in itself. Only the traditional top five leagues in Europe are better on average than the Brasileirão.
Opta attributes MLS rising four spots in world rank to the league’s performance in the 2023 Leagues Cup. It was a strong showing from American and Canadian teams against their Mexican counterparts in the inaugural competition that Inter Miami won. Originally, Opta expected Liga MX to bounce back with strong performances in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions Cup. However, this was not as clear as first thought. MLS consolidated its spot while Liga MX sits 14th in the world.
Another popular point of contention has been between MLS and the Saudi Pro League. Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami is on a comparable level club-to-club to Al Nassr, the club of Cristiano Ronaldo. However, MLS as a whole is considerably stronger than the Saudi Pro League in these world rankings. Al-Hilal is the top club when comparing MLS and the Saudi Pro League. Yet, the average club ranking for the Saudi Pro League is 73.6, while MLS has an average rank of 78.2.
PHOTO: IMAGO
