According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics Major League Major League Soccer is the 42nd best league in the world.
42nd. Now I'm the first to question any kind of ranking system that does not involve ongoing head to head competition as the basis of it's measurement but being ranked just ahead of Saudi Arabia and behind the national leagues of Cyprus and Algeria certainly puts things in perspective no matter how the ranking was achieved.
It also puts into perspective the decisions of players like Dwayne De Rosario and Edson Buddle's (one former TFC player and a second perhaps to soon be former TFC player) to try and latch on with European clubs no matter the cost.
De Rosario's ongoing attempts to join to join a well known club in all be it the 24th best league in the world is one thing but Buddle's decision to leave MLS to join a third tier club (in very great danger of being relegated) in Germany perhaps shows just where things are right at the moment for MLS players.
One point to be made however is both of these players, De Rosario more so, are quickly moving towards the finals stages of their playing careers so one last attempt at a big(ger) money contract in Europe makes sense from a personal point of view. Knowing however that Buddle will double his $200,000 salary by moving to a team even the most die hard footy fan has never heard of puts thing squarely in perspective when it comes to ranking leagues.
Basically we can sum things up by saying simply with the league closing in on 20 years of operation MLS still has a long way to go.
The top 50 according to IFFHS:
Ranking League Points
1. España 1092,0
2. England 1039,0
3. Italia 1021,0
4. Brasil 982,0
5. Deutschland 932,0
6. France 884,0
7. Argentina 861,0
8. Portugal 789,5
9. Nederland 787,5
10. Ukraine 709,0
11. Belgique 703,0
12. México 690,0
13. Ecuador 662,5
14. Russia 660,0
15. Greece 636,5
16. Perú 624,5
17. Danmark 613,5
18. Paraguay 611,0
19. Türkiye 596,0
20. Chile 585,5
21. Colombia 585,5
22. Schweiz 542,0
23. Egypt 533,0
24. Scotland 531,0
25. Uruguay 522,5
26. Česká Republika 519,0
27. Japan 516,0
28. România 510,0
29. Republic of Korea 470,5
30. Österreich 465,0
31. Iran 437,5
32. Israel 437,0
33. Belarus 434,0
34. Bulgaria 421,0
35. Cypern 409,0
36. Algérie 406,0
37. Hrvatska 398,0
38. Moldova 384,5
39. Srbija 382,5
40. Georgia 375,5
41. Tunisie 375,0
42. USA 374,5
43. Saudi Arabia 361,5
44. Bolivia 359,0
45. Polska 352,5
46. Sverige 350,5
47. Sudan 350,0
48. Slovensko 342,0
49. Magyarország 340,0
50. Northern Ireland 336,0
Founded in 1984 the IFFHS aims at establishing a scientific chronological documentation of world football and determining authentic world records in all areas of football.
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