Football, as we well know, is a result-oriented sport. As a result, when we compare the success of clubs, we often tend to refer to the number of trophies and achievements amassed.
Europe is the headquarter of modern-day football with reputable teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich getting mentions in casual discussions of the most successful clubs on the continent. However, there’s more than a handful of other decent teams who can easily blow away some of these big names in a comparison of trophies won.
Here, we take a look at ten of the most successful football clubs in Europe based on all trophies won in the local, continental, intercontinental and global competitions.
- Manchester United (England) – 68 trophies
United sit 10th on the list while being the most successful team in England with 68 trophies won since inception in 1878. The Red Devils have amassed a record 20 league titles, 12 FA Cups, five League Cups, and 21 Community Shield titles. They’ve also enjoyed remarkable success in European and global competitions with three Champions League titles, one Europa League, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
The club enjoyed its most successful decade the 1990s under manager Alex Ferguson, which notably included a continental treble in the 1998/99 season (the first English club to achieve the feat).
- Bayern Munich (Germany) – 72 trophies
Bayern are, by far, the most successful team in German football history with a record 29 Bundesliga titles, 19 DFB-Pokals, seven DFB/DFL Super Cups, and six DFL Ligapokals. Interestingly, no other German team has managed to match them in the number of titles won in any of these domestic competitions. In Europe, they’ve amassed five Champions League titles, one Europa league, one UEFA Super Cup and three FIFA Club World Cup.
They enjoyed their greatest rush of trophies in the 1970s under the captaincy of Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer, and notably completed their first and yet only continental treble in 2012/13.
- Ajax (Netherlands) – 73 trophies
The Dutch giants have got a very rich history having amassed 34 Eredivisie titles, 19 Dutch Cups, nine Dutch Super Cups, four Champions Leagues, and one Europa League. Ajax are one of the only five clubs to have won each of the European Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup at least once. They completed the continental treble in 1972.
- Porto (Portugal) – 74 trophies
Porto are one of the two major forces to reckon with in Portugal. They’ve won 28 league titles, 16 Portuguese Cups, 23 Portuguese Super Cups, two Champions Leagues, and two Europa Leagues. Notably, they’ve completed the continental treble twice, each coming in their Europa League triumphs in 2002/03 and 2010-11.
- Olympiacos (Greece) – 75 trophies
The Red-Whites aren’t known for any great exploit in European competitions, but are yet highly placed on the list having recorded massive domestic success. They have 44 league titles, 27 Greek Cups, and four Greek Super Cups to their name.
Their best performance in Europe came in the 1998/99 season, where they reached the quarter-final of the Champions League.
- Benfica (Portugal) – 80 trophies
Benfica are the most decorated Portuguese team in history, pipping rivals Porto by only six trophies. They’ve won a record 37 league titles, 26 Portuguese Cups, seven Portuguese League Cups, eight Portuguese Super Cups. Meanwhile, the club hasn’t been able to replicate their domestic dominance on the continental scene recently as their last remarkable international feat was back in 1962, when they completed back-to-back wins of the European Cup.
- Real Madrid (Spain) – 90 trophies
The glamourous Los Blancos have paraded some of the best football stars in history so it is not quite surprising that they are the most successful team in Champions League/European Cup history with a record 13 titles to their name. On the domestic scene they’ve won a record 33 league titles, 19 Copa del Reys & 11 Spanish Super Cups. They also boast of two UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups.
The club recorded its greatest success in the 1950s with a team featuring Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Raymond Kopa securing five straight European Cup titles between 1955-1960.
- Barcelona (Spain) – 91 trophies
Barcelona are only one better than their bitter rivals Real, in terms of major trophies won. The Catalan side have 26 league titles, 30 Copa del Reys, five Champions Leagues, and three FIFA Club World Cups to their name.
The Blaugranes are the only club in Europe to have completed the continental treble twice, which included winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
- Celtic (Scotland) – 110 trophies
The Scottish giants have enjoyed enormous success on the domestic scene in the last two decades so it isn’t quite surprising they are this high on the list. They’ve got 51 league titles to go with their 39 Scottish Cups, 19 Scottish League Cups, and 1 European Cup.
- Rangers (Scotland) – 115 trophies
Seated are the pinnacle of Europe’s most successful clubs is Rangers. They boast of a record 54 league titles, 33 Scottish Cups, 27 Scottish League Cups and one European Cup Winner’s Cup. The club has notably won more league titles and completed more domestic trebles (7) than any other team in the
