Sundowns ranked the eighth best in Africa and 83rd in the world, ahead of Wits and Pirates

Sundowns are directly below FC Basel of Switzerland and TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo but above the likes of Fluminense of Brazil, Feyenoord of the Netherlands and Galatasaray, the Turkish giants

28 January 2020 - 13:45 By Mark Gleeson
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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has put the club's brand on a world stage having dominated Africa in 2016.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has put the club's brand on a world stage having dominated Africa in 2016.
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Mamelodi Sundowns have been ranked the eighth best in Africa and 83rd in the world by The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), who compile an annual poll of the top international clubs, but the Premier Soccer League has been given a thumbs down in the ranking of the strongest league.

Winner of the UEFA Champions League and the Club World Cup in 2019, Liverpool finished top of the club rankings with 316 points, ahead of Barcelona and Manchester City.

Copa Libertadores winner Flamengo of Brazil took fourth place and were the only South American club in the top 10.

In Africa, Esperance of Tunisia were in first place and, in the process achieved the highest ranking for an African club of 19th place. There were 11 African clubs in the world top 100.

Etoile Sahel of Tunisia were second, Wydad Casablanca third and Al Ahly fourth in the continental ranking.

Sundowns received 140.5 points, and moved up from 117th place in 2018.

They are directly below FC Basel of Switzerland and TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo but above the likes of Fluminense of Brazil, Feyenoord of the Netherlands and Galatasaray, the Turkish giants.

Bidvest Wits were the next South African club in the list, in 349th place, up 20 slots from 2019.

Orlando Pirates fell from 283rd to 365th.

In the ranking of the strongest league in world football in 2019, England finished ahead of Brazil and Spain, followed by Italy, Colombia, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Argentina and Germany.

The top African league is Ligue 1 of Tunisia, ranked 15th in the world, followed by Morocco (17) and Egypt in 30th place.

The Premier Soccer League comes in after DR Congo and Angola with the South African league ranked the 50th best in world football, the same as last year.


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