CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament: 2025 (New)

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is held biennially for the countries in North and Central America plus the Caribbean. Invitations are also extended to countries elsewhere. In 2025 it was Saudi Arabia's turn, the first time for that nation.

The chart to the right covers the last six tournaments with points awarded by me. For a history of the tournament going back to 1991, simply click here.

Below is shown the group standings and knock out stage matches. The two most successful participants are the USA and México and they both made the 2025 final. 

México prevailed 2-1 after falling behind to an early goal. This amazingly put both countries on the same points of 220, the USA first by virtue of being ahead coming into the 2025 event. 

México has now won consecutive tournaments and four of the last six held. Since 1991, they have won ten times but has only been the losing finalist twice. The USA in contrast has won seven and been a losing finalist six times. 

Europe U21 : 2025 (New)

The 2025 edition has concluded and I must say the freedom of younger players is refreshing. For this competition I only start rating from the quarter final matches as so many nations enter. 

First up for the 2025 tournament the last eight teams came together with England, Netherlands, Germany (after extra time) and France progressing. Then England and Germany made it to the final, the two best sides. England led 2-0 before Germany came back to take the match into extra time. England prevailed for the second consecutive time,

Now onto the historical part, going back to 1978 and covering 25 tournaments. It's getting hard to fit all the years in. Some countries have broken into smaller entities and I have shown that below. Pale blue shows the ones that no longer exist and the new countries that then participated.

England got off to a strong start before entering the doldrums but has recently come back strongly. Italy took over and enjoyed a golden spell of five victories in seven years. Spain has won five times but some poor years keep it just behind Italy. Germany has enjoyed success in more recent times.

Argentina: Clubs Ranked - 1961 to 2024 (Updated)

To say that Argentine football is organised in a chaotic way would be an understatement. I hope I managed to sort it out accurately. Success is quite well spread out compared to many countries in Europe.

To the right are the top sides listed. 'Arg' represents points awarded for domestic play and 'Tot' includes South America.

So how do the points work? In Primera División and the Campeonato Metro (and other names used) top four are rewarded with 6, 3, 2 and 1. The Copas (Cup) 4 and 2 points for the finalists only. In South America, the Copa Libertadores (Champions League) gives 8, 4 and 2 points. 

The Primera División - National or Clausura - has River Plate as the top side, ahead of Boca Juniors. Recent winners have been CA Lanús (2016), Boca Juniors (2017,18,20,22), Racing Club (2019), River Plate (2021,23) and Vélez Sársfield (2024).

Another league competition played was the Campeonato Metro - Apertura or Inicial - has also often been held concurrently. 

It first was held from 1967 to 1984 and later reinstalled from 1991 to 2014. The same results have nearly been achieved for the top five at least. 

They haven't been big on cup competitions in Argentina, probably due to two league competitions that left no time to squeeze them in. They are the Copa Argentina and Copa Liga Profesional. 

The Copa Argentina was contested in 1969 and 1970, then from 2012 to today. There was no winner declared in 1970 due to the final being drawn but I shared the points with the finalists. Central Córdoba is the current champion.

The other cup Copa Liga Profesional is probably close to League Cups elsewhere. I'm unsure if it is viewed as important as the Copa Argentina so I awarded the same points for top achievers, unlike what I do for Europe. It commenced in 2020 with Estudiantes LP the present trophy holder.

The Copa Libertadores has been a successful hunting ground for Argentine Clubs. As of now, they have almost taken the same number of points as Brazilian clubs. That's an impressive history.

Argentina was of their arch rival Brazil but have recently been overtaken. The last Argentinian title winner was River Plate in 2018 and before that the same club in 2015. Independiente was very successful in the 1960's and more so during the 70's but its last title was 1984. River Plate was a semi finalist in 2024.

All put together, the clubs are below. The grand total is shown for each club, divided into regions with a ranking number (Rk) which gives their place compared to all the other clubs. Please let me know if you have anything to add. I found a few mistakes in my first edition which I have corrected. 

Most come from Buenas Aires which has 79.8% of all points scored. I called the next region Central, which is a similar latitude to BA and that region took 17.9%. The South and North are not prominent. It is all about the capital city.