ARL Football Success Ranking System

The ARL Football Success Ranking System for men’s European club football establishes for certain the most successful clubs in each nation. It is a system of scoring points to clubs based on what trophies and how many have been won.

Different trophies score different points and are based on a ‘glory’ criteria.

Only ‘competitive football’ trophies are considered.

Germany and its Bundesliga (Updated May, 2025)

Germany has a massive football culture and its success at national team level reflects this. The Bundesliga has a lower profile, even though it has some of the highest match attendances in Europe. Bayern Munich, Germany’s most successful club, has a huge global reputation but other German clubs have played a solid part in UEFA’s history too – eight clubs hold at least one major UEFA trophy in their cabinets.

Considering Germany was only amalgamated into the ‘2nd Reich’ in the same year as England’s FA Cup began, regional football leagues in the early years of German football had a much higher profile than in other footballing nations. Thus, the German Football Championships were first contested in 1903 through a system of regional league champions entering into national playoffs. The Bundesliga only kicked off as recently as 1962.

Competitions

German Football Championship / Bundesliga (1903 ; 1905-14 ; 1920-21 ; 1923-1944 ; 1948-)

Tschammerpokal / DFB Pokal (1935-1943 ; 1952-)

DFB-Ligapokal / DFL Ligapokel (1973 ; 1997-2007)

DFB-Supercup / DFL Supercup / Franz Beckenbauer Supercup (1987-1996 ; 2010-)

• German football ranks 4th in the UEFA Association Coefficient for 2025, making it a Tier 1 footballing nation and therefore awarded maximum Success Points for its domestic competitions.

• German clubs have scored a sterling 323 success points in international competitions.

Competition Key	Points
SC: Domestic ‘Super Cup’ (DFL Super Cup)	2
UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup	4
IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / FIFA Intercontinental Cup	6
LC: League Cup (DFB/DFL Ligapokal)	8
ECL: UEFA Conference League	8
NC: National Cup (DFB Pokal)	10
EL: UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	12
UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup	13
FIFA CWC: Quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup	15
CL: UEFA European Cup / UEFA Champions League	17
C: Top Tier League Championship (German Football Championship / Bundesliga)	18

Scroll down to bottom to view the table showing Germany’s 20 most successful clubs!

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5 Most Successful Clubs in Germany

5. Hamburger SV

Points:	190
First trophy won:	German Football Championship (GFC), 1923
Latest trophy won:	DFB Ligapokal, 2003
Most successful manager:	Ernst Happel – 63 success points (1981-1987)
Most successful decade:	1980s – 63 success points

A club which traces its origins as far back as 1887, Hamburger are founding members of the German football league, and years ending in ‘3’ have been particularly fruitful ones for them.

Die Rothosen‘s (The Red Shorts) first chance of glory ended in farce in 1922. In their championship final game against Nurnberg, the teams were stuck in a deadlock with the scores tied. This was the era before the footballing gods had a contingency measure for such a thing. After two legs of roughly five hours kicking lumps out of each other, Nurnberg conceded due to injuries. Hamburger were awarded the German crown by default. But they were asked to refuse it in the name of good sportsmanship, and did so, albeit reluctantly. They won the German Championship the following year, however, and again before the emergence of the Third Reich.

Hamburger won their first German Pokal (Cup) in 1963 and the first ever league cup in 1973. In 1977 the club won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup (CWC) by beating Anderlecht in the final. Ernst Happel then took charge and led Hamburger to win the Bundesliga in 1982, followed by another championship the year after. They achieved these feats with players such as ‘the monster’ Horst Hrubesch, and Felix Magath who scored the winning goal against Juventus to clinch the European Cup in 1983.

The club has since struggled and have won just one major honour since hoisting another German Cup in 1987.

4. FC Schalke 04

Points:	198
Earliest trophy won:	GFC, 1934
Latest trophy won:	DFB Pokal, 2011
Most successful manager:	Hans Schmidt – 64 success points (1933-1938)
Most successful decade:	1930s – 82 success points

A club that has its foundations pitted in the mining heartlands of western Germany, The Miners had their greatest period in the heady run-up to world war. From 1924, Schalk 04 became a dominant local side, utilising a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball, dubbed the Schalker Kreisel (‘Spinning Top’). They first applied a stranglehold upon their regional league before earning a place in the German National Championship (GNC).

Under the stewardship of Hans Schmidt – Nurnberg legend from his playing days – and a nucleus of players who would become German legends such as Fritz Szepan, Ernst Kuzorra and Herbert Burdenski, Schalk 04 would go on to win their first league championship in 1934, then five more between 1935 – 1942, including the first league/cup ‘Double’ in 1937.

After being crowned again in 1958, ‘The Royal Blues struggled in the Bundesliga. Schalk would remain a prolific club, however, and won more silverware around the turn of the century. Dutch coach Huub Stevens installed a rigid system of on-pitch discipline called “Die Null muß stehen” (‘It has to read nil’) and with this, Schalk beat Inter Milan to seize the 1997 UEFA Cup, then four domestic cups between 2000 and 2011.

3. FC Nurnberg

Points:	202
Earliest trophy won:	GFC, 1920
Latest trophy won:	DFB Pokal, 2007
Most successful manager:	Izidor Kürschner – 36 success points (1920–1921)
Most successful decade:	1920s – 90 success points

European football has a number of ‘grand old lady’; clubs which once fielded glorious teams, but have won little in decades since. Nurnberg FC is Germany’s grandest.

Founded in 1900, by 1909 they achieved complete dominance as they rose up the regional leagues, becoming known simply as Der Club on account of the team going unbeaten in 104 official matches from July 1918 to February 1922. By 1920, left winger Péter Szabó and center- forward Alfréd ‘Spezi’ Schaffer arrived in Nurnberg to help the club put a stranglehold on four out of the first five post-WWI league championships.

 After the 1920s, their glory years would fade due to a more fast paced game that evolved. Their more slow and deliberate style, which allowed them to shut out their opponents, became outdated. They did seize the first of four German Cups in 1935, however, and were competitive in the 1960s. Manager Max Merkel won Nurnberg a ninth German crown – now the Bundesliga – in 1968, then made the disastrous decision to replace his aging squad of champion veterans with a dozen rookies. Nurnburg became the first club to be relegated from the Bundesliga as the reigning champions the season after.

2. Borussia Dortmund

Points:	242
Earliest trophy won:	GFC, 1956
Latest trophy won:	DFB Pokal, 2021
Most successful manager:	Ottmar Hitzfeld, 63 success points (1991 -1998)
Most successful decade:	1990s – 63 success points

Although Die Borussen have a big reputation in Germany and Europe, Dortmund won nothing major until their first league championship in the 1950s. With club all-time top scorer Alfred Preissler banging in the goals, Dortmund won the 1956 and 1957 league championships. With the introduction of the Bundesliga, Dortmund won their first Pokal in ’65 before winning Germany’s first European silverware, the Cup Winners Cup, the season after.

Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld joined the club in 1991 and oversaw consecutive Bundesligas between 1995-1996. Then the German champions won the European crown by beating Juventus in the final. Players like club-stalwart Michael ‘Susi’ Zorc helped der BVB to gain fame and glory during this time with his 159 goals in midfield. The club won another three championships plus a Pokal in the new century with Ballon d’Or winner Matt Sammer being the ‘Swiss army knife’ of the midfield.

With Dortmund’s latest major trophy – a Pokal – won in 2021, it is the closest rival to Germany’s superstar club (below).

1. FC Bayern Munich

Points:	1042
Earliest trophy won:	GFC, 1932
Latest trophy won:	Bundesliga, 2025
Most successful manager:	Udo Lattek, 173 success points (1970 – 75 and 1983 – 87)
Most successful decade:	2010s – 258 success points

Bayern Munich is a true member of European royalty, having amassed a stratospheric 1000+ success points. Founded at the dawn of the 20th Century, die Bayern won their first and only German National Championship in 1932. The good times did not really take off at Munich until the 1960s.

Franz Beckenbauer, der Kaiser who developed the modern defensive sweeper role; and Ballon d’Or striker Gerd Muller, dubbed der Bomber, signed on in the 1960s. Manager Udo Lattek then took over the reins in 1970. Together, they brought remarkable dominance to the club, both domestically and internationally. Bayern ruled the Bundesliga for three years between 1972 – 74. Germany’s all-star team then beat Atletico Madrid in 1974 European Cup Final to hold aloft Germany’s first ever European crown, and the first of three consecutive crowns. Lattek left soon after but returned to lead Bayern on another 3-in-a-row league championship run between 1985 – 87.

In the 21st Century, Bayern sealed their rule over the German footballing landscape with 10 Bundesligas in a row between 2013 – 2023. Another ‘Muller’ – trophy-machine Thomas Muller – together with the likes of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, helped the club to achieve this when they also swept up five Pokals and two European crowns. And the peak of it all; Bayern managed an unprecedented total sweep of all six trophies for 2020! This club is a global superstar and will remain Germany’s most successful club for decades to come.

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Success Points Table

Competition Key	Points
SC: Domestic ‘Super Cup’ (DFL Super Cup)	2
UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup	4
IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / FIFA Intercontinental Cup	6
LC: League Cup (DFB/DFL Ligapokal)	8
ECL: UEFA Conference League	8
NC: National Cup (DFB Pokal)	10
EL: UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	12
UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup	13
FIFA CWC: Quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup	15
CL: UEFA European Cup / UEFA Champions League	17
C: Top Tier League Championship (German Football Championship / Bundesliga)	18

20 Most Successful Clubs in Germany

Position	Club	Point Subtotals	Success Point Total
1	FC Bayern Munich	SC: 10 x 2 = 20 UEFA SC: 2 x 4 = 8 IC: 4 x 6 = 24 LC: 6 x 8 = 48 NC: 20 x 10 = 200 EL: 1 x 12 = 12 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 CL: 6 x 17 = 102 C: 34 x 18 = 612 +3 (Trebles)	1042
2	Borussia Dortmund	SC: 6 x 2 = 12 IC: 1 x 6 = 6 NC: 5 x 10 = 50 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 CL: 1 x 17 = 17 C: 8 x 18 = 144	242
3	FC Nurnberg	NC: 4 x 10 = 40 C: 9 x 18 = 162	202
4	FC Schalke 04	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 5 x 10 = 50 EL: 1 x 12 = 12 C: 7 x 18 = 126	198
5	Hamburger SV	SC: 3 x 2 = 6 LC: 2 x 8 = 16 NC: 3 x 10 = 30 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 CL: 1 x 17 = 17 C: 6 x 18 = 108	190
6	SV Werder Bremen	SC: 2 x 2 = 4 LC: 1 x 8 = 8 NC: 6 x 10 = 60 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 C: 4 x 18 = 72	157
7	Borussia Monchengladbach	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 3 x 10 = 30 EL: 2 x 12 = 24 C: 5 x 18 = 90	146
8	VfB Stuttgart	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 4 x 10 = 40 C: 5 x 18 = 90	132
=9	FC Kaiserslautern	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 2 x 10 = 20 C: 4 x 18 = 72	94
=9	FC Koln	NC: 4 x 10 = 40 C: 3 x 18 = 54	94
11	Eintracht Frankfurt	NC: 5 x 10 = 50 EL: 2 x 12 = 24 C: 1 x 18 = 18	92
12	FC Lokomotive Leipzig	NC: 1 x 10 = 10 C: 3 x 18 = 54	64
13	Dresdner SC	NC: 2 x 10 = 20 C: 2 x 18 = 36	56
14	SpVgg Greuther Fürth	C: 3 x 18 = 54	54
15	Hertha BSC	LC: 2 x 8 = 16 C: 2 x 18 = 36	52
16	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 2 x 10 = 20 EL: 1 x 12 = 12 C: 1 x 18 = 18	52
17	Hannover 96	NC: 1 x 10 = 10 C: 2 x 18 = 36	46
18	Fortuna Düsseldorf	NC: 2 x 10 = 20 C: 1 x 18 = 18	38
19	FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin	C: 2 x 18 = 36	36
20	RB Leipzig	SC: 1 x 2 = 2 NC: 2 x 10 = 20	22