History UsefulNotes / EuroFooty

* '''Bosnia and Herzegovina''': White shirt with blue stripes on the right sleeve and torso, blue shorts, white socks. Bosnia and Herzegovina entered international football amidst the desolation of the Bosnian War. The country lay in ruins and many young players were killed or wounded during the war--or simply elected to play for other sides (whether due to ethnic intolerance or simply to earn money). Needless to say, it was an unsurprisingly weak team. Things began to change rapidly for the better after enough time passed for new players to grow up and train without war surrounding them, like Hasan Salihamidžić (formerly from Bayern Munich) and Inter's Edin Džeko (formerly of Manchester City and Roma). Still: corruption, underfunding and management-team conflicts are endemic to Bosnian national football. Since the mid-00s Bosnia has gained a reputation as a confusing team to play against- keeping up with giants such as Spain, Portugal, France and Germany during away games on one day and getting absolutely smashed the next. Due to this inconsistency Bosnia had yet to qualify for a major tournament despite being ranked 21st out of 208 teams in the world rankings. Things are looking up for them, however, as they directly qualified for the 2014 World Cup by winning a qualifying group that also included Greece and Slovakia and, despite being knocked out at Group Stage after losing to Argentina and Nigeria, they recorded a 3-1 win over Iran. They were one of 4 level 2 teams to win their group in the First Nations league, and were the most convincing, with 3 wins and a draw. Their main teams are the capital's biggest rivals, FK Sarajevo and Željezničar, both of which were also traditional teams in the Yugoslav League. Other teams include Velez and 2022–23 champions Zrinjski from Mostar - both historic teams that were forcibly disbanded by Tito's regime in 1945 before resurrecting after his demise, as well as Borac Banja Luka.

* '''Hungary''': red shirt, white shorts and green socks. Now they pose not much of a threat, but back in the 1950s the "Mighty Magyars" were a fearful force to be reckoned with, having in their ranks legends like Ferenc Puskás and Sandor Kocsis. Everything came crashing down with the loss at the 1954 World Cup final and the suppression of the 1956 rebellion (which led many of their star players to seek refuge in other pastures, notably the aforementioned Puskás and Kocsis who went to Spain and became legends in Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, respectively), and now their legacy consists of three Olympic gold medals (1952, 1964 and 1968) and another World Cup second place (in 1938). However, they are experiencing a slow renaissance in recent years, culminating with a qualification to the Euro 2020 group stages; despite finishing last in their group they have received plaudits by fans across Europe by putting up good performances against their vastly superior group rivals, including holding both France and Germany to a draw. Main clubs: Ferencváros (the reigning champions with 34 national league victories), Kispest Honvéd (whose 1950s team was practically synonymous with the Magical Magyars) and Fehérvár FC (runners-up of the 1985 UEFA Cup, and winner of 3 titles).

* '''Northern Ireland''': green shirt and socks and white shorts. One of the four Home Nations, its main claim to fame for the sport is being the homeland of George Best, one of the greatest wingers of all time, who unfortunately could not translate to the national team his success with Manchester United in the 1960s. They were also a mid-level team during the 1980s, when they qualified for both World Cups held at the time (reaching the second round in 1982), thanks in no small part to secure performances by their star goalkeeper Pat Jennings, one of the Spurs' all-time greats and record holder for caps for the "Norn Iron" team. Their tradition, however, is marred by sectarianism that goes back even before UsefulNotes/TheTroubles, which has led to riots in league matches, and is something the IFA, along with the new generation of the Green & White Army, is currently working to overturn. Traditional clubs include Linfield (one of the world's record holders for domestic honors, with '''100 trophies''' to their name - and that's ''only'' counting first leagues and cups) and Glentoran, both from Belfast, and whose derby (always held at Boxing Day) is consistently the Irish League's main attraction. However, the current (2022–23) champion is Larne, which had never before won a top-flight title in over 130 years of play.

* '''Romania''': plays in all yellows. Like Bulgaria, they left quite a mark in world football in the 1990s, thanks to their ace Gheorghe Hagi. Main teams: Steaua Bucharest, now known as FCSB due to a bizarre legal dispute in 2014 (1986 European winners, and runners-up in 1989 - on both occasions helmed by Hagi too - and greatest national winners with 26 titles), Dinamo Bucharest (Steaua's crosstown rivals and second most successful club in Romania, with 18 titles), CFR Cluj (eight titles in the current century, including five straight from 2018–22), Universitatea Craiova (4 titles), and the now disbanded Viitorul Constanța (formed in 2009, owned and managed by Hagi himself, won their only top-flight title in 2017 and merged with historic club Farul Constanța to bring them back to the top flight in 2021, followed up by the first championship for the revitalized Farul in 2023).

The Bundesliga, sometimes known as Buli for short, has become well-known for its "fans first" policy, most famously the "50+1 rule", which dictates that club members hold the majority of voting rights, protecting clubs from outside investors.[[labelnote:Exceptions]]Two prominent clubs--Bayer Leverkusen and [=VfL=] Wolfsburg--are exempt from this rule due to a GrandfatherClause. Both began as sports clubs for the employees of major corporations, respectively Bayer AG and Volkswagen. Another exception to the rule allows an individual investor or investment group that has substantially supported a club for 20 uninterrupted years to receive majority voting rights - for example, Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeneß played for the club from 1970 to 1979, and after retiring from professional play he undertook a position as general manager for the club. This exception also allowed software mogul Dietmar Hopp to obtain control of 1899 Hoffenheim in 2015 (granted, he had played for that club in his youth), and allowed a group led by Hannover 96's president to take over that club in 2017. The most controversial exception by far is RB Leipzig, born in 2009 after Red Bull bought out and rebranded local fifth division side SSV Markanstadt. The price for a club membership is unusually high (around 800 euros for a yearly membership compared to Bayern's 60 for example), and the club's upper echelons can reject applications without notice or reason, effectively bypassing the 50+1 rule through LoopholeAbuse.[[/labelnote]] Thanks to this fan-oriented approach, the Bundesliga enjoys the highest average attendance out of all football leagues in the world, and the second-highest average attendance in world sports leagues, only behind the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]]. German club football is dominated by [[TheAce Bayern Munich]], with the 2022-23 title being their 11th straight, though there are plenty of other strong teams out there such as [[EnsembleDarkhorse Borussia Dortmund]], UsefulNotes/{{Hamburg}}er SV (until they got relegated for the first time in 2018), [=VfB=] Stuttgart, Borussia Mönchengladbach, [[AlwaysSecondBest Bayer Leverkusen]], [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut Schalke 04]] (from Gelsenkirchen, near the Dutch border, were relegated after a disgraceful 2020/21 season fraught with issues both on and off the pitch, but promptly returned to the top flight a year later), Eintracht Frankfurt, Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg. West Germany had no national league until 1963, a legacy of German soccer being organized in regional federations that went back to Imperial Germany. Bayern Munich won three European Cups in the mid-1970s, and three Champions Leagues in 2001, 2013, and 2020, and Dortmund (1997) and Hamburg (1983) have each won the top European title once, but other than that German clubs have been relatively lacklustre in that competition (the best performances by any other teams were runner-ups by Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1977 against Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 against Real Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund in 2013 against... Bayern). Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern Munich, and Schalke have won the now-defunct European Cup Winners' Cup and/or the UEFA Cup (both of which were predecessors to the Europa League), and Eintracht won the Europa League in 2022. 1. FC Magdeburg is the only club of the former GDR league to have won a European competition, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1974, the ''annus mirabilis'' of East German football, which was also the only time they qualified for the World Cup (coincidentally held in their Western neighbors, whom they actually ''defeated'' in the first group stage). In recent history, the relatively new (and controversial) club RB Leipzig[[note]]RB stands for Rasenballsport (literally translates to "Grass-ball-sport"), but also stands for Red Bull. As in the famous Austrian energy drink company that also owns Red Bull Salzburg in their native Austria, New York Red Bulls in [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer the United States]], and Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil.[[/note]] has seen an incredibly quick ascent to German football stardom, reaching the Bundesliga for the 2016-17 season and placing second there, just ''8 years'' from their formation. Not to mention reaching the Champions League semifinals three years after that. FC St. Pauli, from Hamburg, is also a major EnsembleDarkhorse: despite being far less successful on the pitch than their cross-town rivals, they've become very well-known in footy fandom for their fanbase's punk ethos and general openness to everyone.\\

* '''Georgia''': White uniform with red accents. Alongside Ukraine, they provided much of the USSR's biggest footballing talents, and although their clubs have almost never reached continental prominence they've often had a steady supply of world-class players. Recently, however, their national team has been on a meteoric rise with a new generation of talented players, most prominently Giorgi Mamardashvili and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia; they were promoted from League D in the first edition of the Nations League, and have been a mainstay of League C until the 2022 edition where they dominated their group and were promoted to League B. Their main club is Dinamo Tbilisi, two-time winners of the Soviet Top League, 19-time Georgian league champions, and winners of the 1981 Cup Winners' Cup. The reigning champion (2023) is Dinamo Batumi.

* '''Georgia''': White uniform with red accents. Alongside Ukraine, they provided much of the USSR's biggest footballing talents, and although their clubs have almost never reached continental prominence they've often had a steady supply of world-class players. Recently, however, their national team has been on a meteoric rise with a new generation of talented players, most prominently Giorgi Mamardashvili and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia; they were promoted from League D in the first edition of the Nations League, and have been a mainstay of League C until the 2022 edition where they dominated their group and were promoted to League B. Their main club is Dinamo Tbilisi, two-time winners of the Soviet Top League, 19-time and most recent (2022) Georgian league champions, and winners of the 1981 Cup Winners' Cup.

Despite the many travails of the national team, England consistently produces excellent players, most notably the so-called 'Golden Generation' of Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole and David Seaman that reigned from 1998 to 2010 (though Gerrard captained England to 2014 and Rooney remained available for selection), and are usually to be found in the top 10 teams in the world. The likes of wing forward Raheem Sterling, full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, midfielder Jude Bellingham, forward Phil Foden, and striker and current captain Harry 'Hurricane' Kane, among others, have proved that the production line of England talent isn't stopping any time soon - a point punctuated by the astonishing successes of the youth teams. However, the rule of thumb was [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut not to expect the senior team to do it at a tournament]]. Because they couldn't. Or wouldn't. No one's entirely sure which, or indeed why. [[WeAREStrugglingTogether However, most, including ex-players, consistently cite an inability by players from top teams to lay aside club rivalries and play as a team, instead operating in cliques, meaning that what happens is that instead of a team, you have 11 highly talented individuals running around the pitch and doing their own thing.]]\\

* '''Ireland''': green shirt and socks and white shorts. Not counting UsefulNotes/{{basketball}}-obsessed UsefulNotes/{{Lithuania}}, perhaps the ''least'' football mad nation in Europe, at least when it comes to local clubs, with attendance figures for League of Ireland matches being far below those for Gaelic Football and Hurling (though it must be said the British clubs have a lot of fans and when the national team is playing interest increases dramatically). While its clubs are not continental-level contenders, the national team has achieved some degree of success, qualifying for three World Cups and advancing from the first stage in all three. The team became one of the top teams in Europe after Jack Charlton became its manager, and started bringing in English players with second or third generation Irish backgrounds. The squad is centred around players playing their footy in England (often for moderate PL sides) and Scotland, though some played in their home country's league at youth level (such as Roy Keane, Iain Harte, Seamus Coleman and Kevin Doyle at Cobh, Home Farm, Sligo, and Cork), and two sides from that league have played in the Europa League group stage with Dundalk having nearly made the Champions league at one point. Fun fact: The team's fans were so well-behaved at the Euro '16 tournament that the Mayor of Paris awarded them the Grand Vermeil, Paris' most prestigious honour. Main clubs: Dundalk (the most successful club in the current Premier Division era, with 8 titles); the Dublin clubs Shelbourne, Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers (the reigning champions and most successful club overall, with 20 titles), Cork City, and Derry City - who have played in Ireland's league system since 1985 despite hailing from Northern Ireland, due to security issues caused by the Troubles and frictions with the IFA.

* '''Norway''': red shirt, white shorts and navy socks. Not so hot in men's football, but their women's national team became World Champions in 1995 and also won two European Championships. Surprisingly enough, they are the only national team in the world that Brazil has never defeated - the Norwegians' tally against them consists of 2 victories and 2 draws. Only made 3 World Cups (2 in the 1990s) and one Euros, but won its level 3 Nations League group in the event's first iteration, making their 2020 qualifying pairing with Sweden (who won their group a level above) potentially massive (both meetings were draws). Although they missed out on qualification to the 2022 World Cup by the skin of their teeth, the rise of world-class talents like Martin Ødegaard, Leo Skiri Østigård, and most prominently Erling Haaland has made them a team to look out for. Its main club is Trondheim side Rosenborg, who won the league 25 times - 13 of them in a row (1992 to 2004), with other notable clubs including Vålerenga from the capital Oslo, SK Brann from the city of Bergen, Viking FK from Stavanger, Molde FK (2022 league champions), Lillestrøm SK, and Bodø/Glimt.

* '''Sweden''': yellow shirt and socks and blue shorts. Hosted the 1958 World Cup, only losing the final to Brazil, and the Euro '92. In recent years, despite not relying anymore on their famous star player [[TheAce Zlatan]] [[AwesomeEgo Ibrahimović]], they have built up a reputation as a fearsome [[HeroKiller giant killer]], kicking out both the Netherlands and Italy from the 2018 World Cup altogether, almost giving France the same fate, and also being indirectly responsible for Germany's elimination in the group stage despite a last minute 2-1 loss against them. Even though their World Cup run ended with a 2-0 defeat against England in the quarter-finals, they kept up the momentum all the way into Euro 2020, where they surprisingly pipped Spain to first place in their group; they didn't go much further, though, as they were eliminated by Ukraine in the round of 16 through a last-minute goal in extra time. Their form took a nosedive since then, as they were relegated to League C in the 2022/23 edition of the Nations League and failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Main clubs: Malmö FF (the country's most successful side with 22 league victories and 1979 European Cup runners-up, and also the club that launched Ibrahimović's career), IFK Göteborg (from Gothenburg, with 18 national league victories), IFK Norrköping (13 league titles, the latest in 2015), and AIK, Djurgården and Hammarby (all three from Stockholm; the former two have 12 league titles each to their names, the latter just one). However, the most recent champion is another Gothenburg side, BK Häcken, which won their first-ever title in 2022 with two matches to spare. The most prominent women's club is Umeå IK, twice Women's Champions League winners and also the club where Marta first came to international prominence.

The top-ranked women's leagues, as of the end of the 2021–22 season[[labelnote:*]](as with the men, that season was the last of the five-season window used to determine the number of places each country gets in the ongoing 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League)[[/labelnote]], are (in order) France's Division 1 Féminine, Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Spain's Primera División, the Women's Super League of England, Sweden's Damallsvenskan, the Czech First Division, Italy's Serie A, Denmark's Kvindeligaen, the Dutch Eredivisie, and Iceland's Besta deild kvenna.

* '''Ukraine''': yellow shirt and socks and blue shorts. They provied much of the USSR's greatest talents and maintains a strong tradition after their breakup, most prominently preserved by famed AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko. The most famous club is FC Dynamo Kyiv, which won the Soviet championship 13 times and the post-USSR Ukrainian one 16 times, as well as the European Cup-Winners' Cup twice. In 1975, headed by European footballer of the year Oleg Blokhin, Dynamo also won the Supercup. Dynamo's greatest rival is reigning champion Shakhtar Donetsk, with one Soviet championship and 14 post-Soviet Ukrainian titles, plus the 2009 UEFA Cup. Co-hosted the European Championships in 2012 with Poland. They only qualified for one World Cup, in 2006, but captained by their greatest post-USSR star, Andriy Shevchenko, they acquitted themselves very well, making it to the top 8 and only being stopped by then-future champions Italy in the quarter-finals. Promoted to level 1 in the inaugural Nations League campaign, along with Bosnia, Sweden and Denmark, and became one of the first teams to qualify automatically for Euro 2020, eclipsing Portugal.

* '''Ukraine''': yellow shirt and socks and blue shorts. Out of all the ex-Soviet Union countries they are arguably the most successful, providing much of the USSR's greatest talents and maintaining a strong tradition after their breakup, most prominently preserved by famed AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko. The most famous club is FC Dynamo Kyiv, which won the Soviet championship 13 times and the post-USSR Ukrainian one 16 times, as well as the European Cup-Winners' Cup twice. In 1975, headed by European footballer of the year Oleg Blokhin, Dynamo also won the Supercup. Dynamo's greatest rival is reigning champion Shakhtar Donetsk, with one Soviet championship and 14 post-Soviet Ukrainian titles, plus the 2009 UEFA Cup. Co-hosted the European Championships in 2012 with Poland. They only qualified for one World Cup, in 2006, but captained by their greatest post-USSR star, Andriy Shevchenko, they acquitted themselves very well, making it to the top 8 and only being stopped by then-future champions Italy in the quarter-finals. Promoted to level 1 in the inaugural Nations League campaign, along with Bosnia, Sweden and Denmark, and became one of the first teams to qualify automatically for Euro 2020, eclipsing Portugal.

* '''Iceland''': all blues with red accents on the shirt. As one of the smallest football nations, the team didn't really do much until they made their first major tournament appearance at Euro 2016 after upsetting the Netherlands. They proceeded to stun people by drawing against Portugal and Hungary before defeating Austria to advance to the knockout round where they upset England. Just to put this in perspective, England was composed of top-class professional players and a manager who was paid millions. Iceland, by contrast, had several formerly semi-pro players (most played for moderate sides in major overseas leagues, but, whilst the keeper played in a Nordic top flight, he was a part-time music video director) and their manager was a part-time dentist. Even though they were defeated by hosts France right after, they earned the respect and love of football fans everywhere for their performance. And they followed that up by qualifying directly for the 2018 World Cup, becoming the smallest nation (by population) ever to reach the World Cup final tournament.[[note]]As of this writing (November 2022), Iceland has a bit over 360,000 people. For our British friends, that's slightly smaller than Leicester, or the London Borough of Enfield. Americans, think [[UsefulNotes/OtherCitiesInTexas Corpus Christi]], the city proper of UsefulNotes/StLouis, or the main urban area of Honolulu. For Canadians, a bit smaller than London, Ontario. Aussies? Smaller than Canberra. Kiwis? Smaller than Christchurch. Also comparable to the populations of UsefulNotes/{{Bonn}} and Nice.[[/note]] Unfortunately, the fairytale didn't last beyond the World Cup: they struggled in Nations League and Euro 2020 qualifying, and didn't get out of the playoffs to join Sweden, Denmark and Finland in the tournament. [[FromBadToWorse And then it got worse:]] a massive scandal further rocked the team, with most of their strongest players being implicated in sexual assault cases and ending up sidelined as a result. This exacerbated the team's downward spiral, and culminated in ''Strákarnir okkar'' failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup altogether after a horrible showing in their qualification group. Main clubs: KR Reykjavík (the oldest and most successful club with 27 titles), Valur Reykjavík (KR's crosstown rivals, and the second most successful club with 22 titles), and ÍA (from Akranes, just north of Reykjavík, has won 18 titles, the most recent in 2001). The reigning (2022) champions, however, are Breiðablik, from the Reykjavík suburb of Kópavogur.

* '''San Marino''': blue shirt, shorts and socks. Permanent ButtMonkey of all nations (aside from some smaller Asian and Oceanian teams that don't garner nearly as many headlines), San Marino are rooted to the bottom of the world and European rankings and are notable for only winning one senior fixture in their history, defeating Liechtenstein in a friendly in 2004. Their most famous player is Andy Selva, who is their all-time top goal scorer, with eight goals. They were the only nation to not score a goal in the inaugural Nations League, despite the relatively like-minded nature of opponents in the event's format, which saw them lose to Belarus, Luxembourg and Moldova, whereas all other level 4 teams earned at least 2 points.

* '''Russia''': white shirt and shorts and blue socks. Like the Czechs, their prime in football was under the Soviet red flag, with which they won the first European Championship in 1960, plus two Olympic gold medals (1956 and 1988). Also held the most recent edition of the World Cup, in 2018. Main clubs: Spartak Moscow (10 league titles), Dynamo Moscow (for which Lev Yashin, arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the game, played his entire career), Zenit St. Petersburg (the current league champions, who won the 2008 UEFA Cup after upsetting Bayern Munich in the semifinals, but unfortunately have also become infamous for their extremely racist fanbase), Rubin Kazan (first promoted to the top flight in 2003, and have won 2 titles in 2008 and 2009), and CSKA Moscow (the first club in Russia to win a European competition, the UEFA Cup in 2005).

The top-ranked leagues, as of the end of the 2021–22 season[[labelnote:*]](the last of a five-season window used to determine the number of places each country gets in the upcoming 2023–24 UEFA men's club competitions)[[/labelnote]], are (in order) the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga, France's Ligue 1, Portugal's Primeira Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, the Austrian Bundesliga, the Scottish Premiership, and the Russian Premier League (banned from 2023–24 competitions due to the country's invasion of Ukraine). This list includes all countries whose top-level champions are guaranteed automatic places in the Champions League group stage. Because of the Russian ban from UEFA competitions, Serbia's [=SuperLiga=] will receive an automatic group stage place in 2023–24. Since both 2023 CL finalists (Inter Milan and Manchester City) have earned group stage places by their domestic performances, the Ukrainian Premier League will also get an automatic group stage place for 2023–24.[[note]]The Ukrainian league played its 2022–23 season, with all matches outside the most active war zones.[[/note]]

The top-ranked women's leagues, as of the end of the 2021–22 season[[labelnote:*]](as with the men, that season was the last of the five-season window used to determine the number of places each country gets in the upcoming 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League)[[/labelnote]], are (in order) France's Division 1 Féminine, Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Spain's Primera División, the Women's Super League of England, Sweden's Damallsvenskan, the Czech First Division, Italy's Serie A, Denmark's Kvindeligaen, the Dutch Eredivisie, and Iceland's Besta deild kvenna.

In the women's game, investments by the top men's teams in their women's sections from the late 2010s onward have started to pay off, evidenced by Barcelona reaching the last three Champions League finals, winning two (2021 and 2023).

* '''Bosnia and Herzegovina''': White shirt with blue stripes on the right sleeve and torso, blue shorts, white socks. Bosnia and Herzegovina entered international football amidst the desolation of the Bosnian War. The country lay in ruins and many young players were killed or wounded during the war—or simply elected to play for other sides (whether due to ethnic intolerance or simply to earn money). Needless to say, it was an unsurprisingly weak team. Things began to change rapidly for the better after enough time passed for new players to grow up and train without war surrounding them, like Hasan Salihamidžić (formerly from Bayern Munich) and AS Roma's Edin Džeko (formerly of Manchester City). Still: corruption, underfunding and management-team conflicts are endemic to Bosnian national football. Since the mid-00s Bosnia has gained a reputation as a confusing team to play against- keeping up with giants such as Spain, Portugal, France and Germany during away games on one day and getting absolutely smashed the next. Due to this inconsistency Bosnia had yet to qualify for a major tournament despite being ranked 21st out of 208 teams in the world rankings. Things are looking up for them, however, as they directly qualified for the 2014 World Cup by winning a qualifying group that also included Greece and Slovakia and, despite being knocked out at Group Stage after losing to Argentina and Nigeria, they recorded a 3-1 win over Iran. They were one of 4 level 2 teams to win their group in the First Nations league, and were the most convincing, with 3 wins and a draw. Their main teams are the capital's biggest rivals, FK Sarajevo and Željezničar, both of which were also traditional teams in the Yugoslav League. Other teams include Velez and 2022–23 champions Zrinjski from Mostar - both historic teams that were forcibly disbanded by Tito's regime in 1945 before resurrecting after his demise, as well as Borac Banja Luka.

* The '''UsefulNotes/UEFAChampionsLeague''': a competition for the top European clubs; which is neither a league, nor is it (since 1997) for national champions only. The tournament runs from August to May. The current (2022) champion Real Madrid have 14 wins; AC Milan 7; Bayern Munich and Liverpool 6 each; FC Barcelona (aka "Barça") 5; and Ajax 4. The 2023 final on June 10 in Istanbul will feature Inter Milan and Manchester City.

As of 2017-18, this fallow period seems to have passed: Liverpool made it to the final, but lost to 3-1 Real Madrid in somewhat suspicious circumstances [[note]] Many Liverpool fans and a number of neutrals ascribe it to the skulduggery of Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, who pulled what was later identified as a judo throw (and a banned one at that) on Liverpool's star man, Mohamed Salah, and then 'accidentally' concussed Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, who consequently made two horrible errors that led directly to Madrid goals. [[/note]] Nevertheless, the English sides didn't look back, and provided at least one finalist in every year that followed aside from 2020. In 2019, England even managed the until then unheard-of feat of both the Champions and Europa League finals being contested by teams all from the same country (Liverpool vs. Spurs on Champions, Chelsea vs. Arsenal on Europa), with Liverpool and Chelsea emerging victorious. The 2021 Champions League final, as noted above, was also an all-English affair, with Chelsea defeating Man City, and in 2022, Liverpool reached their third Champions League final in five years, setting up [[HeroicRematch a grudge match with Real Madrid]] won by Real. In 2023, two Premiership sides have made European finals. West Ham won the Conference League, and Man City, with the Premier League crown and the FA Cup in the bag, will go for the treble in the CL final against Inter Milan.\\

Italian sides have also been very strong in Europe, and there are several different teams that have won major honours at home and internationally - as a matter of fact, with 51 titles in total, Italy is the second most successful country in world football when it comes to total trophies won behind Argentina: [[RedOni AC Milan]] and [[BlueOni Internazionale]] (both from Milan) won respectively seven and three European Cups - both managed to win two back-to-back European Cups - 1989 and 1990 for AC Milan, 1964 and 1965 for Inter - and the latter became the first and currently only Italian team to complete the continental treble in 2010. [[TheAce Juventus]] of Turin is Italy's dominant team, with 36 titles and counting.[[note]]Their fans insist they won 38 titles, but that's a rabbit hole we won't jump into.[[/note]] Other famous teams are [[ArchEnemy AS Roma and Lazio]] from the capital - the former reached the 1984 European Cup Final and won the inaugural Conference League in 2022, and the latter won the final edition of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1999; [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut Fiorentina]] of Florence - Baggio's first major club, and one-time runners-up in both the European Cup and the UEFA Cup; Genoa CFC and Sampdoria of Genoa - the former is one of the oldest football clubs in the world and were the uncontested dominators of Serie A's early years, and the latter has reached the 1992 European Cup Final; [[EnsembleDarkhorse Napoli]] of, well, Naples - who are most famous for being the club Diego Maradona has played for at the height of his career, won the UEFA Cup once with him in 1989 beating teams like Juventus and Bayern Munich on the way, and most recently ran away with the 2022–23 Serie A title, having clinched it with five matches still to be played; and Parma, winners of two UEFA Cups in 1995 and 1999; and have achieved back-to-back-to-back promotions from Serie D - Italy's equivalent to England's League Two - all the way to Serie A from 2016 to 2018. Finally, there also are Atalanta BC, a historical minnow from Bergamo that has recently become a high-placing side in Serie A - culminating in back-to-back Champions League qualifications in 2019 and 2020, and their fierce rivals Brescia Calcio, the side that launched the career of Andrea Pirlo, qualifying for European football in the late Nineties and early Noughties with his help. In recent years, the reputation of the Serie A for quality has taken a nosedive, being eclipsed by the resurgent Bundesliga, but this may be changing, due to Juventus reaching the 2015 and 2017 Champions League finals - both lost respectively against Barcelona and Real Madrid, and also Roma reaching the Champions League semifinals in 2018 after an upsetting 3-0 comeback victory against Barcelona in the quarter-finals's second leg following a 4-1 thrashing by the Azulgrana in the first leg. They almost managed to do the same against Liverpool, but ultimately were eliminated 7-6 on aggregate. More recently in 2022–23, three Serie A teams made it through the group stage and ended up being drawn against one another twice, with Milan knocking out Napoli in the quarterfinals and Inter taking out its city rival in the semifinals.

* '''Croatia''': white-and-red checkered shirt, white shorts and blue socks. Arguably the most successful of the national teams created after the breakup of Yugoslavia, if the third place in 1998, the second place in 2018 and the latter team's midfielder Luka Modrić's crowning as the world's best player that year, and another third-place finish in 2022 are any indication. Main teams: Dinamo Zagreb (the reigning champion, with 23 Croatian league wins) and Hajduk Split (which carried the tradition of one of the main teams in Yugoslavia over to Croatia).

* '''Denmark''': red shirt and socks and white shorts. Won the Euro '92 after replacing the war-torn Yugoslavia in the nick of time, and made an inspiring run to the Euro 2020 semifinals after the near-fatal on-field collapse of star Christian Eriksen in their opening match. Main clubs: FC Copenhagen (the reigning champion, and also has the most titles in the modern Danish league, with 14 victories[[note]]the two clubs that merged to form the current FC Copenhagen had 22 titles between them[[/note]]), Brøndby (with 11 national championships, and in which Michael Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel first gained prominence), and FC Midtjylland. The women's national team notably ended Germany's 20-plus-year reign over the Women's Euro, taking them down in the 2017 quarterfinals before losing to the homestanding Netherlands in the final.

The top-ranked leagues, as of the end of the 2021–22 season[[labelnote:*]](the last of a five-season window used to determine the number of places each country gets in the upcoming 2023–24 UEFA men's club competitions)[[/labelnote]], are (in order) the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga, France's Ligue 1, Portugal's Primeira Liga, the Dutch Eredivisie, the Austrian Bundesliga, the Scottish Premiership, and the Russian Premier League (banned from 2023–24 competitions due to the country's invasion of Ukraine). This list includes all countries whose top-level champions are guaranteed automatic places in the Champions League group stage. Because of the Russian ban from UEFA competitions, Serbia's [=SuperLiga=] will receive an automatic group stage place in 2023–24. Since both 2023 CL finalists (Inter Milan and Manchester City) have earned group stage places by their domestic performances, the Ukrainian Premier League will also get an automatic group stage place for 2023–24.[[note]]The Ukrainian league is playing a 2022–23 season, with all matches outside the most active war zones.[[/note]]

* '''Turkey''' (or '''Türkiye''', the Turkish-language name, which both FIFA and UEFA now use): white shirt with a red horizontal band and white shorts and socks. Showed the world what they are capable of by clinching the 2002 World Cup third place, but have since faded intermittently - their world cup qualifying campaigns have been dire, but they made the semi finals again in Euro 2008 after some stirring comebacks, outdid Netherlands to get to Euro 2016, and have upstaged world champions France in Euro 2020 qualification. Unfortunately, despite having every reason to perform well in the tournament, they crashed and burned in spectacular fashion in the group stage, losing all of their matches in the group. Its main teams are all from Istanbul: Galatasaray (22 league titles, and beat Arsenal to the 2000 UEFA Cup win), Fenerbahçe (Galatasaray's arch-rivals, based right across the Bosphorus Strait on the Asian part of Istanbul, with 19 titles) and Beşiktaş (16 titles, most recently in 2021). That Bursaspor won the 2010 national championship in a major upset made them only the second non-Istanbul club to do so; the other was seven-time and 2022 champion Trabzonspor. The only other team to have won a league title is another Istanbul club, Başakşehir (one title in 2020).
* '''Ukraine''': yellow shirt and socks and blue shorts. Out of all the ex-Soviet Union countries they are arguably the most successful, providing much of the USSR's greatest talents and maintaining a strong tradition after their breakup, most prominently preserved by famed AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko. The most famous club is reigning champion FC Dynamo Kyiv, which won the Soviet championship 13 times and the post-USSR Ukrainian one 16 times, as well as the European Cup-Winners' Cup twice. In 1975, headed by European footballer of the year Oleg Blokhin, Dynamo also won the Supercup. Dynamo's greatest rival is Shakhtar Donetsk, with one Soviet championship and 13 post-Soviet Ukrainian titles, plus the 2009 UEFA Cup. Co-hosted the European Championships in 2012 with Poland. They only qualified for one World Cup, in 2006, but captained by their greatest post-USSR star, Andriy Shevchenko, they acquitted themselves very well, making it to the top 8 and only being stopped by then-future champions Italy in the quarter-finals. Promoted to level 1 in the inaugural Nations League campaign, along with Bosnia, Sweden and Denmark, and became one of the first teams to qualify automatically for Euro 2020, eclipsing Portugal.