WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World 

This is the fifth in our series of annual WCR Top 25 Clubs for past seasons based on formulas we have been putting together over the past decade.

This is the second of two consecutive seasons in which the lack of a true national league in Brazil is very hurtful for Santos, winners of the Copa Libertadores.  The Brazilian championship, however, was basically decided by a knockout tournament.  There were state leagues and numerous other competitions, but because the range of opponents was so great, it is quite difficult to provide accurate performance data coefficients.  As such, there are no Brazilian clubs in our annual rankings until the early 1970s. The 1963-64 season, however, was the first season of the West German Bundesliga, meaning that West German clubs were now eligible for the year-end rankings and three clubs from that country made the rankings in 1963-64.

Real Madrid returned to the top spot for the fourth time in five seasons, despite losing in the European Cup final to Inter Milan.  It was close.  Ultimately, Real Madrid edged out Internazionale because they won the highest ranked league in Europe, while Inter could only manage a second place finish in the Italian Serie A for the 1963-64 season.  They still could have caught the club from the Spanish capital had they done well in the Coppa Italia, but their quarterfinal finish was not quite enough.

This was also Real Madrid’s fifth season in the Top 25, matching them with Glasgow Rangers, AC Milan and Peñarol, though Rangers and Real Madrid are the only ones who managed to stay in the Top Ten during that entire period.  One club that fell short of reaching that milestone was Atlético Madrid, who failed to make the final season WCR Top 25 for the first time in the list’s five-year existence, finishing in 26th spot (as Barcelona had done the year before).

We had seven debutantes in the WCR Annual Top 25 in 1963-64, including the three West German clubs mentioned above who were able to make it because of the formation of the West German Bundesliga.  Also of note was the inclusion of the first club from the Dutch Eredivisie to land in an annual chart, with PSV Eindhoven finishing the season ranked nineteenth.

Below are the WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World for 1963-64, with a little information about what each club accomplished that season.

1.  Real Madrid (Esp) - Fourth Season Number One; Fifth Season Top 10; Fifth Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup Finalists; 1963-64 Spanish La Liga Champions; 1963-64 Copa del Rey quarterfinalists.

2.  Inter Milan (Ita) - Fourth Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup Champions; 1963-64 Italian Serie A second place; 1963-64 Coppa Italia quarterfinalists.

3.  Benfica (Por) - Fourth Season Top 10; Fourth Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup eighthfinalists; 1963-64 Primeira Divisão Champion; 1963-64 Portuguese Cup Winner.

4.  AC Milan (Ita) - Third Season Top 10; Fifth Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Italian Serie A third place; 1963-64 Coppa Italia quarterfinalists.

5.  Rangers (Sco) - Fifth Season Top 10, Fifth Season Top 25; 1963-64 Scottish First Division Champions; 1963-64 Scottish Cup Winners.

6.  Dukla Prague (Tch) - Fourth Season Top 10; Fourth Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Czechoslovak First League Champions.

7.  Bologna (Ita) - Second Season Top 25; 1963-64 Italian Serie A Champions.

8.  Barcelona (Esp) - Fourth Season Top 10; Fourth Season Top 25; 1963-64 Cup Winners’ Cup eighthfinalists; 1963-64 Spanish La Liga second place; 1963-64 Copa del Rey semifinalists.

9.  Celtic (Sco) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 Cup Winners’ Cup semifinalists; 1963-64 Scottish First Division third place; 1963-64 Scottish Cup quarterfinalists.

10.  Górnik Zabrze (Pol) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Polish Ekstraklasa Champions.

11.  Sporting CP (Por) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 Cup WInners' Cup Champions; 1963-64–63 Primeira Divisão third place.

12.  FC Zürich (Sui) - Second Season Top 25; 1963-64 European Cup semifinalists; 1963-64 Swiss Nationalliga A second place; 1963-64 Swiss Cup quarterfinalists.

13.  SK Slovan Bratislava (Tch) - 1963-64 Intertoto Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Cup Winners’ Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Czechoslovak First League second place.

14.  Peñàrol  (Uru) -.Fifth Season Top 25, 1963 Copa Libertadores semifinalists; 1963 Uruguayan Primera División second place.

15.  Köln (FRG) - 1963-64 Inter-City Fairs Cup semifinalists; 1963-64 West German Bundesliga Champions; West German DFB-Pokal quarterfinalists.

16.  Porto (Por) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 Primeira Divisão second place; 1963-64 Portuguese Cup finalists.

17. Borussia Dortmund (FRG) - 1963-64 European Cup semifinalists; 1963-64 West German Bundesliga fourth place.

18.  SK Rapid Wien (Aut) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 Inter-City Fairs Cup eighthfinalists; 1963-64 Intertoto Cup eighthfinalists; 1963-64 Austrian Staatsliga Champions; 1963-64 Austrian Cup semifinalists.

19.  PSV Eindhoven (Ned) - 1963-64 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Dutch Eredivisie second place.

20. Eintracht Frankfurt (FRG) - 1963-64 West German Bundesliga third place; 1963-64 West German DFB-Pokal finalists.

21.  Kilmarnock (Sco) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 Scottish First Division second place; 1963-64 Scottish Cup semifinalists.

22.  Dundee (Sco) - Second Season Top 25;1963-64 Scottish First Division sixth place; 1963-64 Scottish Cup finalists.

23.  Fenerbahçe (Tur) - 1963-64 Cup WInners’ Cup quarterfinalists; 1963-64 Turkish National League Champions.

24.  Budapest Honvéd (Hun) - 1963 Nemzeti Bajnokság I second place; 1963-64 Hungarian Cup winners.

25.  Real Zaragoza (Esp) - Third Season Top 25; 1963-64 Inter-City Fairs Cup Champion; 1963-64 Spanish La Liga fourth place; 1963-64 Copa del Rey Winners.