WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World 

This is the sixth 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 year in a row that Inter Milan won the UEFA European Cup, but ended up falling to second place in the WCR Top 25 Clubs of the season.  1964-65 replaced the previous season as the closest race to date.  In the previous season, Real Madrid managed to squeak by Inter Milan by virtue of league coefficient.  In 1964-65, Eusebio’s Benfica managed to do it with their complete dominance in their domestic league, demonstrated by a +67 goal differential (88-21) in a league that ranked just below Serie A using the WCR coefficients.

One of the most noticeable things about the 1964-65 WCR Top 25 Football Clubs in the World chart is the number of debutantes there are on the list.  Of the 25 clubs, eleven of them are appearing on the list for the first time.  Most notably among these are England’s Manchester United and Liverpool, who arrive in spots 17 and 21, respectively.  The top ranked of these new clubs in 1964-65 was Belgium’s RSC Anderlecht, which came in at 6th, but the list also included such prominent clubs as Feyenoord (Ned), Leeds United (Eng), Torino (Ita) and 1860 Munich (FRG).

In other news, Real Madrid, Glasgow Rangers, AC Milan and Peñarol all made it to a sixth consecutive Top 25, though Milan did not make it by much.  Peñarol was the only club from South America to make it to the rankings this season, even though they didn’t play in the 1964 edition of the Copa Libertadores.  In that competition, Argentina’s Independiente defeated Uruguay’s Nacional.  It marked the first time that an Argentine club won the Copa Libertadores and began Argentina’s climb towards becoming the top league in South America in the immediate upcoming years.

Below are the WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World for 1964-65, with a little information about what each club accomplished that season.

1.  Benfica (Por) - Second Season Number One; Fifth Season Top 10; Fifth Season Top 25; 1964-65 European Cup finalists; 1964-65 Primeira Divisão Champion; 1964-65 Portuguese Cup finalist.

2.  Inter Milan (Ita) - Second Season Top 10; Fifth Season Top 25; 1964-65 European Cup Champions; 1964-65 Italian Serie A Champions; 1964-65 Coppa Italia finalists.

3.  Real Madrid (Esp) - Sixth Season Top 10; Sixth Season Top 25; 1964-65 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1964-65 Spanish La Liga Champions; 1964-65 Copa del Rey quarterfinalists.

4.  Real Zaragoza (Esp) - Fourth Season Top 25; 1964-65 Cup Winners’ Cup semifianlists; 1964-65 Spanish La Liga third place; 1964-65 Copa del Rey finalists.

5.  Atlético Madrid (Esp) - Fifth Season Top 10; Fifth Season Top 25; 1964-65 Spanish La Liga second place; 1964-65 Copa del Rey Champions.

6.  RSC Anderlecht (Bel) - 1964-65 European Cup eighthfinalists; 1964-65 Belgian First Division Champions; 1964-65 Belgian Cup Champions.

7.  Sparta Prague (Tch) - 1964-65 Cup Winners’ Cup eighthfinalists; 1964-65 Czechoslovak First Division Champions.

8.  Rangers (Sco) - Sixth Season Top 10; Sixth Season Top 25; 1964-65 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1964-65 Scottish First Division fifth place; 1964-65 Scottish Cup quarterfinalists.

9.  Feyenoord (Ned) - 1964-65 Dutch Eredivisie Champions; 1964-65 Dutch Cup Winner.

10.  Vitória Setúbal (Por) - 1964-65 Primeira Divisão Champion; 1964-65 Portuguese Cup Winner.

11.  Porto (Por) - Fourth Season Top 25; 1964-65 Cup Winners’ Cup eighthfinalists; 1964-65 Primeira Divisão second place.

12.  Dunfermline (Sco) - Second Season Top 25; 1964-65 Scottish First Division third place; 1964-65 Scottish Cup finalists.

13.  Ferencvárosi (Hun) - 1964 Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I Champions.

14.  Peñàrol  (Uru) -.Sixth Season Top 25, 1964 Uruguayan Primera División Champions.

15.  Vasas SC (Hun) - Second Season Top 25; 1964-65 European Cup semifinalists; 1964 Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I sixth place.

16.  Köln (FRG) - 1964-65 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1964-65 West German Bundesliga second place.

17.  Manchester United (Eng) - 1964-65 English First Division Champions; 1964-65 English FA Cup semifinalists.

18.  Leeds United (Eng) - 1964-65 English First Division second place; 1964-65 English FA Cup finalists.

19.  DWS (Ned) - 1964-65 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1964-65 Dutch Eredivisie second place.

20.  Górnik Zabrze (Pol) - Fourth Season Top 25; 1964-65 Polish Ekstraklasa Champions; 1964-65 Polish Cup Winners.

21.  Liverpool (Eng) - 1964-65 European Cup semifinalists; 1964-65 English First Division seventh place; 1964-65 English FA Cup Winners.

22.  Torino (Ita) - 1964-65 Cup Winners’ Cup semifinalists; 1964-65 Italian Serie A third place; 1964-65 Coppa Italia semifinalists.

23.  AC Milan (Ita) - Sixth Season Top 25; 1964-65 Italian Serie A second place.

24. 1860 Munich (FRG) - 1964-65 Cup Winners’ Cup finalists; 1964-65 West German Bundesliga fourth place.

25.  Kilmarnock (Sco) - Fourth Season Top 25; 1964-65 Scottish First Division Champions; 1964-65 Scottish Cup quarterfinalists.