The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) has released their first ever women’s club world rankings – and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies are top on the continent and 26th in the world.
The list is headed by Spanish giants Barcelona, followed by France’s Olympique Lyonnais. Bayern Munich (Germany), Chelsea (England) and PSG (France) complete the top five.
Nine European teams occupy the top ten positions, with Brazil’s Corinthians the only club from outside Europe in the mix.
It is not surprising that Sundowns is on the list as they had a stellar 2021 where they won the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League after defeating Ghana’s Hasaacas Ladies 2-0 in the final.
The Ghanaians are third on the continent and 55th in the world.
The other African country in the top 50 is FAR Rabat from Morocco.
Also making the top ten on the continent is the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and the University of the Western Cape – both are ranked 175th and 191st in the world respectively.
“From now on, we will publish the IFFHS Women’s Club World ranking once in a month. This ranking is based on the performance of clubs in international and national tournaments over the last 12 months. The calculation system is similar to the IFFHS Men’s Club World ranking which has been published for many years. Points in national tournaments are calculated depending on the level of a national league,” read the IFFHS statement.
| Top 10 world ranked Women’s Clubs | March 2022 | |||
| (Mar 1, 2021- 28 Feb, 2022) | ||||
| Club | Country | Confederation | Pts | |
| 1 | Barcelona | Spain | UEFA | 876 |
| 2 | Olympique Lyonnais | France | UEFA | 535 |
| 3 | Bayern München | Germany | UEFA | 504 |
| 4 | Chelsea | England | UEFA | 497 |
| 4 | PSG | France | UEFA | 477 |
| 6 | Wolfsburg | Germany | UEFA | 453 |
| 7 | Real Madrid | Spain | UEFA | 432 |
| 7 | Corinthians | Brazil | CONMEBOL | 432 |
| 9 | Juventus | Italy | UEFA | 396 |
| 10 | Arsenal | England | UEFA | 385 |
Top ten African sides
- Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC (26) – South Africa
- FAR Rabat (35) – Morocco
- Hasaacas Ladies (55) – Ghana
- Municipale Laayoune (100) – Morocco
- Raja Ait Lazza (129) – Morocco
- Ain Atiq Temara (147) – Morocco
- Rivers Angels (161) – Nigeria
- Vihiga Queens (165) – Kenya
- Tut Ladies (175) – South Africa
- University of Western Cape (191) – South Africa
By Matlhomola Morake
