The 30 greatest international teams of all time

The teams who missed out and why

Scotland 1879-88

The reason: despite going unbeaten for nine years and 22 matches, the fact every one of those games came against one of the home nations meant their quality was impossible to quantify in a global context

 

England 1890-96

The reason: exactly the same as the Scots

 

Austria 1931-37

The reason: an influential team that has always inspired a lot of emotion, they missed out on the 30 by a mere point. But that’s also because their tactical innovation didn’t actually translate to truly dominant record and they were ultimately beaten by Italy in the World Cup semi-finals

 

Sweden 1957-59

The reason: an undoubtedly brilliant team, but home advantage in the 1958 World Cup undoubtedly boosted their record while some middling results either side took away from it

 

Spain 1963-66

The reason: a maiden trophy in 1964 was followed by a miserable World Cup in 1966

 

Portugal 1965-67

The reason: their brilliance was all too brief as they failed to qualify for the next two tournaments after electrifying the 1966 World Cup

 

Peru 1970-75

The reason: despite an effervescent quality best illustrated by Teofilo Cubillas, won the 1975 Copa America in haphazard fashion and failed to reach Germany in 1974

 

Czechoslovakia 1975-77

The reason: conquered Europe in 1976 but couldn’t reach the global stage either side

 

Denmark 1984-86

The reason: that emphatic second-round defeat to Spain in 1986 offset some exquisite performances as well as a semi-final place in 1984

 

Denmark 1992

The reason: just like Czechoslovakia, found the World Cup a tournament too far after continental success

 

Holland 1998-2000

The reason: paid the penalty for failing to maximise their individual quality in the semi-finals of both 1998 and Euro 2000

 

Portugal 2004-06

The reason: Felipe Scolari’s side had a strange habit of going stale in attack as tournaments reached their end-point. In the last four games of the 2006 World Cup, for example, they only scored once. And they couldn’t do it all at home to Greece. The trophy it cost them also cost them a place on this list

 

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