In the history of international football, the derby in the same city or country has always been one of the most watched and popular competitions. Whether it's because of geographical rivalries, similar team strengths, or because of historical ties, conflicting values and fierce competition, these derby events have attracted the attention of countless fans around the world. Here are our top 10 hottest derbies in the history of international football based on their popularity.
10. French National Derby: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Marseille, the first match began in 1971, Marseille won 34 games, Paris Saint-Germain won 49 games.
The French national derby is an all-round collision, between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille represents the contest between the north and the south of France, the capital and the provinces, the nouveau riche and the traditional giants, this is the French national derby. Marseille has always been the pride of one of Europe's major ports, and through one of Europe's most important ports, the Maasai believe they can have a power over the capital, Paris. Paris Saint-Germain was founded in 1970 with the aim of filling a gap in the capital's football market. At this time, the golden years of the Marseille club continued. In 1991, the French television channel Canal+ bought a stake in Paris Saint-Germain, and they used their program to inflame tensions between the two teams. Since then, the two teams have competed to boil over to what we know today. A typical national derby match day includes tifos and pyro performances that deserve to be enjoyed for 90 minutes on their own.
When two teams play, the whole of France will be choosing who to support. Even though PSG is currently deep pockets and star-studded, some Marseille fans feel like they're already fighting a tank battle with a gun. Despite this, Marseille fans are proud to have France's only Champions League title. They usually call their club favourites "Jamais Les Premiers" (always number one) as a sign of contempt for their northern friends. The current disparity in strength between the two teams is at the heart of this rivalry, and their future is uncertain. In the eyes of some, it is unclear whether it will continue to be David vs. Goliath, or whether it will return to a powerful two sides to show the world. But one thing is for sure, the French national derby remains one of the greatest in the world.
9. Soweto Derby: Orlando Pirates vs. Kaiser Chiefs, the first game began in 1970, Kaiser Chiefs won 28 games, Orlando Pirates won 25 games.
The Soweto derby is one of the most unique competitions in football and the hottest derby in Africa, with the derby between two teams born out of hatred and violence. The Orlando Pirates are one of South Africa's two oldest teams, formed in 1937 and immediately became the dominant force in South African football. It wasn't until former Pirate player Kaiser Motown returned from the United States that Motown left the Orlando Buccaneers to play professional football for the Atlanta Chiefs of the North American Football League. Upon returning home, he discovers that there are many conflicts within the pirates. So, he decided to form the Kaiser Eleven, initially playing friendly matches against a number of South African clubs, before the organization evolved into a professional team and became the current Kaiser Emirates.
The Kaiser Sheikh upstarts brought a new era of flashy football branding, which earned them the nickname "Glamour Boys". And the Orlando Pirates are almost as old as the city of Soweto as a traditional team. The Kaiser Chiefs were founded and quickly became one of the most dominant football forces in the country, and the Orlando Pirates were the only South African team to win the African Champions League. In the early days of its derby violence, fan clashes were commonplace. But by the end of the apartheid era in South Africa, football had become a place of solace for Soweto. As fans become more accustomed to mixing and the derby becomes a vehicle of unity, fierce rivalry remains, but violence is decreasing. Lucas Radebe once said: "As a player, this derby carries the hope of a country and we carry the responsibility of the public. "The Soweto Derby tour is really fascinating these days. From Makarapa (the helmet that adorns the miners) to the sound of vuvuzzula. Football became the most humbling refuge and football is the best sport in the minds of South African fans.
8. Ruhr derby: Dortmund vs. Schalke 04, the first game began in 1925, Dortmund won 56 games, Schalke 04 won 60 games.
The Ruhr area is Germany's industrial hinterland, and the Ruhr derby is the definition of German football's heavyweight. The two sides represent the rivalry between coal and steel, royal blue and black, bourgeoisie and proletariat. Schalke 04's derby match with Borussia Dortmund was, unlike any other derby, more politically divisive between them. In the early years, football in the Ruhr area was all about Schalke 04. Their early style of play was spectacular, and the tiki-taka football, also known as Schalker Kreisel (literally "Schalker's spinning top"), shows how dominant they were at the football level, and it took Borussia Dortmund 18 years to win their first derby.
But when Borussia Dortmund rose to become European champions in the forties and fifties of the last century, the battle for the Ruhr Valley, the giant we know today, began to intensify. The most passionate fans of these two teams won't even name their eternal rivals. Schalke was contemptuously referred to as "Hern West" and Dortmund was derided as "Lüdensheld-Nord". This kind of trivial thing is not just left for the fans, it also sneaks into the club at the highest level. Legend has it that Dortmund moved their most die-hard fans from the north side of the old Rote Erde stadium to the south side of the new Westphalian Stadium in order to emulate Schalke's Park Stadium.
7. Spanish National Derby: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, the first game began in 1902, Barcelona won 100 games, Real Madrid won 104 games.
Needless to say, the Spanish national derby is hyped up in the media a month before the start of a match between two teams. La Fabrica against La Masia, and Catalan pride against the Spanish royal family were the characteristics of their rivalry. There, conflicting social and political ideologies meet, in opposite directions to the beautiful football game.
With more than 600 kilometres between the two cities, the national derby may not fit the traditional parameters of the derby, but the elements of the derby's intense conflict are all there, especially given the intensity, influence and cascading effects of both sides. A match of such importance, in its heyday, it almost decided the fate of European football for 10 years. From the pig's head falling to Figo's feet, to Pep Guardiola and Mourinho turning their press conferences into a battlefield, Messi and Ronaldo's battle for the best player has gone beyond the simple scope of a derby or title match.
6. Rio de Janeiro derby: Flamengo vs. Fluminense, the first match began in 1912, Fluminense won 141 games and Flamengo won 162 games.
On the stage of Brazilian football, "Fla-Flu", Flamengo vs. Fluminense took the spectacular scene of the Rio de Janeiro derby to new heights, and now the rivalry between the two teams is more like the Brazilian national derby. Like many other intense derby matches, the two clubs were born from similar roots. In 1902, Cox, a Brazilian studying in England, brought back the first soccer ball to Rio, and the city's fortunes changed. Cox spearheaded the formation of Fluminense FC, Rio City's first professional football team, which soon became a regional powerhouse. However, in 1911, the captain of the Fluminense team, Boggs, had a conflict with the management, because Boggs was also a member of the Flamengo rowing team, so he directly led eight main players to Flamengo, helping Flamengo form a football team to compete with Fluminense, and the resentment arose.
Since then, they have both grown to become two of the most successful clubs in Brazil, the kingdom of football. And that will only make derby day more sought-after for both sides. Brazil's most famous stadium, the Maracanã Stadium, is the home of both teams, and every match day between the two teams, the Maracanã Stadium is plunged into a carnival of red and black, white and green.
5. Belgrade Derby (Eternal Derby): Red Star Belgrade vs. Partizan Belgrade, the first match began in 1947, Partizan won 82 games, Red Star won 113 games.
Belgrade's derby day is unbeatable and will test all your senses as two Serbian giants take the meaning of rivalry to new heights, and the Belgrade derby is also known as the "bloodiest derby". The Belgrade derby began in 1945, after the end of World War II, when the United League of Anti-Illusion Youth formed the Belgrade Red Star team. Later that year, the Yugoslav People's Army Sports Association formed a partisan unit. The two teams met for the first time in 1947, with the Red Stars winning 4-3.
The intensity of the competition between the two teams is set in stone, and they can show the good and bad and ugly of the derby in 90 minutes. From elaborate tifo and choreography to violence that can make headlines and narratives. Even spilling over into the surrounding political events, passions and hatred will reach a boiling point with the game. One of the more famous incidents was the 1999 incident in which a Red Star fan was killed in a partisan away riot when he was hit by fireworks fired by hostile fans. In October 2000, the match between the two sides at the Red Star home stadium lasted only four minutes before it was forced to end when fans from both sides stormed the stadium and the players on the pitch were also targeted. After all, there is a reason why they call each other eternal enemies.
4. Istanbul derby: Fenerbahce vs. Galatasaray. The first match began in 1909, with Galatasaray winning 85 and Fenerbahce 100.
In a city that is known to locals as "older than time itself", the Istanbul Derby has enough legends to live up to its name. Galatasaray's nickname for the Upper Fenerbahce Derby is no joke, the story begins in 1905 with the birth of Galatasaray's eponymous school on the European side of the Bosphorus. Founder Sami Yen convinced a group of people that they should start a football team and gave them a soccer ball patched with leather cut out of his own shoes. Two years later, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, a group of locals founded Fenerbahce, who took their name from the local lighthouse. Since then, Istanbul has become one of the most intense derby cities in the history of football for more than 100 years.
3. Rome derby: Lazio vs. Roma, the first game began in 1929, Roma won 67 games, Lazio won 51 games.
Even in a country known for its passionate passions, it has the epitome of hatred and rivalry. In Rome, the capital of Italy, Lazio founded a multi-sport club in 1900, and their colors came from the Greek flag as a tribute to the ancient Olympic Games. After 27 years, the government authorized the merger of all existing Roma clubs so that Roma could be the sole representative of the capital, but Lazio was the only one to refuse, and thus the Roma derby was born.
In the early years, there was a strong mood that the real Romans from the cities were going to side with Rome, and the suburbs were more in favor of Lazio. The formation of the Roma team, and the fact that the Roma team wore the iconic colors of the Roman city, undoubtedly contributed to this concept. But in modern times, this is a generalization that is largely outdated. But that didn't stop Roma fans from using it to taunt Lazio. In the nearly 100-year history of the Rome derby, we have seen both sides play past the boiling point again and again. Violence between fans often dominates the headlines, as does the incredible tifo and the drama on the pitch. It was a game that fans of both teams thought was more important than winning the derby than lifting the league trophy.
2. Scottish Derby (time-honored Derby): Rangers vs. Celtic. The first game began in 1888 with Rangers winning 169 and Celtic 167.
You won't find scarves split between the two teams in Glasgow, the capital of Scotland, or even the two teams don't exchange jerseys at all after the game. Derby Day in Glasgow is one such level. The Wanderer was first founded in 1872 by Protestants. In 1888, the Celts, with Catholic players as the main body, were born. The two teams met for the first time later that year, with one commentator calling the two teams "like two staunch old friends." But the fact that the social and religious backgrounds of the two clubs are completely different and deeply rooted fuels the fierce competition we see year after year. As Terry Butcher said, "It goes far beyond football, and sometimes, I think, far beyond religion." "Even though they play almost once a month, that doesn't make every meeting any less intense.
1. Argentina Super Derby, River Plate vs. Boca Juniors, the first game started in 1913, Boca won 91 and River Plate won 86.
The Argentine Super Derby is one of the hottest derbies in international football, and the story begins with two clubs in the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The River Plate team was formed in 1901 by the merger of two clubs, and its name derives from the English translation of the Río de la Plata that runs through the city. Four years later, a group of Greeks and Italians founded the Boca Juniors Club, to which they dedicated their names. As they migrated north from the riverside to affluent areas, the rivalry between the two teams turned into a city-wide event.
Now, both clubs claim to represent 70% of Argentine fans. From the first match, there have been stories of fans burning each other's team flags. In Argentina, the Boca Juniors vs. River Plate matchup is more like a war than just a football match. The fans played a very important role here, and the two symbolized the contradictions and struggles between the working class and the bourgeoisie, but now they have become religious fanatical movements. If you don't use the extreme word "religious fanaticism" to compare the fans of both sides, it is difficult to imagine their madness.
11. Milan derby: AC Milan vs. Inter Milan, the first game began in 1909, Inter Milan won 90 games, AC Milan won 79 games.
The "Milan Derby" is the name given to the football match between AC Milan and Inter Milan, which was founded in 1899 by Herbert Kipling, a British expatriate. Inter Milan was founded in 1908, when players from Switzerland, Italy and other countries in the AC Milan team formed their own Inter Milan club because they were dissatisfied with the team's reliance on British players, which was the beginning of more than 100 years of fierce derbies and opposing ideologies between the two teams. Since the Inter Milan team itself is "split" from the AC Milan team, there is naturally a grudge and hatred between the two teams. Even though the two teams share the same stadium, each side uses its own name: AC Milan will call the home stadium San Siro, while Inter Milan will use the legendary Meazza of the past as the home name. Even the fan stands of the two teams have a very strict geographical division, with the south stand being the domain of AC Milan fans, and the north stand being the exclusive domain of Inter Milan fans.
In 1983, after the tragic death of an Inter fan, extreme fans of both teams reached a peace agreement. Instead, they took their contempt for each other to the stands, crafting some of the best tifo and choros of the game as a way to outmaneuver their sworn enemies. In addition to the fierce courage, the match between the two teams also features a plethora of superstars on the pitch. Over the years, Ballon d'Or or world champion players have had a lot of people play between the two teams. For all of the above reasons, and the crucial role that the Milan derby has played in almost every Serie A season since its inception, this list would not be complete without the Milan derby.