Europe's Best Teams: Where Barcelona, PSG, Liverpool Rank Among Top 20

How do we fill the days until the 2026 World Cup? By keeping up with some of the world’s top sides in what will be an action-packed European club season. 

Three of the continent's Big Five circuits – England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga and Ligue 1 in France – kick off this weekend, with Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A following on Aug. 22 and 23, respectively. In other countries, domestic league action is already underway. 

But these are the 20 clubs to watch, loaded with the stars we’ll be seeing next summer. Ahead of the top European campaigns kicking off, let’s count down the teams who’ll shine the brightest.

Note: League positions reflect last season's finish.

So what if the defending European champions lost decisively to Chelsea in last month’s FIFA Club World Cup final? Luis Enrique’s PSG is still the team to beat in 2025-26. Luis Enrique returns close to his entire squad from last season’s long-awaited triumph, though keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could leave this month. If he does, the Parisians already have Donnarumma's replacement in French international Lucas Chevalier, who arrived from Lille for $47 million.   

Last year, the Reds ran away with the Premier League title, besting second-place Arsenal by 10 points. Despite the tragic death of forward Diogo Jota, Liverpool has only gotten better this summer. Arne Slot’s side has been the big winner of this transfer window, dropping north of $350 million on backup keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, defenders Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, and forwards Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz. No wonder they’re the favorites to retain the English title.

Baca was just seconds away from reaching the UEFA Champions League final last season under first-year manager