August 21 – Real Madrid have kept their ranking as the world’s most valuable football club brand for a third year, with a brand value of $2.76 billion. Barcelona are ranked second for a second year, while Arsenal have jumped from eighth to third, their first time in the top three.
The figures come from Brand Finance’s ‘Football 50 2026’ report, that ranks the world’s top 50 club brands.
There are five Premier League clubs in the Top 10 – Arsenal, 3; Manchester City, 6; Liverpool, 7; Manchester United 8; and Chelsea, 9. There are eight Premier League teams in the top 20, and 19 in the top 50.
The only non-European club in the top 50 is Brazil’s Flamengo in 32nd place.
The combined value of the top 50 clubs is €23.9 million with an enterprise value of €79.7 billion. The top 10 clubs account for 60% of the ranking’s brand value, “reinforcing a widening gap between football’s global elite and the rest”, say the report authors.
Real Madrid’s brand value grew 25% year-on-year, attributed to the club’s stronger commercial revenues resulting from the completion of the Santiago Bernabéu redevelopment.
The stadium was at near full capacity with significant growth across matchday, hospitality, museum and tourism revenues.
Real Madrid’s brand value is almost 3.5 times that of Borussia Dortmund’s, who enter the top 10 for the first time with a valuation of $766 million.
The report highlights VfB Stuttgart who achieved the largest increase in brand value almost doubling its brand value year-on-year, and noting Aston Villa as a brand to watch, “turning European breakthrough into brand momentum”.
As well as looking at brand values, the report also looks at the strength of the club brands, finding that “the world’s leading football clubs continue to rank among the strongest brands of any sector. The six strongest football club brands in 2026 all achieve a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 90 out of 100 or above, placing them alongside some of the world’s strongest global brands.
“These scores reflect the ability of football’s elite clubs to build deep emotional connections with fans while maintaining strong commercial appeal, global recognition and long-term trust.”
Real Madrid again tops the world’s strongest football club brand, with a BSI score of 95.8/100.
To see the full report click here.
Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball.com