In brief
The CIES ranks Benfica first with 101.3 points, the third consecutive year it has led the youth-training ranking, with 93 players active in the 49 leagues covered.
Sporting ranks seventh on 85.3 points with 77 players, while FC Porto is 59th on 45.5 points with 41 players.
River Plate and Boca Juniors follow Benfica, though reports give River Plate's score as 97.6, 97.5 or 95.9 points.
- 1 OctPlayers registered on this date are the reference for the ranking
- 21 OctCIES publishes the ranking, with Benfica first
Benfica first for a third year
The CIES Football Observatory published its world ranking of youth-training clubs on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, and placed Benfica first for the third consecutive year. The club's formation index is 101.3 points, built from 93 players trained at Benfica who are active in the 49 leagues covered by the study. Four of those players still play for Benfica, and 14 play in Europe's big five leagues: Spain, France, Italy, Germany and England. The award goes to the adidas Benfica Campus in Seixal, which the study names as the best football academy in the world. Reports agree on the Benfica figures, with the same 101.3 points and 93 players in each.
- Benfica
- 101.3 points
- Sporting
- 85.3 points
- FC Porto
- 45.5 points
Data from the article text
How the ranking is calculated
The CIES counts players who were trained by a club and remain active in the 49 leagues it analyses. It then weighs the level of the teams those players compete for, the minutes they played in the last year and their age, so younger players receive an extra boost in the calculation. A player counts as trained by a club when they stayed there for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21. The results reference players registered on 1 October 2026, and the observatory publishes the ranking every year in October.
Sporting, Porto and the chasing pack
Sporting ranks seventh with 85.3 points, drawn from 77 players active in the covered leagues, seven of whom still play for the club and 13 in the top five leagues. FC Porto is 59th on 45.5 points, with 41 players, five still at the club and nine in the big five. Sporting de Braga is listed on 33.9 points with 31 players, and reports place it either 101st or 102nd.
- Benfica
- 93
- Sporting
- 77
- FC Porto
- 41
Data from the article text
River Plate and Boca Juniors complete the podium behind Benfica, and Vélez Sarsfield is fourth on 92.0 points with 88 players. The Argentine scores differ between reports: River Plate appears at 97.6, 97.5 or 95.9 points, and Boca Juniors at 96.7 or 91.7. One report also places Ajax fifth, Barcelona sixth and Real Madrid tenth.
What Benfica Campus said
Guilherme Muller, managing director of Benfica Campus, welcomed the result in statements to BTV. He linked the award to consistency, which the club asks of its players every day during a long development period. Muller described the recognition as a source of great pride.
“It is the third year that Benfica's youth football has been recognised as the leader in this study, which is important because it shows consistency.”
One report notes that the Seixal academy plays a central part in preparing the club's young players. The award strengthens the international profile of that work.