International football has been the centre of the sporting world in recent weeks with the 2022 World Cup currently taking place in Qatar.
Some of the world’s biggest names have represented their countries on the grandest stage of them all, and in just a few days, the footballing world will come to a halt to watch the World Cup final.
There have been some incredible battles over the years in World Cups, but there are also some fierce rivalries away from the tournament.
With international football at the forefront of everyone’s mind, we take a look at five of the biggest international rivalries.
Brazil vs Argentina
The biggest rivalry in international football is arguably Brazil vs Argentina, with the two neighbours often competing for the biggest prizes.
Between them, they have won seven World Cups and 24 Copa America titles. Fans’ of each nation have argued for years who is the best player of all time, with Brazilians supporting Pele, while Argentina’s Diego Maradona is arguably the greatest of all time if you ask those from his homeland.
Both teams have continued to compete at the top of the sport for the last 50 years, and there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.
USA vs Mexico
While football is not the national sport of the USA, they still have a fierce rivalry against Mexico.
Since 2000, the USA have started to compete against Mexico, and there has always been plenty at stake between the two sides that share a border.
There has been no love lost between the pair, and the USA have dominated the last four meetings, winning three.
England vs Scotland
The oldest international fixture of them all was always going to find its way onto our list, and England and Scotland have played each other 115 times since their first match took place in 1872.
England have won 48 matches against Scotland, but the last two meetings have ended in a draw. They are set to play each other in a friendly in 2023, but there will be no kindness on show during the 90 minutes.
Egypt vs Algeria
A sporting rivalry with little history, with only seven meetings taking place since 2001.
Algeria have faired better, winning three of the seven fixtures, but the rivalry goes beyond what happens on the pitch.
Off the field of play, there have been violent clashes between the two sets of supporters, and in 2010, no fewer than 15,000 police officers were on duty to try and stop any issues.
Serbia vs Croatia
After the split of Yugoslavia, plenty of sporting rivalries soon formed across a number of different sports.
In football, there have only ever been two meetings between Croatia and Serbia, but both fixtures are remembered for their intensity.
Serbia have never beaten Croatia, but they are continuing to improve and will hope to improve their record when they next get the opportunity.
Both Serbia and Croatia qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, but they managed to avoid each other in the knockout stages, which was no doubt a relief for local authorities.
