4. USA vs Mexico
The United States of America and Mexico are North American neighbours. Mexico, as we know, is one of the oldest Football playing nations in the world. The USA, on the other hand, has not historically been that successful in football despite having thrived exponentially in the last few decades as far as economy and development are concerned – proving once against that you can not just throw in money and play good football.
Coming back to the topic at hand, the rivalry between these two nations dates back to 1934 when the two sides played against each other in a World Cup Qualification match. The USA won the match 4-2 and went through to the World Cups. However, they were unable to defeat Mexico for the next 40 years!
Political differences between Mexico and USA continue to grow and that affects that footballing rivalry as well. It has been bugging the Americans for years that they can not become a better footballing nation that their neighbours despite investing so much more into the game every year.
In recent years, however, the USA has made significant improvements in their quality as a footballing team and they can now be considered to be at par with the Mexicans.
3. England vs Scotland
England vs Scotland is the oldest rivalry in the history of football. The first match between them was played in 1872 in Glasgow. These two nations have a long history of wars fought between them and thus the feeling of rivalry is normal between them even outside the game of football.
Between 1872 and 1989, England and Scotland used to play an annual match between them and it had quite the hype. Unfortunately, with time, Scotland lost their shine both as a nation and as a footballing team and thus the rivalry has softened down now. Yet, whenever they meet (like in Euro 2021) we see a jam-packed stadium with fans of both sides roaring at the top of their lungs.
Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2022: All Teams List, Captain, And Coach
2. Portugal vs Spain
The rivalry between Portugal and Spain is also totally political in nature and that is what gave rise to their on-field rivalry. Portugal and Spain have always been on separate teams in the majority of the Wars and that is what gave rise to the conflict between them, to begin with.
However, in pure footballing terms as well, they have had quite some big encounters at big stages in the last two decades that have just added to the rivalry between them. Spain defeated Portugal in both World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012, two competitions that they ended up winning.
Recently, they met each other in the 2018 World Cup as they were placed in the same group. The match ended in a 3-3 draw courtesy of a brilliant hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo. So whenever these two sides meet, you can expect one hell of a match.
1. Argentina vs Brazil
In the end, we come to the so-called biggest rivalry in the history of football – Argentina vs Brazil, the historic rivalry between the two top footballing nations of South America that is solely based on footballing heritage and not an ounce of political difference.
Argentina and Brazil are not only two of the biggest footballing nations in South America but in the world as a whole. They have 7 World Cup trophies combined that speak for themselves. Whenever these two sides meet, either in friendlies or World Cups or in Copa America, it is bound to be a match worth watching.
The two nations have played against each other 116 times. Brazil won 46 of those matches and Argentina won 41. 26 matches ended in a draw.
