Looking back at the most remarkable football records of 2025

The year 2025 concluded with numerous historic milestones spanning from club level to national teams, across Europe and Asia.

Here are the 6 most notable records, reviewed in order from impressive to iconic.

6. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is the largest club tournament in history

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup marked a turning point as FIFA expanded the tournament to 32 participating teams, instead of the previous 7–8 teams. The competition is held every four years, following a format similar to the World Cup for national teams, with 8 groups in the group stage followed by knockout rounds from the round of 16 to the final. Each team is guaranteed at least 3 group matches, resulting in a total of 63 matches over nearly a month. This is the biggest change in the history of club competitions, promising increased competitiveness and global appeal.

5. PSG completes a historic “sextuple” of titles in 2025

Paris Saint-Germain ended 2025 perfectly by winning the Intercontinental Cup after a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Flamengo. This title completed their collection of 6 trophies in the year, including the French Super Cup, Ligue 1, French Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. Notably, PSG also won the UEFA Super Cup via penalties against Tottenham.

4. Vietnam sets an unprecedented record in Asia

Vietnamese football became the only country in Southeast Asia (on par with Japan in Asia) where all 7 national teams qualified through the AFC continental tournament qualifiers in 2025. Not only did they secure qualification, but the Vietnamese teams also impressed by finishing the qualifiers unbeaten and, except for futsal, all kept clean sheets. Specifically, the U17 Vietnam team won all 5 matches in the 2026 AFC U17 qualifiers, scoring 30 goals without conceding, including a 4-0 win against Malaysia in the final match.

3. Coach Kim Sang Sik leads Vietnam to a historic treble

After more than 20 months working in Vietnam, Coach Kim Sang Sik made a significant impact by helping Vietnamese football achieve a treble in 2025: winning the 2025 AFF Cup, the Southeast Asian U23 Championship, and the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games. In the AFF Cup, Vietnam convincingly defeated Thailand at Rajamangala Stadium with an aggregate score of 5-3, showing resilience after a controversial goal conceded. In the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, Vietnam won 1-0 over Indonesia thanks to a well-executed set-piece. At the 33rd SEA Games, the U22 team staged a stunning comeback from 0-2 to win 3-2 against Thailand, highlighting Coach Kim Sang Sik’s sharp tactics.

2. Real Madrid owns the world’s most valuable squad

According to Transfermarkt, Real Madrid ranks first globally in squad value at 1.4 billion euros. The two most expensive stars are Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, both valued at 180 million euros, followed by Vinicius Jr at 150 million euros. Behind Real Madrid are Arsenal (1.31 billion euros), Manchester City (1.21 billion euros), Liverpool and PSG, both at 1.15 billion euros.

1. Liverpool breaks multiple transfer records in summer 2025

The most remarkable record of 2025 belongs to Liverpool, who made history in the transfer market with a total spending of £445 million and income of £265 million from player sales. The highlight was the deal for Alexander Isak from Newcastle for £130 million, making him the most expensive signing in English football history and the third most expensive worldwide. Earlier, they also broke the Premier League record with Florian Wirtz priced at £125 million. Along with Hugo Ekitike (£79 million), these three most costly summer signings all arrived at Anfield.

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Here are the 6 most notable records, reviewed in order from impressive to iconic.

6. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is the largest club tournament in history

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup marked a turning point as FIFA expanded the tournament to 32 participating teams, instead of the previous 7–8 teams. The competition is held every four years, following a format similar to the World Cup for national teams, with 8 groups in the group stage followed by knockout rounds from the round of 16 to the final. Each team is guaranteed at least 3 group matches, resulting in a total of 63 matches over nearly a month. This is the biggest change in the history of club competitions, promising increased competitiveness and global appeal.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup expanded to 32 teams

5. PSG completes a historic “sextuple” of titles in 2025

Paris Saint-Germain ended 2025 perfectly by winning the Intercontinental Cup, after a thrilling penalty shootout victory over Flamengo. This title completed their collection of 6 trophies in the year, including the French Super Cup, Ligue 1, French Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. Notably, PSG also won the UEFA Super Cup via penalties against Tottenham.

PSG completes a historic “sextuple” in 2025.

4. Vietnam sets an unprecedented record in Asia

Vietnamese football became the only country in Southeast Asia (on par with Japan in Asia) where all 7 national teams qualified through the AFC continental tournament qualifiers in 2025. Not only did they secure qualification, the Vietnamese teams also impressed by finishing the qualifiers unbeaten and, except for futsal, all kept clean sheets. Specifically, the U17 Vietnam team won all 5 matches in the 2026 AFC U17 qualifiers, scoring 30 goals without conceding, including a 4-0 win against Malaysia in the final match.

Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian country with 7 teams advancing through continental qualifiers (Photo: ASEAN FOOTBALL).

3. Coach Kim Sang Sik leads Vietnam to a historic treble

After more than 20 months working in Vietnam, Coach Kim Sang Sik made a significant impact by helping Vietnamese football win a treble in 2025: winning the 2025 AFF Cup, the Southeast Asian U23 Championship, and the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games. In the AFF Cup, Vietnam convincingly defeated Thailand at Rajamangala Stadium with an aggregate score of 5-3, showing resilience after a controversial goal conceded. In the U23 Southeast Asian Championship, Vietnam won 1-0 over Indonesia thanks to a well-executed set-piece. At the 33rd SEA Games, the U22 team staged a stunning comeback from 0-2 to win 3-2 against Thailand, highlighting Coach Kim Sang Sik’s sharp tactics.

2. Real Madrid owns the world’s most valuable squad

According to Transfermarkt, Real Madrid ranks first globally in squad value with 1.4 billion euros. The two most expensive stars are Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, both valued at 180 million euros, followed by Vinicius Jr at 150 million euros. Behind Real Madrid are Arsenal (1.31 billion euros), Manchester City (1.21 billion euros), Liverpool and PSG, both at 1.15 billion euros.

Real Madrid owns the most valuable squad on the planet

1. Liverpool breaks multiple transfer records in summer 2025

The most remarkable record of 2025 belongs to Liverpool, who made history in the transfer market with total spending of £445 million and income of £265 million from player sales. The highlight was the Alexander Isak deal from Newcastle for £130 million, making him the most expensive signing in English football history and the third most expensive worldwide. Earlier, they also broke the Premier League record with Florian Wirtz priced at £125 million. Along with Hugo Ekitike (£79 million), these three most costly summer signings all arrived at Anfield.