Who Was the Best Soccer Team in 2018? An In-Depth Analysis Reveals the Top Contenders

2025-11-13 17:01

As I sat watching the 2018 World Cup final between France and Croatia, I couldn't help but marvel at the sheer quality on display that year. Having followed football religiously for over two decades, I've developed a pretty good sense of when we're witnessing something special, and 2018 was undoubtedly one of those years where multiple teams could genuinely lay claim to being the world's best. The debate about who truly deserved the crown as soccer's supreme team in 2018 continues to rage among fans and pundits alike, and today I want to dive deep into what made that year so remarkable while sharing my own perspective on which team ultimately stood above the rest.

When we talk about evaluating the best team in any given year, we need to consider multiple factors - domestic league performance, European competitions, international tournaments, and the sheer consistency of their gameplay. This is where it gets fascinating because 2018 presented us with several legitimate contenders who excelled in different competitions. France obviously comes to mind first for most people, having lifted the World Cup trophy in Russia, but I've always believed World Cup winners don't automatically become the undisputed best team in the world - they're simply the best national team in that particular tournament. The club scene told a different story altogether, with teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, and Liverpool all putting together remarkable campaigns that deserve serious consideration.

Let me start with France, because how can you not? Their World Cup victory was masterfully executed, even if their style wasn't always the most entertaining. Didier Deschamps built a team that understood exactly how to win matches, employing a pragmatic approach that leveraged their incredible defensive solidity and devastating counter-attacking speed. With 19 goals scored and only 6 conceded throughout the tournament, their numbers were impressive, though I must admit I found their approach sometimes too cautious for my taste. What made France special was their incredible depth - when your bench includes players like Ousmane Dembélé and N'Golo Kanté, you know you've got something special. Still, their domestic performances with PSG, while dominant in Ligue 1, didn't translate to European success, which for me slightly diminishes their claim to being the absolute best team of 2018.

Now, here's where my personal bias might show - I've always been more impressed by sustained excellence in club football than international tournaments. Club teams have months to develop chemistry and tactical understanding, whereas national teams are essentially patchwork projects that come together for brief periods. This is why I find Real Madrid's third consecutive Champions League victory in 2018 so compelling. Under Zinedine Zidane, they achieved what many thought impossible in modern football, with Cristiano Ronaldo delivering yet another sensational campaign, scoring 15 goals in the Champions League alone. Their 3-1 victory over Liverpool in the final, despite Loris Karius's unfortunate mistakes, demonstrated a winning mentality that I find rare even among elite clubs. What often gets overlooked is their domestic performance - they finished third in La Liga, 17 points behind Barcelona, which for me creates a complicated picture of their overall supremacy.

Speaking of Barcelona, they romped to the La Liga title with 93 points, losing only once all season, which is just absurd consistency. Lionel Messi was, well, Lionel Messi - scoring 34 league goals and providing 12 assists in what was another magical individual campaign. Yet their Champions League collapse against Roma in the quarter-finals, losing 3-0 away after winning 4-1 at home, revealed vulnerabilities that prevent me from crowning them the best of 2018. In my experience watching football, the truly great teams handle pressure in all competitions, not just domestically.

The Premier League offered its own compelling case with Manchester City's centurions - Pep Guardiola's side amassed 100 points, scoring 106 goals while playing some of the most aesthetically pleasing football I've seen in years. Their 18-match winning streak between August and December was pure dominance, but like Barcelona, their European campaign ended disappointingly with a quarter-final exit to Liverpool. Which brings me to Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool - now here's a team that captured hearts even if they fell just short of major trophies. Their thrilling run to the Champions League final, particularly that breathtaking 5-2 aggregate victory over Manchester City in the quarters, showcased a brand of football that was both effective and wildly entertaining. Mohamed Salah's 44 goals across all competitions, including that incredible record-breaking 32 in 38 Premier League games, made them must-watch television every week.

This discussion about team quality reminds me of Cone's recent comments about Malonzo's potential return depending on performance in practices over the next two days. It highlights how team selection and player integration remain crucial factors in building successful squads, much like how Deschamps had to carefully manage his talented but diverse French squad or how Zidane rotated his Madrid lineup to keep players fresh for crucial Champions League nights. The best teams aren't just collections of talent - they're carefully constructed units where every player understands their role and executes it consistently.

So after weighing all these factors, who would I crown as 2018's best team? I'm going with Real Madrid, and I know this might be controversial given their domestic shortcomings. But hear me out - winning three consecutive Champions League titles is an achievement so rare and difficult that I believe it trumps everything else. In knockout football against Europe's elite, they consistently found ways to win when it mattered most. Their squad depth was phenomenal, their big-game experience unmatched, and in key moments, they had players who simply knew how to deliver. I'll never forget Gareth Bale's spectacular overhead kick in the final or Sergio Ramos's relentless leadership throughout their campaign. Were they perfect? Certainly not - that 17-point gap to Barcelona still bothers me. But in the competition that truly tests teams against Europe's diverse styles and pressures, they reigned supreme.

The beauty of football is that reasonable people can disagree on these matters, and 2018 provided us with so many excellent teams that choosing just one feels almost unfair to the others. France brought home the biggest prize in sports, Manchester City redefined domestic dominance, Barcelona showcased incredible league consistency, and Liverpool announced themselves as a rising power. But for sustained excellence in the most prestigious club competition, combined with that intangible championship DNA, I'll take Real Madrid's 2018 vintage as the finest team of that memorable football year. Their achievement may never be replicated in our lifetimes, and that alone deserves recognition when having this conversation.