Updated September 16, 2026
Some soccer rivalries are created by league tables, others are built over generations. That distinction will be difficult to miss in London this weekend, when Millwall host West Ham United at The Den on Saturday. It will be the first competitive meeting between the clubs since West Ham won 2-1 at Upton Park in 2012, ending a wait of more than 14 years.
West Ham and Millwall are unusual because they barely need to play for the rivalry to survive. Geography, shared industrial roots and decades of supporter hostility (remember Green Street Hooligans?) have kept it alive while the clubs occupied different divisions.
That makes their reunion an appropriate time to look beyond England. From Buenos Aires to Cairo, these are 10 of the greatest derbies in world soccer, and the games and incidents that explain why they matter.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Few club games carry the cultural weight of Boca Juniors against River Plate. Both clubs originated in Buenos Aires' La Boca district before River eventually moved north to affluent Belgrano, and the rivalry developed into one of Argentine soccer's defining divides.
Nothing illustrates its intensity better than the 2018 Copa Libertadores final. The first leg finished 2-2, but the return was postponed after Boca's team bus was attacked approaching River's Monumental. The deciding match was eventually moved more than 6,000 miles away to the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, where River won 3-1 after extra time.
Famous moment: How the 2018 Libertadores Superclásico ended up in Madrid
Glasgow, Scotland
Celtic and Rangers have dominated Scottish soccer for generations, but the Old Firm extends far beyond trophies. Religion, national identity, politics and geography have all intersected with the rivalry, creating an atmosphere unlike almost anything else in British soccer.
One of its darkest chapters came after the 1980 Scottish Cup final, when supporters from both clubs fought on the Hampden Park field. Around 200 arrests followed, and alcohol was subsequently banned from Scottish soccer grounds. More than four decades later, the fixture remains capable of producing extraordinary noise and tension whenever Glasgow's two giants meet.
Infamous moment: The 1980 riot and the Old Firm's continuing crowd-control problems
Milan, Italy
Few major derbies are as geographically concentrated as this one. Inter and Milan share a city, a stadium and much of their soccer history, with the iconic San Siro divided between blue and black on one weekend and red and black the next.
The rivalry reached an extraordinary level in the 2005 Champions League quarterfinals. Milan led 3-0 on aggregate when Inter supporters threw flares and other objects onto the field. Milan goalkeeper Dida was struck by a flare and the second leg was abandoned.
The image of the San Siro glowing red beneath a shower of flares while Marco Materazzi and Rui Costa look on remains one of the defining photographs of European soccer's depest rivalries.
Infamous moment: UEFA's report from the abandoned 2005 Milan derby
Rome, Italy
Rome's derby is less about separating two neighborhoods than deciding ownership of an entire city. Roma and Lazio share the Stadio Olimpico, but there is little shared territory once derby week begins. Choreographed displays in the Curva Sud (Roma) and Curva Nord (Lazio) have become almost as important to the occasion as the soccer itself.
Perhaps the strangest derby came in March 2004, when a false rumor spread through the stadium that a child had been killed by a police vehicle outside. Supporters entered the field to speak to players, the game was abandoned and serious disorder followed outside despite police repeatedly announcing that the rumor was false.
Infamous moment: How a false rumor caused the 2004 Rome derby to be abandoned
Istanbul, Turkey
A derby that pits neighbourhood against neighbourhood also sees continents clash when Galatasaray take on Fenerbahce. The clubs sit on opposite sides of the Bosphorus and their rivalry has produced championships, red cards, hostile away trips and some of the loudest atmospheres in European soccer.
Its most famous image, however, belongs to a Scotsman. After Galatasaray defeated Fenerbahce in the 1996 Turkish Cup final, manager Graeme Souness grabbed a huge Galatasaray flag and planted it in the center of Fenerbahce's field. Souness has since admitted it probably wasn't his smartest decision, but Galatasaray supporters remember it rather more fondly.
Famous moment: The story behind Graeme Souness planting the Galatasaray flag
Belgrade, Serbia
The Eternal Derby is an appropriate name for a rivalry in which soccer can feel like only one part of the spectacle. Red Star's Delije and Partizan's Grobari are two of Europe's most recognizable ultra cultures, transforming meetings between the clubs into enormous displays of banners, pyrotechnics and noise.
Sometimes that intensity has crossed the line. During a 2013 derby, fires were started in the stands, flares were exchanged between sections and play was halted for around 10 minutes as firefighters entered the stadium. The fixture remains one of the most visually spectacular, and volatile, derbies in European soccer.
Casablanca, Morocco
For anyone whose idea of a major derby begins and ends in Europe, Raja against Wydad is essential viewing. Casablanca's two giants regularly turn the Stade Mohammed V into one of soccer's great visual spectacles, with enormous coordinated tifos filling opposite sides of the stadium.
The 2019 Arab Club Champions Cup meeting produced a game worthy of the atmosphere. Wydad led 4-1 with less than 20 minutes remaining, only for Raja to score three times and equalize in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The 4-4 draw sent Raja through on away goals after a 1-1 first leg, prompting pandemonium in the stands.
Famous moment: Raja's extraordinary 4-4 comeback against Wydad
Cairo, Egypt
Al Ahly and Zamalek have spent decades competing not simply for supremacy in Cairo, but for control of Egyptian and African soccer. That rivalry reached its highest possible level in 2020, when the clubs became the first teams from the same country to meet in a CAF Champions League final.
The game was immediately christened the "Final of the Century." With the score 1-1 and four minutes remaining, Mohamed Magdy Afsha struck the winner for Al Ahly, securing a ninth African title and eternal bragging rights over Zamalek.
Famous moment: FIFA looks back at Al Ahly's victory in the Final of the Century
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil has no shortage of huge rivalries, but few names are as instantly recognizable as Fla-Flu. Flamengo and Fluminense first met in 1912, and the rivalry found its natural stage at the Maracanã. No meeting demonstrated its scale better than the decisive 1963 Campeonato Carioca game.
A reported 194,063 spectators packed into the Maracanã, which Flamengo records as the largest attendance for a club soccer match. Unfortunately, the extraordinary crowd were treated to a 0-0 draw. The point was enough for Flamengo to secure the championship after an eight-year drought.
Famous moment: Flamengo's account of the record-breaking 1963 Fla-Flu
London, England
West Ham and Millwall do not have the global trophy collections of several clubs on this list. Their rivalry survives for a different reason. Both clubs emerged from working communities around London's docks, and more than a century of history has turned an initially local rivalry into one of English soccer's most notorious fixtures. The rarity of modern meetings has arguably increased the fascination.
The lowest point came in a 2009 League Cup tie at Upton Park. West Ham won 3-1 after extra time, but the match was overshadowed by fighting outside the stadium, repeated field invasions and a stabbing. Now, after more than 14 years without a competitive meeting, the rivalry returns at The Den.
Infamous moment: Report from the disorder surrounding the 2009 West Ham-Millwall game
The world's greatest soccer derbies do not all follow the same formula. Some divide neighborhoods. Others split cities, families, religions or entire continents. A few, such as Boca-River and Al Ahly-Zamalek, have also taken their rivalry onto continental soccer's biggest stage.
What they have in common is that league position rarely tells the whole story. Form changes, players leave and decades can pass between meetings, but the rivalry always remains.
