In the realm of football, the distinction between open and closed leagues lies at the heart of the sport’s competitive ethos. Open leagues, also known as promotion/relegation leagues, are typified by the likes of England’s Premier League. They embrace promotion and relegation, allowing clubs to ascend or descend based on their performance each season. This fosters a dynamic landscape where ambition and meritocracy reign supreme, ensuring that even the smallest clubs can dream of glory. Conversely, closed leagues, exemplified by Major League Soccer in the United States, operate under a franchise model, where teams are often secured in a fixed hierarchy. Here, participation is typically determined by ownership and investment rather than athletic achievement. This enables regulations that lead to greater parity between teams and thus less predictable winners. The tension between these two systems reflects broader philosophical questions about access, equity, competitiveness, and the very spirit of the beautiful game.
Below, you will find a list exclusively compiled by Athlelyticsยฎ of countries that tend to favor open (promotion/relegation) or closed (franchise) systems in the most recent season.
| Open | Closed |
| ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ England | ๐บ๐ธ United States |
| ๐ช๐ธ Spain | ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico |
| ๐ฎ๐น Italy | ๐จ๐ณ China* |
| ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | ๐จ๐ฆ Canada |
| ๐ซ๐ท France | ๐ฆ๐บ Australia |
| ๐ง๐ท Brazil | ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand |
| ๐ต๐น Portugal | ๐ฎ๐ณ India |
| ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | ๐ฑ๐ฎ Liechtenstein** |
| ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | |
| ๐น๐ท Turkey | |
| ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | |
| ๐ง๐ช Belgium | |
| ๐ท๐บ Russia | |
| ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | |
| ๐ฆ๐น Austria | |
| ๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine | |
| ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | |
| ๐ฆ๐ช UAE | |
| ๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar | |
| ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic | |
| ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | |
| ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland | |
| ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | |
| ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | |
| ๐ท๐ธ Serbia | |
| ๐ณ๐ด Norway | |
| ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | |
| ๐จ๐ด Colombia | |
| ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | |
| ๐ท๐ด Romania | |
| ๐ฒ๐จ Monaco | |
| ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | |
| ๐บ๐พ Uruguay | |
| ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | |
| ๐ช๐จ Ecuador | |
| ๐ญ๐บ Hungary | |
| ๐จ๐พ Cyprus | |
| ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea | |
| ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | |
| ๐ต๐ช Peru | |
| ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | |
| ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ Wales | |
| ๐ต๐พ Paraguay | |
| ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | |
| ๐ง๐ด Bolivia | |
| ๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria |
*Promotion was present but not relegation.
**Liechtenstein has no national league. Clubs play in the swiss league. However, the cup competition that decides european places is closed.