Football supporters – especially those who travel all around the houses to watch their club/country perform in the flesh – are typically given a hard time. They have long been slammed for how they conduct themselves at matches; and poor behaviour has often led to bans, fans and sanctions for both clubs and national teams.

Each year, UEFA – who are well-known as European football’s governing body – publish their fair play rankings to reveal the best and worst-behaved fans in Europe. Each national association is scored, and ranked, on some key criteria:

• Red and yellow cards.
• Respect for opponents.
• Respect for the referee team.
• Behaviour of team officials.
• Behaviour of spectators.

According to UEFA’s official rulebook, the Fair Play Regulations “aim to foster sporting attitudes and conduct among players, team officials and spectators” – which means that nations must adopt a collective effort to rise up the rankings, which are produced after UEFA delegates make an assessment. Scores are averaged over the 12 months to produce the final score.

50-41

Kicking things off as the worst-behaved supporters on the European stage are those in Albania, a country that have no club in any of UEFA’s three primary club competitions. Therefore, a large chunk of their 66 matches involve the national team – all in all, they have a lowly fair play score of 6.774; Croatia, elsewhere, have a score of 7.228.

Albania are in the same qualification group as Serbia for next summer’s World Cup – and that match-up, one of the most hotly-contested thanks to the historical tensions in that region, could see their scores rise. During a World Cup qualifier in June, UEFA fined the Albanian FA and ordered a partial stadium closure, with 20% kept empty for their following game, while Serbia’s current score sits at 7.239.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus then follow in 47th and 46th. Turkey – who have both Galatasaray and Fenerbahce competing in Europe – boast a score of 7.62 and find themselves just behind Switzerland and Monaco, which is the second-smallest nation in the entire world, in the overall standings.

The likes of Porto and Jose Mourinho-managed Benfica are flying the flag high for Portugal, though their position on the list suggests they have supporters who are poorly behaved at matches. They are sat 42nd on the list, with a score of 7.744, and are just behind Kosovo, who possess a score of 7.75.

40-31

Romania and Italy are separated by very little as we enter the top 40. That’s not to say that they are well-behaved given they are so far down on the list – but UEFA have definitely seen improvements. The latter may have supporters of Napoli and Inter Milan, to name a couple, to thank for their lowly position on this list.

The Italians, who have been observed across 242 matches, sit in 39th – and they are just behind Slovenia, with a score of 7.866, and Israel, who many believe should be banned from competing due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Albeit controversially, Israeli top flight outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv are currently competing in the Europa League.

Armenia, Hungary, Greece, Sweden, North Macedonia and Poland are among those to finish off this category. The latter’s international matches aside, Lech Poznan are currently plying their trade in Europe’s third tier club competition – which, perhaps, may explain why they are in the position they are.

30-21

Paris Saint-Germain ace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will be looking to fire his nation, Georgia, to some sort of glory in the coming years – and should he do so, he’ll be doing it for fans who are relatively well-behaved. Just ahead are France, who have none other than PSG batting it out on the European stage for the nation, and Belgium, who have a score of 8.164.

Bulgaria and Ukraine are, by a margin, better behaved than Belgium, according to UEFA’s latest report – and they, respectively, have scores of 8.166 and 8.209.

Austria and the Netherlands are somewhat smackbang in the middle of the 50 nations – in 25th and 24th, respectively, with the latter counting on the likes of Ajax and PSV Eindhoven to do them proud on the European stage. To round off the section, we have the Republic of Ireland (8.304), Latvia (8.333) and Spain (8.431).

La Roja are the reigning champions of Europe after beating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final – and fans would’ve been in high spirits over last summer. For Spanish clubs competing continentally, the usual outcome is victory and that’s perhaps why they are almost creeping into the top 20 best-behaved nations. Not yet, though, with a score of 8.341.

20-11

Now into the business end of the best-behaved supporters, we start with those of a Czechia persuasion. Of course, there is Slavia Prague competing in Europe for UEFA to take into consideration, but also the games of the national team; overall, from 148 matches, they have a score of 8.357. In 19th is Scotland and in 18th is Germany.

The latter have plenty of sides – Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – competing in the Champions League and the behaviour of their respective sets of fans, players and coaching staff will have played a massive part in their favourable score of 8.376, which sees them sat just behind Azerbaijan.

Qarabag are the only team from Azerbaijan who are competing at the top of Europe, but they have a smattering of other clubs in the lower-ranked competitions. Andorra, a landlocked country nestled between Spain and France, is up next as the 16th best-behaved fans and players on the continent.

Denmark, Wales – who rely entirely on their international fixtures given no club teams are in European competition – and Finland then follow before this category is rounded off by the respective scores of 8.567 and 8.629 for Northern Ireland and Iceland.

10-1

Norway, a country spearheaded by the talismanic Erling Haaland, kick off the top ten with a Fair Play score of 8.661 – and they are followed by Slovakia, whose best and most notable side in Slovan Bratislava are competing in this season’s Europa Conference League. With a score of 8.692, they are the ninth-best behaved supporters on the planet this year.

The duo of Estonia and Malta then follow, respectively, in eighth and seventh with scores around the 8.7 mark. Then, it’s England, who have a whole host of sides competing in the three European competitions – with four sides playing at Europe’s top table – who are the sixth-best nation in terms of their behaviour.

In that time, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur met in the 2024/25 Europa League final and Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea were crowned winners of the Europa Conference League. Despite the mixed reputation of English fans, inbetween England and the table toppers, there are Luxembourg, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Moldova.

Europe’s best-behaved footballing nation are the Faroe Islands, who are whiskers away from qualifying for their first-ever World Cup after a shock 2-1 win over the Czech Republic. Over a collection of 62 matches at club and country level, they are the only nation with a score above nine – 9.136.