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Football has been around in South America for almost as long as in Europe. Football is deeply inbedded in life and culture of most countries. When it comes to the history of the World Cup Brazil and Argentina have taken center stage since the 1950s. Therefore it might not be surprising that most of the top teams from South America come from exactly these two countries. However smaller countries like Uruguay , Paraguay and Chile have also fielded succesful teams in the continental tournamente: Copa Libertadores

The two big clubs in Uruguay are Penarol (5) and Nacional (3) both from the capital of Montevideo.
Paraguay has Olimpia (3) from the capital Asuncion. Chila has Colo-Colo (1).
Colombia has also seen a bit of success with Atletico Nacional and Once Caldas both lifting the Cup.
However, with all being said the vast majority of clubs with name recognition, being the birthplace and launch pad for great players, as well as participating in epic matches, and winning titles come from the Big 2: Brazil and Argentina.
Peñarol is the only club being from neither Argentina nor Brazil to enter the list. Peñarol is the most successful team in Uruguay and the 3rd most successful in Copa Libertadores over time. It was picked as South America club of the 20th centenary in 2010 by IFFHS.
The big two in Brazil are Corinthians from Sao Paulo and Flamengo from Rio de Janeiro. These are the most popular clubs throughout the country. Not always the most successful.
The big two in Argentina are Boca Juniors and River Plate most from the capital CF Buenos Aires.
So in order to get halfway through with the list was the easy part. The difficult part will be to select the 5 remaining clubs to make it on to the top 10 list over the greatest South American clubs.
At number 6 we will have to include Independiente from Argentina due to its massive success during 60s and 70s. It is currenly the club with most wins in the Copa Libertadores at 7.
Another legendary club this time from Brazil will make it to the list as number 7. Santos FC which was the club of Pele, and later on of Neymar Jr. is a force to be reckoned with past and present.
São Paulo FC takes the number 8 spot being the other big club from the biggest city in the southern hemisphere, Brazil.
Santos is from the state of Sao Paulo, but football is not just an occupation of the two major population areas in Brazil: Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. There are strong clubs in Parana, Rio Grande Do Sul, and Minas Gerais as well. So in order to take the dispersed structure of football in Brazil into account let’s bring on some of the regional powerhouses.
Gremio from the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre takes the number 9 spot. The club of Ronaldinho Gaucho among others.
The 10th and final spot is very contested indeed. One could argue for Estudiantes de la Plata in Argentina. The second grand old club from Montevideo Uruguay, Nacional. Why not give Rio another spot with Vasco da Gama or Fluminense ? Porto Alegre has not one but two great clubs the other being Internacional. Atletico Nacional of Medellin Colombia was the club of Pablo Escobar. But the final spot on the list will go to Cruzeiro from Brazil’s third biggest city of Belo Horizonte. This is where o fenomeno Ronaldo started his carreer before making the switch to PSV at a very early age.

The keyword to watch in the headline is TEAMS because this ranking is about the teams on the field and not the institutional framework of the club. Real Madrid is the most winning club in European football. But the club has won a number of titles during the 1950s and as well during 2010s meaning that nobody involved with the club in the 1950s would have been there 60 years later. So by club team what I refer to is group of players who play together during a certain period of time. Could be 5 years , could be 10 years – but rarely longer than that since in order to be able to qualify for the definition there has to be continuity. Certain players, managers, coaches have to be the same throughout the entire timespan.

So what defines a great team ? Well, a number of factors can be said to define it but definitely more than just one. The most obvious criteria would be winning titles. In order to be truly great you will have to win. A second criteria would be individual excellency. It would be the rare case where a very successful team would consist of a homogeneous group of slightly above average players. Thirdly, a specific tactical underpinning or way of play , maybe a novel invention tactically will also be a defining characteristic. And finally a manager or a coach with a unique personality often gets to symbolize the team itself.
So here we go. It is hard to compare the teams over time since the game has changed dramatically over time. It is easier to try to find one of two teams which have defined football throughout a decade or maybe a slightly shorter period of time.
Disclaimer. The focus is very Eurocentric. Though probably certain Argentinian and Brazilian club teams would deserve being mentioned.
The first team which spring to mind must be the Real Madrid team winning 5 European Cups in a row from 1955 and until 1960.
During the 1960s Inter became successful with the strong defensive mastery called catenaccio. This very defensive oriented football is still the cornerstone for most Italian clubs.
Just like the Dutch national team made a push during the 1970s so did Ajax with their total football. But they were not the only ones to be inventive during the 70s. FC Bayern developed a new defensive formation with Beckenbauer as sweeper playing behind the center halfs. A strong axis with Meier, Beckenbauer, Breitner, Müller. Often this what you see that a dominant club team also makes up the basic foundation of the national team. The Bayern team winning in Europe in 2012 with Neuer, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Müller also went on to win the World Cup in 2014.
Liverpool become the dominant team end of the 70s and until the Heysel disaster. Then AC Milan takes the throne of Europe with back to back titles in 89 and 90. The master tactician behind the team is Arrigo Sacchi. The money man making it possible in the first place is Silvio Berlusconi. The player axis being the foundation is made up of Baresi, Rijkaart, Van Basten, Gullit. At the same the team under Maradona in Napoli wins a league title to the south of Italy for the first time ever, as well as a European title.
Around the same time Johan Cruyff now no longer the player but the manager what is known as the Dreamteam in FC Barcelona. The second incarnation of this magnificient machine is team under Rijkaard and later Guardiola winning 3 UCL titles. Players like Puyol, Xavi, Ronaldinho and Messi being the framework to carry out the orders on the battle field.
Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson can also be said to be the proponent for particular style of football, and group of players being together for an extended period of time. Everything comes crashing down after 2013 though.
Real Madrid takes to the top of Europe for a second time during the period 2013-2018 being the dominant team in Europe.
So the final lists looks like this:
1950s: Real Madrid
1960s: Inter Milan
1970s: Ajax and FC Bayern München
1980s: Liverpool and AC Milan
1990s: FC Barcelona
2000s: FC Barcelona and Manchester United
2010s: Real Madrid
Honorably mention: SSC Napoli, Chelsea FC, Juventus