The top 10 fiercest derbies in world football: Mail Sport casts an eye over the leading local skirmishes across the globe

The approach to La Bombonera screams that you are about to enter something far beyond the boundaries of football normality.

The road descends to a park where innocent carnival carousels circle, their tinkling music submerged in blasts of pyro that resemble military ordnance in its ability to shake the senses.

Then a railway line is crossed and the stadium comes into full view. It is guarded by riot police cordons. They are searched, asked for proof of identity and then they go up the stairs to the highest point of the terrace.

The stadium bounces, the terrace vibrates under your feet. The sound is constant, the light show spectacular. Fans climb the mesh fences that separate the crowd from the players.

There is so much to see, hear and experience. It’s the day of the Boca Juniors-River Plate derby. It’s two hours before the kick-off of the world’s largest local skirmish.

Here are the top 10 football derbies in the world. There are some criteria. I only chose one from any country. And I’ve excluded classics like Barcelona vs Real Madrid or Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund to focus on city or regional rivalries.

1 Boca Juniors vs River Plate

The most powerful football experience of my life was the ten days I spent in Buenos Aires, where I played five matches.

This immersion in the largest football city in the world was crowned by a derby match. There are several statements about the difference between Boca and River. Some relate to finance, class and politics.

Anyway, it’s visceral too. Fans identify with their team. During a tour of El Monumental, the River stadium, I asked the guide what the club meant to him. “It’s my life,” he replied.

2 Celtic v Rangers

This can be dismissed as a parochial choice. The truth, however, is that in a lifetime of traveling the world for football, there has been one constant. People hear your accent and ask about the derby.

In terms of sporting significance, it punches well above its weight. It is a unique event that will be known all over the world, without any sporting context.

3 Partizan Belgrade vs Red Star Belgrade

This has a political history, as the clubs represented the sporting wing of parts of the communist government.

It survived the death of communism and may even have grown in antipathy. The sites are separated by 400 meters. There is a park in this area that routinely becomes a battlefield on derby day.

4 Fenerbahce vs Galatasaray

Known as the Intercontinental because Fenerbahce are from the Asian part of the city and Galatasaray from the European part, this rivalry dates back to 1935 when a match was abandoned after off-field riots and brutality. It was a friendly one.

It of course has a Scottish link in that Graeme Souness, the then manager of Galatasaray, placed a club flag in the center circle after coming out on top in the 1996 cup final.

5 AC Milan vs Internazionale

Two of the biggest teams in the world – although Italian football has been one of the biggest victims of the dominance of the English Premier League – share one of the most historic stadiums in the world.

The clash has featured some of the greatest players in the history of the game over the years. It has an enduring appeal beyond Italy.

6 Nacional vs Penarol

It is sometimes forgotten that Uruguay was once the greatest football power in South America and won the first World Cup.

Nacional and Penarol share the city of Montevideo and the limited conditions of the domestic game have not diluted the passion the game evokes.

Nacional proudly maintains the tradition of being founded for local players, while Penarol was largely the construct of European immigrants.

7 Corinthians against Palmeiras

The temptation was to opt for a Rio de Janeiro derby, but the clash between Sao Paulo’s rivals is irresistible.

It is presented in social and economic terms. The Corinthians cling to their working-class roots, while Palmeiras, a club founded by the city’s Italian community, has enjoyed an economic rise.

In the 2023 Copa Libertadores semi-final against Boca, Palmeiras fans burned Argentine money in La Bombonera to show contempt for the economic woes of the local population.

8 Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad

The Basque derby does not divide a city (the Sociedad is based in San Sebastian), but divides a population.

It’s probably the most good-natured derby on the list, although the bitterness has increased in recent years.

It is best viewed in the San Mames, located in the center of Bilbao, where the atmosphere is spectacular and fans pour into the streets lined with bars and restaurants.

9 Al Ahly vs Zamalek

The Cairo derby has its origins in 1917, but has flourished over the years thanks to the success of both clubs.

Fan violence is routine, although the worst incident in Egyptian football followed a match between Al Ahly and Al Masry in Port Said in 2012, when 74 people were killed after a pitch invasion.

10 Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke

The Revierderby is contested by two teams whose cities are 32 kilometers apart in the Ruhr area.

The meetings with Schalke in Buli 2 have become a rarity lately, but the rivalry is the biggest in Germany and overshadows Dortmund-Bayern, a modern construction based on purely sporting matters without other problems.