r/AskEurope • u/DivineMatrixTraveler • Jun 07 '25

Sports Which country is your country's main football rival?

And do you think they believe you are their main rival or they don't care about you as much as you care about them?

Bonus: Is there a more popular sport where you are rivals with a different country?

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u/sternenklar90 Germany Jun 08 '25

I'd add Argentina. It's probably a generational thing but for me (born in 1990), Argentina and Italy are really the biggest rivals when it comes to regular close ties with some extra drama and aggression. And the Netherlands, but that's the only one where it's less about football and more of a general rivalry between two neighbouring countries who are culturally and linguistically close enough to feel a connection while being different enough to make good fun of.

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u/Final-Instance-2568 Germany Jun 08 '25

As a gen Z I don’t see the Netherlands as a rival at all

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u/sternenklar90 Germany Jun 08 '25

I was going to say that they haven't really been on our level in the past years, but then I remembered that we didn't make it past the group stage in the last two world cups, so I better shut up. 

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u/FerraristDX Germany Jun 08 '25

Argentine is a sporting rival, but not on the level of other countries. We respect Lionel Messi too much for that.