When Auckland FC defeated Sydney FC to win the 2026 A-League Grand Final, the New Zealand outfit joined one of football’s most unusual groups: clubs that have won the top-flight title of a league outside their own country.
Cross-border participation is uncommon enough in football, but foreign clubs winning those competitions is rarer still. Here are the other teams that have achieved the feat.
AS Monaco (Monaco → France)
Based in the Principality of Monaco but competing in the French league system since the early 20th century, Monaco have won Ligue 1 eight times, with titles spanning from 1960-61 to 2016-17. Unlike guest clubs in regional leagues, Monaco’s participation in France is a long-standing arrangement, making them one of the permanent outliers in European football’s national league structure.
Singapore FA (Singapore → Malaysia)
The representative Singapore side competed in Malaysian domestic football for decades and were one of the major cross-border participants in the competition. They won Malaysia’s top-flight league twice, in 1985 and 1994, and remain the second-most successful side in Malaysia Cup history with 24 titles.
LionsXII (Singapore → Malaysia)
Singapore returned to Malaysian domestic football in 2012 under a cross-border arrangement through LionsXII, who made an immediate impact by finishing second in their debut Malaysian Super League campaign before winning the title in 2013. The club also lifted the 2015 Malaysian FA Cup before exiting the football scene completely.
Albirex Niigata (S) (Japan → Singapore)
Albirex Niigata (S) became one of Singapore football’s most successful foreign clubs after joining the S.League in 2004 as a satellite side of Japan’s Albirex Niigata. They won their first league title in 2016 and added five more crowns in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023, along with multiple domestic cup wins. Their sustained dominance made Albirex the most successful foreign club in Singapore’s top-flight history, although the club are set to be rebranded as FC Jurong from next season and transition into a permanent local identity.
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Étoile FC (France → Singapore)
Étoile became the first foreign club to win Singapore’s top-flight title when they claimed the 2010 S.League championship in their debut season. Made up largely of French players, the guest club topped the table under coach Patrick Vallée in an experiment by Singapore football authorities to internationalise the competition. The club folded after the 2011 season due to financial difficulties.
DPMM (Brunei → Singapore)
Brunei’s DPMM won the 2015 S.League title, becoming the first Bruneian club to capture Singapore’s top-flight crown, before repeating the feat in 2019. Both were landmark moments for a club that had spent most of their existence competing outside Brunei’s domestic structure.
Derry City (Northern Ireland → Republic of Ireland)
Based in Northern Ireland but competing in the Republic of Ireland’s league system, Derry City won the League of Ireland Premier Division in 1988-89 and 1996-97. Their first title was part of a domestic treble, with them also winning the FAI Cup and League Cup in one of the most successful seasons in the club’s history.
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The New Saints (England → Wales)
Despite being based in Oswestry, England, The New Saints have dominated Welsh domestic football for much of the modern era. TNS are the most successful club in Cymru Premier history with 18 league titles along with a long period of sustained domestic cup dominance.
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